Regan Smith leads women’s all-around standings at 2017 P&G Championships

© John Cheng

• Senior Women Day 1 Results
• Videos: Webcast | Routines
• Photo Gallery
• PGChamps.com

ANAHEIM, Calif., Aug. 18, 2017 – Ragan Smith of Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics, leads the senior women’s all-around rankings at the half-way point of the 2017 P&G Gymnastics Championships at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Competition continues tomorrow (today) with the final day of men’s gymnastics. Junior men start the day at 12 p.m. PT, followed by the seniors at 5 p.m. PT. The women’s competition wraps up on Sunday.

Smith earned a 57.400 total for the highest all-around score for the first night of women’s gymnastics. Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J./MG Elite, and Jordan Chiles of Vancouver, Wash./Naydenov Gymnastics, were second and third, 56.100 and 55.850, respectively. Margzetta Frazier of Erial, N.J./Parkettes National Gymnastics Center, landed in fourth place (55.400), and Trinity Thomas of York, Pa./Prestige Gymnastics, rounds out the top-five at 55.300.

Event scores for the top five in the all-around rankings.

• Ragan Smith: 57.400, all-around; 14.400, vault; 14.300, uneven bars; 14.500, balance beam;

Simone Biles selected as Team USA’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer for Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Four-time Olympic champion Biles becomes first gymnast to lead
U.S. Olympic delegation into Closing Ceremony

RIO DE JANEIRO – Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles was selected to lead the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team into Sunday's (Aug. 21) Closing Ceremony as flag bearer, as announced today by the United States Olympic Committee. Biles was chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members.

In her Olympic debut, Biles won team and individual gold medals in the women’s all-around, vault and floor exercise, also adding a fifth medal – bronze – on balance beam. She became the first American gymnast to win four golds at a single Games and one of only four women to accomplish the feat in Olympic history, joining Larissa Latynina (1956), Vera Caslavska (1968) and Ekaterina Szabo (1984). 



"It's an incredible honor to be selected as the flag bearer by my Team USA teammates,” said Biles. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me and my team and I consider it a privilege to represent my country, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics by carrying our flag. I also wish to thank the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the entire country of Brazil, for hosting an incredible Games.”

Widely considered the best gymnast of her generation, Biles’ Olympic medal haul extended her U.S. record to 18 individual medals combined in world and Olympic competition over the last three years. Her historic performance propelled the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to a total of nine medals in Rio, surpassing the team’s previous high of eight from the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The nine medals are the most won by any women’s team since the Soviet Union claimed 10 medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. 



Biles is only the second gymnast to serve as Team USA’s flag bearer, in either the Opening or Closing Ceremony, and the first-ever female gymnast to earn the honor. Alfred Jochim is the only other American gymnast to previously serve as flag bearer, leading the U.S. delegation into the Opening Ceremony of the 1936 Olympic Games.   


U.S Olympic Team Flag Bearers – Closing Ceremony 


1952     Bob Kurland, Basketball             

1956     Pete Rademacher, Boxing       

1960     Mike Troy, Swimming                  

1964     Don Schollander, Swimming        

1968     Al Oerter, Track and Field              

1972     Mike Burton, Swimming

1976     Willie Davenport, Track and Field      
1984     Jeff Blatnick Wresting 

1988     Terry Schroeder, Water Polo

1992     Peter Westbrook, Fencing 

1996     Michael Matz, Equestrian              
2000     Rulon Gardner, Wrestling             

2004     Mia Hamm, Soccer                

2008     Khatuna Lorig, Archery               

2012     Bryshon Nellum, Track and Field 

2016     Simone Biles, Gymnastics

USA wins one gold, three silver on final day of gymnastics at 2016 Olympics

© John Cheng

• Men's Results: Parallel Bars | High Bar
• Women's Results: Floor Exercise
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO – Simone Biles of Spring of Texas/World Champions Centre, and Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics, won the gold and silver medals, respectively, on the floor exercise at the 2016 Olympic Games at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The medals were the eighth and ninth for the Final Five, the 2016 Olympic team champions, for the most women’s gymnastics Olympic medals won by a country since the Soviet Union’s 10 in 1972. For the men, Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton (Universal Gymnastics), claimed the parallel bars and high bar silver medals on the final day of competition. The USA mined a total of 12 medals, the most since 1984.

This is the first time the U.S. women have won nine medals at an Olympic Games. The nine medals are: four gold, four silver and one bronze. Biles’ five Olympic medals make her the most decorated U.S. gymnast at the 2016 Olympics, and her four gold medals tie the Olympic record for a female gymnast in a single Games. Including her 2016 medals, Raisman’s six career Olympic medals is the second highest total in U.S. gymnastics history behind Shannon Miller.

