© John Cheng

GLASGOW, Great Britain, Oct. 24, 2015 – After the conclusion of the women’s qualifying round at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Great Britain, the U.S. women not only qualified the USA for the 2016 Olympic Games, but they also finished atop the preliminary rankings for the team finals. Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, and Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Buckeye Gymnastics, finished first and third, respectively, in the all-around qualification rankings. In addition, at least one American qualified for every individual event final. The U.S. men will compete on Oct. 26 at 4:30 p.m. local/12:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern time in the seventh of the men’s eight qualifying-round subdivisions. The women’s team finals are on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Fans in the U.S. can watch coverage of Team USA, presented by AT&T, live on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel or at USAGymWorlds.com/live.

The seven women on the U.S. squad are: Brenna Dowell of Odessa, Mo./GAGE; Madison Kocian of Dallas/WOGA; Maggie Nichols of Little Canada, Minn./Twin City Twisters; Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics; Biles; Douglas; and MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights, who is the alternate.

For the event finals, Biles qualified for the vault, balance beam and floor exercise finals based on leading the qualification ranking for all three of those events. Both Kocian and Douglas advanced to the uneven bars finals, ranking third and sixth, respectively, in the event final rankings. Nichols qualified for the floor final based on her third-place ranking in the prelims and is the third reserve athlete for beam. The two-athlete maximum rule for individual finals precluded Raisman from the all-around (fifth) and floor (seventh) finals and Biles from the bars (eighth) final.

From the qualification round, the top eight countries advanced to team finals, with the top 24 moving on to the all-around final. For each individual apparatus, the top eight in the preliminary rankings compete in the event’s finals.

On the floor exercise, Douglas started the competition off for Team USA with her routine that was highlighted with a double Arabian and a full-twisting double back, earning a 14.400. Despite a technical glitch with her music, Dowell delivered her routine that included her signature piked-double front that received a 13.966. Nichols opened with a double twisting double back, posting a 14.700. Raisman’s 14.533 included her difficult double layout pass. Biles wrapped up the event for the USA posting a big score, 15.966, for a lively routine that featured a huge full-twisting double layout and closed with a full-twisting double back. The team’s score was a 59.599.

On vault, Team USA had a solid rotation highlighted by a massive 16.000 for Biles’ Amanar. Raisman and Nichols also threw Amanars, posting a 15.133 and a 15.666, respectively. Douglas’ and Dowell’s double twisting Yurchenkos earned a 15.300 and 15.100, respectively. The team score was 62.099.

Kocian scored a 15.233 for her intricate routine that she capped off with a stuck full-twisting double back. Douglas hit her routine to score a 14.750 with a stuck double layout dismount. Biles had a solid bar set highlighted by her full-twisting double back dismount earning a 14.666. Raisman finished with a solid double front to post a 13.066. Dowell, who suffered uncharacteristic errors during her routine, tallied an 11.333. The squad’s total score was 57.715.

Wrapping up the competition on the balance beam, Biles hit her triple series and ended her routine with a solid full-twisting double back with a tiny hop for a 14.966. Nichols closed her beam routine with a clean double pike for a 14.166. Raisman’s routine that ended with her Patterson dismount scored a 14.066. Douglas dismounted with a double pike to score a 13.066. Kocian, who started the rotation for the USA, earned a 14.000. The team’s event score was 57.198.

The U.S. men compete on the second of two days of men’s qualifying. The members of U.S. Men’s Team are: Chris Brooks of Houston/Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center); Danell Leyva of Miami, Fla./Team Hilton (Universal Gymnastics); Alexander Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton (USA Youth Fitness Center); Paul Ruggeri of Manlius, N.Y./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center); Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center); and Brandon Wynn of Voorhees, N.J./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center). Marvin Kimble of Milwaukee, Wis./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), is the alternate.

Qualification round line-up
Still rings: Leyva, Brooks, Naddour, Whittenburg, Wynn
Vault: Leyva, Brooks, Ruggeri, Naddour, Whittenburg
Parallel bars: Ruggeri, Wynn, Brooks, Whittenburg, Leyva
Horizontal bar: Wynn, Ruggeri, Whittenburg, Brooks, Leyva
Floor exercise: Naddour, Brooks, Ruggeri, Leyva, Whittenburg
Pommel horse: Ruggeri, Brooks, Leyva, Whittenburg, Naddour
*Both Ruggeri and Whittenburg are competing two vaults.

This year’s World Championships, which conclude Nov. 1, are the first of two opportunities for countries to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The top eight teams from Glasgow advance to the 2016 Olympics, as well as any individual event medalists who are not on a qualifying team to the Olympics or Olympic Test Event. Countries ranked nine through 16 in the team rankings advance to the Olympic Test Event next April, where four more teams and various individual athletes will qualify for Rio.

Ways to follow the action
Here’s a quick overview of the ways to watch and follow the U.S. Team’s performances at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Due to daylight saving time, from Oct. 19-24 and Nov. 1, Glasgow will be five hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone. From Oct. 25-31, Glasgow will be four hours ahead of the Eastern time zone. For more information on the World Championships and the complete online and television schedule, go to USAGymWorlds.com. All coverage of the World Championships is presented by AT&T.

 

  • USAGymWorlds.com will have live webcasts (U.S. viewers only) of U.S. podium training and selected qualification sessions, including those that feature U.S. athletes. The coverage will also be archived for on-demand viewing.
    • Oct. 26, U.S. men’s qualification round – 12:30 p.m. ET, Subdivision 7.
  • Live streaming of the six finals sessions will be available on UniversalSports.com and USAGymWorlds.com.
    • Oct. 27, women’s team final, 2:45 p.m. ET
    • Oct. 28, men’s team final, 1:55 p.m. ET
    • Oct. 29, women’s all-around final, 2:45 p.m. ET
    • Oct. 30, men’s all-around final, 2:10 p.m. ET
    • Oct. 31, individual event finals (men’s floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings; women’s vault, uneven bars), 9:30 a.m. ET
    • Nov. 1, individual event finals (men’s vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar; women’s balance beam, floor exercise), 8:30 a.m. ET
  • Universal Sports Network will air each finals session of the World Championships daily at 8 p.m. ET Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 1 and at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 31. The network’s broadcast team includes Olympic gold medalists Bart Conner and Amanda Borden.
  • NBC will broadcast delayed Worlds coverage on Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. and Nov. 1 at 12 p.m., with commentary from NBC Sports Group’s gymnastics team of Tim Daggett, 1984 Olympic team gold medalist, Nastia Liukin, 2008 Olympic all-around champion, and Al Trautwig.
  • USA Gymnastics will provide enhanced coverage from Glasgow, including results, photos, interviews and the webcast. Fans can also follow the action on Facebook, facebook.com/USAGymnastics, and Twitter, @usagym, #FIGWorlds2015ART or #USAGymWorlds.
  • Live scoring. The International Gymnastics Federation provides live scoring from its World Championships. For more information and access, go to fig-gymnastics.com.