Rio Rundown Day 2: Women's Qualifications
Aug 8, 2016
Overview
After a long but exciting day of competition, team and event finals qualifiers are set. As expected, USA dominated finishing way ahead of the field with 185.238, nearly 10 points higher than any other team. China finished with the second highest team score of a 175.297 and Russia with third, scoring a 174.620. Also through to team finals are Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands.
China kicked off the day in subdivision one, setting the bar with a strong team performance. The team showed impressive skills and beautiful finesse. Through to all-around finals are Wang Yan and Shang Chunsong. Wang finished with the seventh highest all-around score of a 57.599 and Shang had a 56.532 after falling on vault.
Hong Un Jong was also in subdivision one and she qualified to vault finals in second behind Simone Biles. Hong did an Amanar today but submitted the new skill of a triple twisting Yurchenko so she will likely attempt that skill in the finals.
Subdivision two featured Russia and Italy along with two groups of individuals that included Romania’s sole female gymnast Catalina Ponor. Russia had a shaky first half of their competition on beam and floor but a strong vault rotation and an incredible bars rotation. All four of the gymnasts on bars scored a 15.1 or higher with Aliya Mustafina posting a 15.8 and Daria Spiridonova a 15.683. Ponor competed vault, beam, and floor and qualified to beam finals.
The home team got their chance to shine in subdivision three. The Brazilian women matched their fantastic men’s team performance yesterday and qualified through to team finals. Rebeca Andrade had a stellar performance posting a big 58.732 which ended up the fourth highest score of the day, only behind the three Americans. Flavia Saraiva stole the hearts of the crowd with her performance and also move on to all-around finals.
Great Britain was also in subdivision three and qualified to team finals after a meet filled with ups and downs. Ellie Downie had a scary fall on floor where she landed on her head and didn’t finish her routine. However, she still scored a 12.5 and came back to finish strong on vault to total a 56.466, still moving on to AA Finals.
USA stole the show of subdivision four with a lights out performance in a league of their own. The most dramatic moment came on beam, the final event, where Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman were fighting to make the all-around finals. Raisman ultimately edged Douglas finishing with a 60.607 to Douglas’ 60.131. Biles shined in her Olympic debut for a massive 62.366 all-around. Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian also put up incredible performances and Hernandez moves on to beam finals while Kocian moves on to bars finals.
The Netherlands showed their signature style and grace in subdivision four and claimed the final team qualifying spot. Eythora Thorsdottir and Lieke Wevers move on to all-around finals with the eighth and 17th highest AA scores, respectively.
Japan, Canada, and France closed out the day in the final subdivision. The team finals qualifiers came down to the very last routine and ultimately Canada finished their day in ninth. Japan qualified in seventh after a strong day lead by Mai Murakami and Asuka Teramoto. Isabela Onyshko and Ellie Black of Canada along with Marine Brevet and Louise Vanhille of France move on to all-around finals.
Full results here.
USA Routine Of The Day
Kocian’s got #bars!@MadisonKocian earns the highest uneven bar score of the night. https://t.co/8UlQsUiW6F https://t.co/pDT2VGkpUe
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2016
Lineups & Predictions
The men’s team final competition is tomorrow and below are our predictions:
1. China
2. Japan
3. USA
Below are USA’s lineups:
Floor exercise: Naddour, Mikulak, Dalton
Pommel horse: Leyva, Mikulak, Naddour
Still rings: Brooks, Dalton, Naddour
Vault: Mikulak, Dalton, Naddour
Parallel bars: Mikulak, Brooks, Leyva
Horizontal bar: Mikulak, Brooks, Leyva
They Said It
“Today, I became the first Jamaican Gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games. There are no words to describe the mix of emotions that I am feeling right now. I had some mistakes in my performances but I am happy that I was able to show the kids of Jamaica that there isn't a barrier that can't be broken. I appreciate all of the love and support from the people and the country that I love. Special shoutout to my coaches @calcoachjustin , @oceanluvr1027 , and Mladen Stefanov for helping me through this amazing journey. #teamjamaica”
Related:
FULL RESULTS: USA Dominates Day 1
