The American women’s gymnastics team won the gold with 184.897 points, an 8-point lead over second-best Russia.

1 United States 184.897 2 Russia –8.209 points behind 3 China –8.894 4 Japan –10.526

Vault +1.133 over second best team

USA Biles Raisman Hernandez 15.0 RUS JPN GBR CHN BRA VAULT SCORES 14.0 PTS. GER NED

Simone Biles — who has been called the best gymnast in history — had the highest score on the vault, despite making a hop on the landing. She performed an Amanar, one of the toughest vaults for female gymnasts, shown below.

Two-and-a-half twists in the air Back handspring onto vaulting table Roundoff onto springboard Blind landing Two-and-a-half twists in the air Back handspring onto vaulting table Roundoff onto springboard Blind landing Two-and-a-half twists in the air Back handspring onto vaulting table Roundoff onto springboard Blind landing Two-and-a- half twists in the air Back handspring onto vaulting table Photographs by Bedel Saget; Composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang

“What gives Simone, but also the U.S. team, a huge advantage is that they do these Amanars,” said Jordyn Wieber, a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. In Tuesday’s team final, two of the American gymnasts — Biles and Aly Raisman — executed the Amanar.

“Simone actually gets three or four feet higher than everyone else,” Wieber said.

Peter Kormann, an Olympic bronze medalist and a former United States men’s Olympic gymnastics coach, said, “Because Biles is so powerful when she pushes off the table, that gives her air time that allows her to complete the twists earlier than other gymnasts.”

Uneven bars +0.333 over second best team

USA Kocian Douglas 15.0 PTS. RUS GER Biles GBR JPN UNEVEN BARS SCORES NED CHN BRA

With 15.933 points, Madison Kocian tied Aliya Mustafina of Russia for the highest score on this apparatus. Here is Kocian’s dismount at the end of her routine.

First somersault and half twist completed Building momentum into a full twisting double back dismount Release from the bar Second somersault and half twist completed on landing First somersault and half twist completed Building momentum into a full twisting double back dismount Release from bar Second somersault and half twist completed on landing First somersault and half twist completed Building momentum into a full twisting double back dismount Release Second somersault and half twist completed Full twisting double back dismount Photographs by Joe Ward; Composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang

Kocian had been chosen for the Olympic team in part because she was a world champion on the uneven bars.

“There is even more pressure when you are basically selected for the team for one event and one event only,” said Nastia Liukin, an NBC Olympics analyst and a five-time Olympic medalist. “Maddie lived up to the pressure and expectation and hit a routine even better than Night 1.”

Kormann said: “Her technique on bars is perfect. Her timing is perfect. Bars is all about timing — making sure when you get power from a swing that it translates into doing a skill. That’s where she’s better than most, if not everyone.”

Balance beam +0.935 over second best team

USA Biles Hernandez 15.0 Raisman CHN NED 14.0 PTS. GER JPN BALANCE BEAM SCORES GBR RUS BRA

Biles had the highest beam score, and her teammate, Laurie Hernandez, had the third highest score. The Americans are known for their consistency on the beam, Kormann said.

Hernandez performed difficult tumbling combinations without losing her balance and ended her routine with a roundoff double salto in a pike position, shown below.

Roundoff Double salto in pike position Roundoff Double salto in pike position Roundoff Double salto in pike position Roundoff Double piked salto Photographs by Bedel Saget; Composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang

“When she does her skills, it looks like she’s on the floor, not on a beam,” Kormann said of Hernandez. The combination of tumbling skills she performs is not unique to her, but it’s the way she does it “with ease and confidence,” he said, that sets her apart.

Liukin said: “When the Olympic Games is your first big international event, you never know what could happen. Laurie went out on the beam and rocked her routine like a true veteran.”

Floor exercise +3.234 over second best team

USA Biles Raisman 15.0 Hernandez 14.0 GBR JPN NED RUS GER 13.0 PTS. FLOOR EXERCISE SCORES BRA CHN

Biles and Raisman, the reigning Olympic champion in the floor exercise, had the two highest scores.

One of Raisman’s signature moves is a one-and-a-half-twist step-out, roundoff back handspring, Arabian double front to a front layout salto, shown below.

