USA claimed their third straight Worlds team gold tonight at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland with a 181.338. China earned the silver medal finishing over five points below USA with a 176.164. Great Britain edged out Russia for the bronze medal, earning their first World Championships team medal in history after scoring a 172.380. After a devastating beam performance, Russia missed out on a medal, posting a 171.964.

In the three up three count team format, every routine is crucial and a fall can make the difference between being on or off the podium. There were multiple falls throughout tonight’s performance and every team had at least one except for USA who hit all 12 routines. 

USA started their meet with three solid vaults. 2012 Olympic All-Around Champ Gabby Douglas lead off with a Yurchenko double full followed by Amanars from Maggie Nichols and World All-Around Champ Simone Biles. USA totaled a 46.665 on vault to take an early lead, the highest event score of the evening. 

On bars, USA looked clean and controlled. Nichols competed bars for the first time this competition and posted a 14.80. Douglas followed with a big 15.333 and Madison Kocian rounded out the rotation with a solid 15.30. Kocian has been an incredibly reliable bar performer as of late and her intricate skills are complimented by her gorgeous lines.

Beam may have been USA’s weakest event of the night but they still earned a 43.432, the highest beam score of the competition. Nichols was a bit shaky but hit her lead off routine for a 13.966. Aly Raisman followed and also looked a bit hesitant but finished strong with her Arabian double front to post a 14.266. Biles finished off beam with an amazing routine including a very solid Barani and back handspring layout layout series to score a 15.2.

USA finished the night with a bang on floor, performing exciting and impressive routines for an event total of a 45.808, three points higher than any other country’s floor score. Nichols once again started off the rotation and was nearly flawless in her tumbling. She opened with a tuck double double and also performed a piked full in and tuck full in to score a 15.0. Raisman followed displaying much more control than shown in qualifications, performing her opening 1.5 step out through to Arabian double tuck to punch layout beautifully. She earned a 15.075. Biles again anchored the event with her jaw-dropping tumbling including a full twisting double layout and double layout half out. She posted a 15.733 to bring team USA’s final total to a 181.338.

After qualifying in fourth, China displayed much more finesse and control tonight. They totaled a 176.164, bolstered by a phenomenal bar performance that scored a 45.632. Tan Jiaxin, Shang Chunsong, and Fan Yilin were back to their normal selves tonight earning huge bar scores of 15.133, 15.233, and 15.266 respectively. They finished with a stellar vault rotation to secure silver. In the press conference following the meet, they talked about how this year they have really improved on the power events of vault and floor. 

Great Britain started out their competition on bars where they had to count a fall from Ellie Downie. However, the team rallied and nailed beam and floor. It came down to the final rotation of vault and they needed to average just above a 14.8 to beat Russia, who had already completed their competition. With three clutch performances from Claudia Fragapane, Amy Tinkler, and Ellie Downie, they secured their historic team medal. 

Russia had a great start to their competition on vault as well as two strong performances on bars. Viktoria Komova was up third on bars and performed her signature Komova release and layout Jaeger. She was almost home when she fell over on a toe full and only earned a 14.0. Then they moved to beam where all three gymnasts who performed fell. They hit all of their floor routines but it wasn’t enough to earn a medal. 

Routine of the Day

Gabby Douglas on bars:

For viewing in the U.S. only:

Lineups & Predictions

Tomorrow we’ve got men’s team finals and below are the lineups for USA. The men's team consists of Chris Brooks, Danell Leyva, Alexander Naddour, Paul Ruggeri, Donnell Whittenburg, and Brandon Wynn. Marvin Kimble is the alternate.

Still rings:  Naddour, Whittenburg, Wynn
Vault:  Ruggeri, Whittenburg, Naddour
Parallel bars:  Ruggeri, Whittenburg, Leyva
Horizontal bar:  Brooks, Ruggeri, Leyva
Floor exercise:  Whittenburg, Naddour, Ruggeri
Pommel horse:  Leyva, Whittenburg, Naddour

Most interestingly, Paul Ruggeri was chosen for high bar after he fell twice in qualifications. It looks like they trust that he will be fired up and ready to nail it this time. Also Whittenburg is out of high bar lineups and will only be doing five events. Leyva, who qualified to all-around finals, will only be on three.

Our predictions for the men's finals are:

1. Japan
2. China
3. Great Britain
4. USA
5. Russia

They Said It

We’ve got a couple great quotes for you today, first from National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi and second from Olympian John Roethlisberger.

Karolyi on Brenna Dowell anchoring bars in qualifications:

“It’s our tradition that the lineup is made based on the two weeks of training, what we do previously, and permanently controlled routines, under pressure routines. Brenna Dowell in two weeks didn’t miss one bar routine, so she fully deserved to be in there until she messed it up.”-Karolyi. Full interview here.

Roethlisberger on Nichols' all-around performance in team finals:

Nichols AA today 59.232. Would have been the 2nd highest AA in qual. By almost 2 pts!! Things that make u go hmmm.

— John Roethlisberger (@jrflipfest) October 27, 2015

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