The 12 U.S. Olympic medals are listed below.

• Women’s team: gold
• Biles: all-around, vault and floor exercise gold, and balance beam bronze
• Hernandez: balance beam silver
• Kocian, uneven bars silver
• Leyva, parallel bars and high bar silver
• Alex Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton (USA Youth Fitness Center), pommel horse bronze
• Raisman, all-around and floor exercise silver

In the women’s floor final, Biles tumbled a layout full-out; double layout half-out (Biles); tucked double-double; and tucked full-in. Her 15.966 clinched the gold medal. Opening with her trademark one-and-a-half twist to double Arabian, punch layout front, Raisman scored a 15.500 to win silver. Great Britain’s Amy Tinkler claimed the bronze at 14.933.

Leyva captured two silvers on the final day of competition. On parallel bars, he capped off his magnificent routine with a stuck double front dismount to score a 15.900 and win the silver medal. Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev claimed gold with a 16.041 and David Belyavskiy of Russia earned the bronze (15.783).

Leyva performed a thrilling routine in the horizontal bar final with a layout Kovacs, Kolman and a double-twisting double layout dismount to score a 15.500, which earned the silver medal. Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), hit his routine including a Cassina, Kolman and double twisting double layout dismount to score a 15.400 for fourth place. Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen won the title with his 15.766, and Nile Wilson of Great Britain finished third (15.466).

Gymnastics competition has concluded and wraps up its Olympics with two sessions of the gala on Aug. 17 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Rio time.

Ways to follow the action

• NBC. NBC is the broadcast and web source for coverage and news on the Olympic Games.
  • Aug. 16, individual event finals, 8 p.m. ET, NBC
• NBCOlympics.com. NBCOlympics.com carries live and archived coverage of every gymnastics session as well as all sports.
• USAGym2016.com. Original stories, athlete bios, schedules, results and more are available at usagym2016.com.
• USAGym.org. The USA Gymnastics official website is a great source for information about the sport: latest news, the schedule of its premier events, athlete biographies, videos, photo galleries and more.
• TeamUSA.org. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s website will also be a good resource for information on the Team USA in Rio.
• Social Media. USA Gymnastics is providing live updates and exclusive content, including interviews and photos, on Facebook and Twitter (@USAGym).

Hernandez, Biles win balance beam medals at 2016 Olympic Games

© John Cheng

• Men's Results: Still Rings | Vault
• Women's Results: Balance Beam
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO – Laurie Hernandez of Old Bridge, N.J./MG Elite, and Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, on balance beam at the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Competition concludes tomorrow with the final day of individual event finals, scheduled for 2 p.m. local time.

The U.S. gymnasts competing on the last day of event finals are: floor exercise – Biles and Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics; parallel bars – Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton (Universal Gymnastics); and horizontal bar – Leyva and Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center).

Hernandez was nearly flawless in her beam routine, which included a front pike; back handspring,

Kocian Wins Second Olympic Medal

Photo is courtesy of UCLA

Bruin freshman won uneven bars silver and team gold at the Olympics.

With an Olympic gold medal already in hand from the team competition, incoming freshman Madison Kocian added an uneven bars silver medal to her collection on Sunday. Kocian scored 15.833 in the individual event finals, just narrowly missing gold, which went to Russia's Aliya Mustafina with a 15.900.

Mustafina had the most difficult routine in the competition with a 6.8 start value, and she added an execution score of 9.1. Kocian, who posted the top qualifying mark last week with a 15.866 and tied Mustafina for the top mark in team finals with a 15.933, directly followed and hit all of her elements, punctuating it with a stuck full-twisting double back dismount. Kocian earned the meet's highest execution mark with a 9.133, but her start value was one-tenth lower than Mustafina's at 6.7, which proved to be the difference.

Kocian's 2016 Olympic journey ends with team gold and individual silver. She hit all three of her uneven bars routines at the Olympics, averaging 15.877 and scoring over 15.8 on each routine.

Kocian will join the UCLA Gymnastics team in September as a freshman, along with 2012 Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross. They will be joining a team in which half of the coaching staff are Olympians - 1992 Olympian Chris Waller and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber. Kocian, Ross and Wieber have four Olympic and 11 World Championship medals between them (Kocian – 1 Olympic gold, 3 World gold, 1 Olympic silver; Ross – 1 Olympic gold, 1 World gold, 3 World silver, 1 World bronze; Wieber – 1 Olympic gold, 2 World gold, 1 World bronze).

