Podium Picks: Rio 2016 Predictions

With the start of the 2016 Rio Olympics on Friday and gymnastics on Saturday, we are just days away from champions being crowned in Olympic competition. Thi

Aug 3, 2016 by FloGymnastics Admin

With the start of the 2016 Rio Olympics on Friday and gymnastics on Saturday, we are just days away from champions being crowned in Olympic competition.

This is the pinnacle of our sport, bringing together the very best in the world, but not just at a World Championships. This is the OLYMPICS.

We've got our podium picks for the women's artistic competition below.

Team Final

1. USA
2. China
3. Russia

Team USA is the clear favorite after winning 2015 World Championships by over five points, and they have almost the same team--this one with Laurie Hernandez instead of Maggie Nichols. China's overall difficulty level gives them the ability to secure the silver, but they are not as strong on floor as the other events. They will need to show strong consistency across all four events. While Russia has lost both Ksenia Afanasyeva and Viktoria Komova since 2015 Worlds, they have gained back Aliya Mustafina after injuries and have the addition of their new senior star Angelina Melnikova. Great Britain is a strong contender for a podium spot as well, but at the recent European Championships, Russia came out ahead by nearly five points in the team competition, and the teams are exactly the same with the exception of Afanasyeva who only competed vault in the team final.

All-Around Final

1. Simone Biles
2. Aly Raisman
3. Angelica Melnikova

There is little debate as to who the projected all-around gold medalist will be. If Biles does what she's been doing for three years straight, the gold will be hers. The other medal spots are much more difficult to predict and, of course, spark much debate. We predict Raisman will get the opportunity to compete all-around in qualifications, giving her the chance to compete in the all-around final to redeem herself from that devastating bronze tiebreaker in London. She has the ability to score close to a 60.0 all-around consistently and if she is on her A-game in finals, she has strong silver potential. While Russia's Aliya Mustafina is another strong podium contender given her experience, level of finesse, and ability to 'turn it on' when it counts, we're predicting bronze going to Melnikova who won Russian Nationals this year, led the team to gold at European Championships, and also won the Russian Cup--4.35 points ahead of bronze medalist Mustafina. Melnikova doesn't have the experience on the big stage like Mustafina, but she has huge talent and seems to be peaking at a perfect time. Read more on Melnikova.