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At a press conference with all four members of the US team, Biles confirmed her decision to withdraw was not due to physical injury. Instead, the four-time Olympic champion said that she was concerned the stress she was enduring was compromising her team’s medal chances.
“No injury, thankfully,” Biles said. “And that’s why I took a step back, because I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured. So I thought it was best if these girls took over and did the rest of the job, which they absolutely did. They’re Olympic silver medalists now. And they should be really proud of themselves for how well they did last minute having to go in on it. It’s been really stressful, this Olympic games, I think just as a whole, not having an audience, there are a lot of different variables going into it. It’s been a long week. It’s been a long Olympic process. It’s been a long year. So just a lot of different variables and I think we’re just a little bit too stressed out. We should be out here having fun and sometimes that’s not the case.”
“We still can’t believe it’s happening,” said Angelina Melnikova, whose floor exercise sealed the gold for the ROC. “The impossible is possible now. Of course are very happy.
“We worked extremely hard, we were basically in a closed training camp for a year and a half, working for this moment.”
“For me, I’m proud for how the girls stepped up and did what they had to do,” Biles said in the mixed zone. “I owe this to the girls, it has nothing to do with me. I am very proud of them.”
Asked what she told the team after withdrawing following her opening vault: “I said: ‘You have done all the training, you can do this without me, and it will be just fine.’”
Here’s a look at detailed score breakdown from today’s final.
The final score breakdown from today’s women’s gymnastics team final. pic.twitter.com/42FPjHUbUa
BBC Sport spoke with Simone Biles after the medal ceremony. The now-six-time Olympic medality said that she is OK but “dealing with some things internally that will get fixed in the next few days”.
Asked if she will be back at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on Thursday to defend her individual all-around title, Biles said yes.
Here’s Tumaini Carayol’s report from today’s final. We’ll have more reaction here as it comes through.
Related: Simone Biles exits women’s Olympic team gymnastics final with ‘medical issue’
The reaction to today’s dramatic final has resonated throughout the sports world. Morgan Hurd, the five-time world medalist and 2017 world all-around champion from the United States, has tweeted her support for a team she’d hoped to be a member of.
“so insanely proud of this team,” Hurd wrote. “no one but them knows how hard this sport is not only physically but mentally and they handled everything with grace. couldn’t be more proud, love you guys.”
so insanely proud of this team. no one but them knows how hard this sport is not only physically but mentally and they handled everything with grace. couldn’t be more proud, love you guys https://t.co/UdPr8rLa0e
I can’t imagine the pressure Simone has been feeling. Sending her SO much love. It easy to forget she’s still human. WE LOVE YOU.
It’s official. Melnikova scores 13.966 and the ROC have won the women’s team all-around by a 3.432-point margin, ending the United States’ 11-year reign of dominance atop the sport. That’s a 11.641-point swing from five years ago when the US won the gold running away.
Great Britain reaches the podium for the first time since 1928, the first time women competed in gymnastics at the Olympics. They become the first country besides the United States, Romania, China or the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia/ROC to reach the podium in this event since East Germany at Seoul 1988.
Women’s #ArtisticGymnastics Team Final
Full results > https://t.co/zDjruz43EP#Tokyo2020 #Olympics #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/jKS5eHBnz7
#Simone immediately went over to congratulate the winners ❤️ #Olympics pic.twitter.com/FkktSHTjWS
Melnikova hits her floor routine and it’s a done deal. Waiting on the judges’ final score but it can be said: the ROC have won their second gold medal in artistic gymnastics at these games after their men’s team’s thrilling win on Monday.
Suni Lee comes through (as she has on every event today) with a 13.666 on floor. Hell of a competition for the Olympic debutante under less-than-ideal circumstances.
Melnikova needs 10.535 to win.
Listunova comes through with a 14.166, even better than her qualifying score. Suni Lee is next for the US. But barring disaster from Melnikova, ROC will come away with the gold.
Disaster for the US as Jordan Chiles goes out of bounds on a full-twisting double layout, then sits the double full-and-full on her second tumbling pass. The score is 11.700, opening a huge cushion for the ROC, who now have a clear path to their first gold since the Unified Team at Barcelona 1992. Meanwhile, a couple of huge scores on the uneven bars from Jennifer Gadirova (13.566) and Alice Kinsella (14.166!) have pulled Great Britain very much within striking distance of the bronze.
Vladislava Urazova is next on floor. Not the highest difficulty but she hits, which is the key at this point for the ROC. The score is 13.366. That means the Americans have made up a bit of ground and now trail 141.396 to 140.730 … or a margin of 0.666 points.
The final rotation is under way as the ROC cling to a 0.800-point lead. Grace McCallum is first on the floor. She stays in bounds after the double-double on her first pass but goes out on her second. The score is 13.500.
This is where Biles typically closes the show for the Americans. She scored 1.433 better than any Russian on floor at the last worlds. Team USA won’t have that insurance policy today and can’t afford mistakes like those if they’re going to pull this out in Biles’s absence.
Viktoria Listunova hits her beam routine for a 14.333. Jordan Chiles answers with a 13.433. And the Americans trail the ROC by 0.800 points entering the last rotation: floor exercise.
It’s the biggest beam routine of Suni Lee’s career and the Minnesotan smashes it: 14.133. It’s basically a dead heat between the ROC and the USA with Viktoria Listunova and Jordan Chiles still to go in the third rotation.