Season tickets for the 2017 UCLA Gymnastics season are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets.

Biles earns Team USA's first ever gold medal on vault

© John Cheng

• Men's Results: Floor Exercise | Pommel Horse
• Women's Results: Vault | Uneven Bars
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO – 2016 Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, won the USA’s first women’s Olympic vault gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biles is also the first American gymnast to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. In addition, Madison Kocian of Dallas, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics, won the silver medal for the uneven bars, and Alex Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton (USA Youth Fitness Center), earned the bronze medal on pommel horse.

Biles' first vault was a powerful Amanar, scoring a 15.900. Her second vault, a Cheng, earned a

BREAKING: Madison Kocian Wins Uneven Bars Silver In Olympic Debut

BREAKING...Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Madison Kocian of the United States making her Olympic debut has won the silver medal for her routine on uneven bars with an 15.833.

Kocian routine  inside stalder to Komova II to Pak to stalder Shapo half, inside stalder blind to Jaeger, stalder, stalder full to full twisting double tuck stuck - little late on the first piro but super clean.

BREAKING: USA's Simone Biles Wins Gold On Vault

Embed from Getty Images

BREAKING...Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Simone Biles of the United States has won the gold medal on her vaults, first U.S. woman to win the Olympic title on vault and first to win three Olympic golds in single games in gymnastics.

Her first vault was 15.900 and second, 16.033 with an average of 15.966.

More to come....

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Dooley finishes 11th in men's trampoline at 2016 Olympics

© John Cheng

• Men's Results: Qualification | Final
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO – Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif/World Elite Gymnastics, finished 11th in the men’s trampoline qualification round at the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the best finish for a U.S. man at the Olympics. Competition continues tomorrow with the individual event finals for men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics at 2 p.m. Rio time.

The trampoline competition features one compulsory and one optional round for the preliminaries, with the top eight advancing to the finals, where one optional routine is performed.

Dooley scored a 47.885 for his compulsory routine highlighted with a layout full-full. In his optional routine, he executed a piked Triffus, half-in tuck Triffus, and tucked Triffus to earn a 58.170. Dooley garnered a combined score of 106.055, to place 11th.

Uladzislau Hancharou of Belarus won the gold medal with a score of 61.745, followed by China’s

Ahsinger finishes 15th in women's trampoline at 2016 Olympic Games

© John Cheng

• Women's Results: Qualification | Final
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO  – Nicole Ahsinger of Lafayette, La./Trampoline and Tumbling Express, finished 15th in the women’s trampoline qualification round at the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Trampoline continues tomorrow at 2 p.m. Rio time with the men’s competition that includes the USA’s Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif/World Elite Gymnastics.

The trampoline competition features one compulsory and one optional round for the preliminaries, with the top eight advancing to the finals, where one optional routine is performed.

Ahsinger scored a 45.250 for a solid compulsory routine highlighted with a double front half-out and piked half-in, Rudi out. Her optional routine included a Rudi out; half-in, half-out piked; double pike; and layout full-full to score a 50.205. The first-time Olympian earned a combined total of 95.455 to finish in 15th place.

Canada’s Rosannagh MacLennan won gold with a score of 56.465. Great Britain’s Bryony Page earned the silver medal with a 56.040 and China’s Dan Li claimed the bronze medal with a 55.885.

Following men’s trampoline, men’s and women’s gymnastics takes center stage again with the individual event finals Aug. 14-16. The U.S. gymnasts competing in the individual event finals are: women’s vault – Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre; uneven bars – Madison Kocian of Dallas, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics, and Gabby Douglas of Tarzana, Calif./Buckeye Gymnastics; balance beam – Biles and Laurie Hernandez of Old Bridge, N.J./MG Elite; floor exercise – Biles and Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics; men’s floor exercise – Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev./Team Hilton (University of Oklahoma) and Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center); pommel horse – Alex Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton (USA Youth Fitness Center); parallel bars– Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton (Universal Gymnastics); and horizontal bar – Leyva and Mikulak;.

Ways to follow the action
NBC is the broadcast and web source for coverage and news on the Olympic Games.

• NBC Olympics.com. NBCOlympics.com will carry live coverage of every gymnastics session as well as all sports, and maintain an archive for on-demand coverage. The gymnastics schedule is listed below.
  • Aug. 13, men’s trampoline qualification and final, 1 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 14, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 15, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 16, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
• NBC. Gymnastics coverage is expected to appear in the primetime broadcast.
  • Aug. 14, individual event finals, 8 p.m. ET, NBC
  • Aug. 15, individual event finals, 8 p.m. ET, NBC
  • Aug. 16, individual event finals, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee are also providing easy ways to follow the action from Rio.