One-and-a-half-twist step-out Roundoff Back handspring Roundoff Front layout salto Arabian double front One-and-a-half- twist step-out Roundoff Roundoff Back handspring Arabian double front Front layout salto One-and-a-half- twist step-out Back handspring Arabian double front Front layout One-and-a-half- twist step-out Arabian double front

Back handspring Arabian double front Front layout salto Arabian double front Back handspring Front layout salto Arabian double front Front layout salto Back handspring Arabian double front Front layout salto Back handspring Photographs by Joe Ward; Composite image by Sergio Peçanha, Jeremy White and Jon Huang

“It’s an awful lot of skills to fit into a 40-by-40 floor,” Kormann said. “She’s the only one in the world who can do a pass like that.”

Wieber said: “You’ll see a lot of girls doing just the double Arabian, but what Aly does is she connects them together and makes the tumbling pass so incredible.”

“She’s a bundle of muscle, and she uses it to her advantage, especially on the floor,” Wieber added. “She’s a powerful, strong gymnast.”

Going Into the Olympics, the U.S. Team Has Been the Dominant Force in Women’s Gymnastics

The United States had five of the eight highest scoring female gymnasts from around the world at the Olympics.

USA Biles Top all-around scores this season 62 61 Hernandez Raisman Russia 60 Douglas China 59 Kocian Brazil Germany Japan 58 Great Britain 57 Netherlands 56 55 54 USA Biles 62 pts 61 Top all-around scores this season Hernandez Raisman Russia 60 Douglas China 59 Kocian Brazil Great Britain Germany Japan 58 57 Netherlands 56 55 54 USA Biles 62 pts 61 Hernandez Raisman Russia Douglas Top all-around scores this season 60 China 59 Kocian Brazil Great Britain Germany Japan 58 Netherlands 57 56 55 54

In the qualifying round, the United States team won by nearly 10 points over China, in a sport in which teams are often separated by tenths of a point.

All-Around 1 Biles 62.366 US 2 Raisman 60.607 US 3 Douglas 60.131 US 4 Andrade 58.732 BRA 5 Tutkhalian 58.207 RUS 6 Mustafina 58.098 RUS 7 Wang 57.599 CHN 8 Thorsdottir 57.566 NED 9 Murakami 57.265 JPN 10 Onyshko 57.232 CAN Vault 1 Biles 16.05 US 2 Un-jong 15.683 NK 3 Steingruber 15.266 SWI 4 Paseka 15.049 RUS 5 Chusovitina 14.999 UZB 6 Olsen 14.95 CAN 7 Wang 14.949 CHN 8 Karmakar 14.85 IND 9 Rogers 14.783 CAN 10 Tutkhalian 14.733 RUS Uneven Bars 1 Kocian 15.866 US 2 Mustafina 15.833 RUS 3 Douglas 15.766 US 4 Spiridonova 15.683 RUS 5 Seitz 15.466 GER 6 Scheder 15.433 GER 7 Lopez 15.333 VEN 8 Chunsong 15.3 CHN 9 Yilin 15.266 CHN 10 Downie 15.233 GBR Beam 1 Biles 15.633 US 2 Hernandez 15.366 US 3 Saraiva 15.133 BRA 4 Wevers 15.066 NED 5 Ponor 14.9 ROU 6 Yilin 14.866 CHN 7 Douglas 14.833 US 8 Raisman 14.833 US 9 Boyer 14.6 FRA 10 Onyshko 14.533 CAN Floor 1 Biles 15.733 US 2 Raisman 15.275 US 3 Ferrari 14.866 ITA 4 Hernandez 14.8 US 5 Steingruber 14.666 SWI 6 Wang 14.666 CHN 7 Tinkler 14.6 GBR 8 Murakami 14.566 JPN 9 Douglas 14.366 US 10 Fasana 14.333 ITA

The United States gymnastics team has won a medal in every Olympics since 1992, three times winning the gold.

1928 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Gold Silver Bronze NED ITA GBR GER TCH HUN TCH HUN USA URS HUN TCH URS HUN ROU URS TCH ROU URS TCH JPN URS TCH GDR URS GDR HUN URS ROU GDR URS ROU GDR ROU USA CHN URS ROU GDR EUN ROU USA USA RUS ROU ROU RUS USA ROU USA RUS CHN USA ROU USA RUS ROU USA RUS CHN Gold NED GER TCH URS URS URS URS URS URS URS URS ROU URS EUN USA ROU ROU CHN USA USA Silver ITA TCH HUN HUN HUN TCH TCH TCH GDR ROU ROU USA ROU ROU RUS RUS USA USA RUS RUS Bronze GBR HUN USA TCH ROU ROU JPN GDR HUN GDR GDR CHN GDR USA ROU USA RUS ROU ROU CHN 1928 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

While the American women have been at or near the top in recent decades, they have not come close to matching the dominance of the Soviet team during the Cold War.