In the most dominant performance of a women’s team at a world championships in recent history, the U.S. Women’s Team steamrolled the competition, winning nine total medals (four gold, four silver and one bronze). Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis., Nastia Liukin of Plano, Texas, and Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., won world titles, with Liukin picking up two. This is the USA women’s best performance ever at a World Championships, bettering the five medals collected in 1993 (three gold and two silver).
A quick summary of the U.S. women’s achievements
- Nine medals (four gold, four silver and one bronze)
- Four 1-2 finishes (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise)
- First U.S. all-around title since 1994 (Shannon Miller, 1993-94)
- First U.S. 1-2 finish in the women’s world all-around vMemmel’s 0.001 margin of victory over Liukin is the closest finish since 1985 when two Soviets tied for the title
- Sacramone’s bronze vault medal is the USA’s second world vault medal; Brandy Johnson was the silver medalist in 1989.
- Ties most medals won by a country at a single World Championships at nine (Romania had nine in 1987 with four gold, one silver and four bronze) since countries are limited to two athletes in a final
For the men, both Todd Thornton of Pearland, Texas, and Jason Gatson of Mesa, Ariz., competed in final rounds for the all-around (20th) and parallel bars (7th), respectively.