• USAGym2016.com. Original stories, athlete bios, schedules, results and more are available at usagym2016.com.
• USAGym.org. The USA Gymnastics official website is a great source for information about the sport: latest news, the schedule of its premier events, athlete biographies, videos, photo galleries and more.
• TeamUSA.org. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s website will also be a good resource for information on the Team USA in Rio.
• Social Media. USA Gymnastics is providing live updates and exclusive content, including interviews and photos, on Facebook and Twitter (@USAGym).

Team USA Gymnastics Team, Simone Biles Covers Kellogg's Special K Red Berries Boxes

Team Kellogg's™ Athlete And USA Gymnastics Celebrate Gold Medal Wins With Time Honored Kellogg's Tradition
BATTLE CREEK, Mich.  -- In celebration of Simone Biles' individual all-around gold medal win, as well as U.S. women's gymnastics win in the team competition, Kellogg's® has announced that they will be featured on gold medal edition boxes of Kellogg's Special K® Red Berries. The boxes feature Simone's medal image on one side and Team USA's image on the other, as Kellogg's first-ever double-sided pack honoring two distinct achievements. Boxes are available in limited quantities for a short time only on KelloggsFamilyRewards.com.

"We couldn't be prouder of Simone and the women's team after all of their incredible achievements here in Rio representing Team USA," said Noel Geoffroy, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Innovation for Kellogg'sU.S. Morning Foods. "We're excited to continue the time-honored tradition of showcasing America's champions on Kellogg's cereal boxes following their remarkable success at the 2016 Olympic Games. By highlighting what gets her started each day – the support of her teammates - Simone has shown us the daily motivations that drive her to be the best gymnast in the world and helped her reach her full potential at her first Games."

The gold medal edition Kellogg's Special K Red Berries cereal boxes are available now free of charge on KelloggsFamilyRewards.com, while supplies last. Fans can visit KelloggsFamilyRewards.com for information about how to become a member and order their very own collectible box. You can also view Simone's #GetsMeStarted video on Youtube and learn more about her journey to Rio at kelloggs.com/teamusa.

Suggested Tweets:

• Click to Tweet: Gold medal winners @USAGym and @Simone_Biles of #TeamKelloggs featured on gold medal edition Kellogg's Special K boxes! #GetsMeStarted
• Click to Tweet: Visit KelloggsFamilyRewards.com to order your own gold medal edition box of Kellogg's Special K Red Berries. #GetsMeStarted

About Kellogg Company At Kellogg Company (NYSE: K), we strive to make foods people love. This includes our beloved brands – Kellogg's®, Keebler®, Special K®, Pringles®, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes®, Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg's Corn Flakes®, Rice Krispies®, Cheez-It®, Eggo®, Mini-Wheats® and more – that nourish families so they can flourish and thrive. With 2015 sales of $13.5 billion and more than 1,600 foods, Kellogg is the world's leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies, crackers and savory snacks; and a leading North American frozen foods company. Through our Breakfasts for Better DaysTM global hunger initiative, we've provided more than 1.4 billion servings of cereal and snacks to children and families in need around the world. To learn more, visit www.kelloggcompany.com or follow us on Twitter @KelloggCompany, YouTube and on Social K.

Mikulak finishes seventh, Brooks 14th in men’s all-around at 2016 Olympic Games

© John Cheng

• Results
• Photo Gallery
• USAGym2016.com

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 10, 2016 – Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), and Chris Brooks of Houston, Texas/Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), finished seventh and 14th, respectively, in the men’s all-around at the 2016 Olympic Games, held at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, and Aly Raisman, Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics, will compete in the women’s all-around final tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET. 

Japan’s Kohei Uchimura won his second Olympic all-around title with a score of 92.365. Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev earned the silver medal with a 92.266 and Great Britain’s Max Whitlock claimed the bronze medal with a 90.641. 

All-around scores for USA

• Sam Mikulak: all-around, 89.631; floor, 15.200; pommel horse, 14.600; still rings, 14.366; vault, 14.566; parallel bars, 15.766; horizontal bar, 15.133.
• Chris Brooks: all-around, 87.632; floor, 14.600; pommel horse, 13.200; still rings, 14.633; vault, 14.933; parallel bars, 15.066; horizontal bar, 15.200.