Another ROC athlete has fallen off the beam, further opening the door for the struggling Americans. After McCallum posts a solid 13.666, Angelina Melnikova – the only remaining member from Russia’s 2016 Olympic team – falls during her routine and finishes with a score of 12.566. Now it’s Suni Lee’s chance to make up ground.
USA Gymnastics has issued an official statement regarding Simone Biles’ withdrawal:
“Simone has withdrawn from the team final competition due to a medical issue. She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions.”
It’s looking rather grim for the United States as they trail by 2.5 points entering the third rotation: the balance beam. But then ROC’s Vladislava Urazova opens the door for the Americans, falling on a layoff after two back handsprings on her leadoff beam routine. The judges are taking their time with the score … and it’s a 12.633. Remember: no scores are dropped in today’s three-up/three-count format, unlike Sunday’s qualifying. Grace McCallum is next up for Team USA …
NBC is reporting that Biles didn’t withdraw due to injury but due to her mental health, according to her coach. Elsewhere, ROC’s Viktoria Listunova (14.9) caps another gorgeous rotation for the ROC on bars, just like in Sunday’s qualifying.
ROC in first at the halfway point with 88.498, ahead of second-place USA (85.998) and third-place Italy (83.031)
Jordan Chiles was not meant to go on the bars today. But the last-minute replacement for Biles delivers a great set capped by a full twisting double for a 14.166 score.
After big numbers from ROC’s Vladislava Urazova (14.866) and Angelina Melnikova (14.933), the US is badly in need of a big score and Suni Lee delivers it: 15.4! It’s the highest score of any gymnast in these Olympics so far.
Simone Biles has been pulled out of the entire team finals. No reason has been given, but it appears to be related to a right foot injury possibly incurred on her opening vault. She’s still on the floor but in her jacket and pants, not her leotard.
As the shock reverberates throughout the Ariake Gymnastics Centre, McCallum delivers a solid bars routine for a 13.7.
Moments after an updated start list is circulated, Biles is back on the floor with her right foot wrapped. She was wearing her grips as she returned to the arena floor but now they’re off. Biles hugs each of her teammates. It’s going to be McCallum, Chiles and Lee on bars.
Simone Biles has left the floor with her bag and a trainer. Meanwhile, the rest of the American team – McCallum, Chiles and Lee – have taken the podium for their warm-ups. Chiles was not origially slated for the uneven bars but it looks like she’s going to go.
Biles’s 13.766 after bailing on her vault was her worst score in years. Even more foreboding: the Russian Olympic Committee have outscored them 43.799-42.732 in the first rotation on an apparatus where the Americans typically open up a lead. They’ll be heading to the uneven bars next, where ROC posted massive scores in qualifying.
The scores after the first rotation:
A bit of a rocky start for Team USA on the vault. After Biles balked an Amanar during warm-ups, Grace McCallum starts things off for the US with a double twisting Yurchenko only to step forward and out of bounds on the landing (14.3). That’s a touch behind Angelina Melnikova’s DTY that opened the competition (14.6). Jordan Chiles, who struggled mightily during Sunday’s qualifying, comes out firing with a big, clean DTY (14.6), the highest score so far.
Now it’s Simone time … and uh-oh. Biles was meant to do an Amanar but instead did a Yurchenko one-and-a-half, nearly falling forward on the deep landing. The score is 13.766 and the US are officially in trouble.
The athletes have marched into the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and been introduced to the crowd. One-touch warm-ups are under way and the first rotation should be under way momentarily. It’s been nearly a decade since a major women’s team final has started with this kind of drama hanging over the proceedings.
Here’s the start list for today’s final, which is set to start in 15 minutes. The United States and the Russian Olympic Committee will both start on vault and end on floor.
Start list for today’s Olympic women’s gymnastics team final (6:45am ET). #TeamUSA will start on vault and end on floor. pic.twitter.com/IEOCJy3uZV
Starting in 2006, scores were broken down into two parts. The difficulty (D) score is based on what a gymnast does during their routine. The harder the elements the athlete successfully strings together, the higher the total.
In theory, the D-score can be open-ended. Most elite routines carry a D-score between 5.4 and 6.0. Exceptional routines like what Biles does on floor or what Lee does on uneven bars score 6.5 or higher.
During Sunday’s qualifying, each member of the four-person team competed on each apparatus with teams dropping their lowest score. That changes with today’s three-up/three-count, a less forgiving format that has benefitted the Americans during their decade-long reign.
Each of the eight qualifying teams have selected three gymnasts to compete on each of the four apparatuses: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. All of these scores will be summed and counted toward the team’s final score.
Hello and welcome to today’s women’s gymnastics team all-around competition. A United States quartet headlined by Simone Biles will look to extend their reign atop the sport with a third straight Olympic gold medal, but not without a stiff challenge from a Russian Olympic Committee team that delivered a resounding statement of intent on Sunday by finishing first in qualifying by more than a full point.
As Simone Biles walked off the podium following her opening floor routine of her Tokyo Olympics, she laughed bitterly to herself. She had overpowered her third tumbling pass so much that she ended up rebounding the floor and flying so far out of bounds that she cleared the raised floor. She was not happy. But what initially seemed to be an aberration in her first rotation of USA’s qualifying round turned out to be a reflection of the whole day.
With every passing rotation, the errors for USA piled up, culminating in an event that has not occurred over their past decade of dominance – for the first time since 2010, USA qualified in second for a major team final after scoring 170.562 as Russian Olympic Committee finished the day in the lead with 171.629.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tumaini Carayol’s report from Sunday’s qualifying.
Related: Simone Biles leaps into Olympics action but USA’s gap over rivals narrows