Event highlights

• Floor exercise
  • Brooks – front double pike; front double full, barani; tucked Thomas; two-and-a-half twist dismount
  • Mikulak – opens with a two-and-a-half to double front; layout Thomas; closes with a triple twist.
• Pommel horse
  • Mikulak – scissor to open; single pommel work; Magyar, Sivado; handstand dismount.
• Still rings
  • Brooks – Azarian Maltese; back uprise to planche; Maltese; tucked and piked Yamawakis; stuck one-and-a-half twisting, double back dismount.
  • Mikulak – Azarian cross; kip to Maltese; back uprise planche; tucked double-double dismount.
• Vault: Brooks, Handspring double front; Mikulak, Kasumatsu double-full.
• Parallel bars
  • Brooks – front toss; peach to one; peach-half; peach; giant Diamidov; giant; Stutz; Tippelt; double front with a small hop.
  • Mikulak – front toss; peach -half; peach; giant Suarez ;straddled front to moy; Bhavsar; Tippelt; Stutz; stuck double front-half
• Horizontal bar
  • Brooks – Zou Li Min; full Takamoto, Yamawaki, Tkatchev-half; half Takamoto, layout Tkatchev; layout Tkatchev-half; stuck layout double-double
  • Mikulak – Kohlman; quast; full Takamoto, Yamawaki; Tkatchev-half; half Takamoto; Tkatchev; stuck layout double-double dismount.

Individual finals

• Aug. 11. women – all-around, Biles and Raisman
• Aug. 14: men - floor exercise, Mikulak and Dalton, and pommel horse, Naddour; women – vault, Biles and uneven bars, Kocian and Douglas.
• Aug. 15: men – still rings, vault; women – balance beam, Biles and Hernandez
• Aug. 16: men – parallel bars, Leyva, and horizontal bar, Leyva and Mikulak; women – floor exercise, Biles and Raisman.

Ways to follow the action
NBC is the broadcast and web source for coverage and news on the Olympic Games.

• NBC Olympics.com. NBCOlympics.com will carry live coverage of every gymnastics session as well as all sports, and maintain an archive for on-demand coverage. The gymnastics schedule is listed below.
  • Aug. 11, women’s all-around final, 3 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 14, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 15, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 16, individual event finals, 1 p.m. ET
• NBC. Gymnastics coverage is expected to appear in the primetime broadcast.
  • Aug. 10, men’s all-around final, 8 p.m. ET
  • Aug. 11, women’s all-around final, 8 p.m. ET

USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee are also providing easy ways to follow the action from Rio.

• USAGym2016.com. Original stories, athlete bios, schedules, results and more are available at usagym2016.com.
• USAGym.org. The USA Gymnastics official website is a great source for information about the sport: latest news, the schedule of its premier events, athlete biographies, videos, photo galleries and more.
• TeamUSA.org. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s website will also be a good resource for information on the Team USA in Rio.
• Social Media. USA Gymnastics is providing live updates and exclusive content, including interviews and photos, onFacebook and Twitter (@USAGym).

At a Glance: Team USA Takes Repeat Gold Medals in Women’s Gymnastics

© John Cheng

• Results
• USAGym2016.com

By Jo-Ann Barnas, Special Contributor For USA Gymnastics

Unbeatable then. Unstoppable now.

The most dominate team in the world the last three years now has an Olympic gold medal to prove it.

The U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team easily defended the team title it won in London with a masterful performance Tuesday at the Rio Olympic Arena.

Led by three-time World champion Simone Biles, the U.S. women became the first back-to-back Olympic team gold medalists since Romania in 2000 and 2004.

They did it by winning each event en route to an 184.897 total score, more than eight points ahead of silver-medalist Russia. China won the bronze medal.

The Americans had a .700 lead after vault, their first rotation, and extended it to 4.026 after uneven bars and 4.961 after balance beam.

The team of Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian gave a sneak preview of how good they intended to be when they rolled through team qualifying on Sunday, finishing nearly 10 points higher than the second-best team, China.

The women's competition continues for U.S. all-arounders Biles and Raisman on Thursday.

Call them the 'Final Five' - U.S. women's team selects team nickname

• Results
• USAGym2016.com

By Jo-Ann Barnas, Special Contributor For USA Gymnastics

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The wait is over. Meet your "Final Five."

The much-anticipated nickname of the 2016 U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team was unveiled moments after the Americans defended of their team gold this afternoon at the Rio Olympic Arena.

Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez settled on the nickname after a team vote last week. And it wasn't easy keeping it under wraps. Everyone from journalists to media celebrities like Ryan Seacrest had been trying to coax it out of them the past few days -- especially after the U.S. women's dominating performance in Sunday's qualifying.

According to USA Gymnastics Senior Vice President Rhonda Faehn, the "Final Five" nickname was selected because Rio will be the final Olympics featuring five team members; the sizes have been reduced to four starting at the 2020 Olympics.

Coincidently, it also happens to be the number of U.S. Olympic teams that retiring national team coordinator Martha Karolyi has overseen since succeeding husband Bela in 2001, leading the U.S. women to team silver or gold the last three games.

The Final Five follows on the heels of their gold-medal predecessors, the "Fierce Five." The 2012 Olympic team revealed that nickname before the team final in London, with Raisman, Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross living up to its billing as the team went on to outscore silver medalist Russia by more than five points. It was the second team gold for the U.S since 1996's Magnificent Seven, and first on international soil.

The team members who made up the Magnificent Seven and produced Team USA's first-ever women's gymnastics gold at the Atlanta Games were: Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps.

Biles named AAU Sullivan Award semi-finalist; online voting ends March 14

© John Cheng

INDIANAPOLIS – For the second year in a row, three-time World all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, has been named an AAU Sullivan Award semi-finalist.

Online voting for the 86th AAU James E. Sullivan Award is open until March 14. Fans can vote once per day. Click here to vote.

Biles is a three-time World all-around champion (2013-15), three-time U.S. all-around champion (2013-15), three-time world floor champion (2013-15), two-time world balance beam champion (2014-15) and a member of the gold-medal-winning American teams at the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Photo is courtesy of USA Gymnastics

Biles became the first woman to win 10 career World gold medals, as well as four gold medals at consecutive World Championships. She also clinched a historic third straight World all-around title at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain. Biles now has 14 World medals, tied for third all time and the most ever earned by a U.S. gymnast, male or female. She also won her third consecutive U.S. all-around title, becoming the first woman to accomplish the three-peat since Kim Zmeskal. Biles has won every all-around competition she has entered since the 2013 P&G Championships, USA Gymnastics’ national championships, in August 2013.

Three gymnasts have previously won the Sullivan Award: Shawn Johnson (2008), Paul Hamm (2004) and Kurt Thomas (1979).

Hershey announces partnership with USA Gymnastics and Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller

HERSHEY, Pa. – The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) and its flagship brand, Hershey’s, today announced its two-year partnership with USA Gymnastics as the exclusive confectionery sponsor through 2017. Hershey also proudly welcomed Shannon Miller, the most decorated American gymnast in history and two-time Olympic gold medalist, to be a part of the Hershey family and serve as a brand ambassador through the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The relationship with the Olympic sport’s U.S national governing body and the gymnastics legend is effective immediately.

As an official sponsor of USA Gymnastics, Hershey’s, America’s iconic chocolate bar, will bring moments of goodness and patriotic pride to consumers, athletes and fans while elevating the passion for the sport nationwide. Hershey’s will be the presenting sponsor of 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships and serve as a key sponsor of the 2016 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions, conducted by USA Gymnastics following the 2016 Olympic Games.

“Hershey’s is honored and proud to partner with USA Gymnastics and work with the legendary

Gabrielle Douglas claims first AT&T American Cup title; Whittenburg wins silver

• Results: Men | Women
• Photo Gallery
• Videos: All Routines | International Broadcast

By John Powers

This time it was official. When Gabby Douglas 'won' the AT&T American Cup during the last Olympic year she was participating as an alternate whose scores didn't count. "It just feels so good to actually be a competitor," the London champion said Saturday afternoon after she had outpointed teammate Maggie Nichols to win the women's title inside Newark's Prudential Center in the season's first major international meet. "The time before, I wasn’t, so I was so happy to be out on the floor and my scores counted."

Douglas went wire-to-wire with a performance that indicated that she was well along her comeback trail en route to this summer's Games in Rio de Janeiro. "There's just something that flips and something that clicks," said Douglas, who won on vault, beam and bars and was second on floor for a total of 60.165 to Nichols' 59.699. "I'm so honored to still have that clicking mode when the cameras are on, when it counts."

Nichols, who won floor and was second in the other events, was solid and secure in what was meant to be a showcase opportunity as an all-arounder. "I think I gained a lot more confidence knowing that I can hit my routines in this big of a meet," said Nichols, who was a key contributor to last year's U.S. team victory at the World Championships.

It was the 14th consecutive time that the American women had won the all-around title and only a slipped hand in the final rotation deprived the U.S. of a victory in the men's competition, as well. Donnell Whittenburg, who'd placed first on floor, rings, vault and parallel bars, was in the lead after five rotations when he fell on horizontal bar, allowing Japanese rival Ryohei Kato to slip past him for the crown.

"It's been a while since a Japanese has won the American Cup," observed Kato, who was the first victor from his country since Mitsuo Tsukahara in 1977. "So it was good to ride the momentum from Worlds last year and to put on a good show."

While Whittenburg was disappointed by his mishap, he felt that his overall effort was an encouraging milestone on his buildback from last year's global meet. "I feel like it was a really good day except for the last event," said Whittenburg, whose 88.565 score was .366 of a point shy of Kato's. "It definitely will help me in my consistency and that's what I've been striving for right now. Just try to hit sets as best as I can the majority of the time."

Sam Mikulak, who won the title two years ago, had a rough outing with a break on pommel horse and a fall on high bar, but managed to finish fourth behind China's Sun Wei. "It's not the competition I wanted, but maybe the competition I needed," said Mikulak, who is working his way back from a left ankle injury. "This definitely got a fire building inside of me. It's never fun to look up and see other people winning an American event."

The U.S. women haven't had that experience since Russia's Elena Zamolodchikova prevailed in 2001. With two members from last year's global gold-medal team, the Americans were the class of the field that included challengers from the British, Canadian, Italian, Dutch and Brazilian World squads.

"For the beginning of the season, it is very much promising," said national team coordinator Martha Karolyi. "They hit four routines of four. We still have some little upgrade that we will be introducing in our routines later in the season, but they actually competed as I expected."

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RCN America Network wants to congratulate Gabrielle Douglas on winning the AT&T American Cup.

USA Gymnastics Names Women's Team For Pacific Rim Championships

© John Cheng / Filippo Tomasi

INDIANAPOLIS,  Indiana  –  2013 World all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, 2012 Olympic team gold medalist Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max, and 2014 AT&T American Cup champion Elizabeth Price of Coopersburg, Pa./Parkettes, headline the six women slated to compete at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships in Richmond, B.C., Canada, April 9-11.

Juniors Bailie Key of Montgomery, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics, Nia Dennis of Westerville, Ohio/Buckeye Gymnastics, and Norah Flatley of Cumming, Iowa/Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, have also been named to the team.

Earlier, USA Gymnastics announced the six men who will represent Team USA at the event: John Orozco of Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center), Alex Naddour of Gilbert, Ariz./Team Hilton Honors (USA Youth Fitness Center), and Chris Brooks of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics), seniors; and Davis Grooms of Katy, Texas/Champions Gymnastics, Marty Strech of Fountain Valley, Calif./Azarian U.S. Gymnastics Training Center, and Alec Yoder of Indianapolis, Ind./InterActive Academy, juniors.

In rhythmic gymnastics, the United States team is Aliya Protto of Culver City, Calif./California Rhythms; Cindy Lu of Staten Island, N.Y./Isadora; and Valeriya Sharipova of Livingston, N.J./Independent, seniors; and Nastasya Generalova of Los Angeles, Calif./California Rhythms, Ekatherina Kapitonova of Staten Island, N.Y./Isadora, and Brigita Budginas of Agoura Hills, Calif./Platinum Gymnastics Academy, juniors.

The U.S.'s junior rhythmic group will also compete, which includes Sophia Popova of Minneapolis, Minn./Twin Cities Rhythmic; Nicole Sladkov of Vernon Hills, Ill./M & N Rhythmic Academy; Elina Nikerina of Deerfield, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center; Nicky Wojtana of Plano, Texas/Texas Rhythmic Academy; Yelyzaveta Merenzon of Buffalo Grove, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center; and Emily Rakhnyansky of Brooklyn, N.Y./MatchPoint.

USA Wins 13 Medals In Final Day Of Jesolo Trophy

L-R: Andreea Munteanu (Romania), Madison Kocian, MyKayla Skinner, Norah Flatley, Bailie Key
© Luigi Fardella

• Team and All-Around Finals

JESOLO, Italy – The U.S. women claimed 13 medals during the event finals of the City of Jesolo (Italy) Trophy competition held today. The senior champions were MyKayla Skinner, Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights Gymnastics, vault and floor, and Madison Kocian of Plano, Texas/WOGA, uneven bars. In the junior competition, Bailie Key of Montgomery, Texas/Texas Dreams, won the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise titles. Norah Flatley of Cumming, Iowa/Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, took the balance beam gold.

Opening the competition, Skinner vaulted a two-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko and a Yurchenko half-on, Rudi off to take the vault title with a 15.634 average score. Italy's Alesia Leolini was second with 13.617. Skinner and Leolini were the only competitors in the vault final.

In the second final, Kocian scored a 15.033 after sticking her full-twisting double back dismount on bars. 2012 Olympic team gold medalist Kyla Ross of Aliso, Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max, was just behind in second, at 14.967, with Italy's Giorgia Campana taking the bronze, 14.000.

Alyssa Baumann of Plano, Texas/WOGA, tied for the silver medal with Italy's Elisa Meneghini with a 14.200 on balance beam. She executed a standing Arabian and dismounted with a two-and-a-half twist. Romania's Andreea Munteanu won the gold, scoring 14.833. Ross fell on her acrobatic series and finished sixth, 13.433.

On the floor exercise, Skinner grabbed her second gold medal of the afternoon. She tumbled an impressible layout double-double to open her routine, which earned a 14.533. Ross was second with 14.233, and Munteanu took the bronze (13.967).

In the junior competition, Flatley tumbled two back handsprings to a two-foot layout to grab the balance beam title with a 14.667. Key was second, 14.533, and Romania's Andreea Iridon was third with 14.300.

Key opened her floor routine with an Arabian double front to stag leap and one-and-a-half through to a triple full. She earned a 14.533 for the gold medal. Romania's Laura Jura, 13.733, and Japan's Yuka Momiyama, 13.633, were second and third, respectively.

Key and Jordan Chiles of Vancouver, Wash./Naydenov Gymnastics, both performed Yurchenko double twists and Yurchenko full twists to finish first and second on the vault. Key averaged a 14.934 for gold. Chiles posted a 14.350 for second. Jurca was third with 14.234.

In the last final, Key added her third gold of the day by taking the uneven bars title. She closed her routine with a stalder full pirouette to a full-twisting double back dismount to score 14.267. Nia Dennis of Westerville, Ohio/Buckeye Gymnastics, was second on the event, 13.933, followed by Japan's Marina Kawasaki with a 13.367.

USA Gymnastics names 2013 Women's World Championships Team

Huntsville, Texas – 2012 Olympic team gold-medalists McKayla Maroney of Long Beach, Calif./All-Olympia Gymnastics Center, and Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max Gymnastics, are among the four women named to the U.S. Team for the 2013 World Championships, scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 6 in Antwerp, Belgium. 2013 U.S. all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/Bannon's Gymnastix, Inc., and 2013 all-around bronze-medalist Brenna Dowell of Odessa, Mo./GAGE, complete the squad. The team was selected following the conclusion of the 2013 World Championships Team Selection Camp, held at the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Camp at the Karolyi Ranch, a U.S. Olympic Training Site, in Huntsville, Texas.

The 2013 World Championships is an individual championships, which means there is no team competition and each gymnast will be coached by her personal coach.

The competition schedule for the World Championships is: Sept. 30 – men's qualification, 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.; Oct. 1 – men's and women's qualification, 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; Oct. 2 – women's qualification, 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Oct. 3 – men's all-around finals, 8 p.m.; Oct. 4 – women's all-around finals, 8 p.m.; Oct. 5 – event finals, men's floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings and women's vault and uneven bars, 2:30 p.m.; and Oct. 6 – event finals, men's vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars, and women's balance beam and floor exercise, 2:30 p.m. Based on the draw, the women are competing in the qualification round in: Subdivision 1, vault; Subdivision 3, uneven bars; Subdivision 4, floor exercise. The men's draw is: Subdivision 1, starts on parallel bars; Subdivision 3, parallel bars; Subdivision 4, floor exercise.

The members of the U.S. Men's Team for the World Championships are: Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Oklahoma); Steven Legendre of Port Jefferson, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (Oklahoma); 2013 U.S. all-around champion Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./University of Michigan; Alexander Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton HHonors (USA Youth Fitness Center); John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center); and Brandon Wynn, Voorhees, N.J./Team Hilton HHonors (Ohio State University). The remaining alternates are: Eddie Penev of Penfield, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (Stanford University); and Paul Ruggeri of Manlius, N.Y./Team Hilton Honors (U.S. Gymnastics Developmental Center II).

The women's team was determined by the Selection Committee. The criteria considered when selecting the team included: results from the P&G Championships; hit consistency and results from past international and national competitions; D-scores for difficulty, and E-scores for execution; consistency; medal potential; composition of individual strengths among the team members; readiness to compete; etc.