NANNING, China, Oct. 8, 2014 – The U.S. Women’s Team made USA Gymnastics history by winning the USA’s second consecutive World team title at the 2014 World Championships at the Guangxi Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanning, China. The USA led the entire competition, winning by a convincing 6.693 margin over runner-up China. Russia rounded out the top three. Competition continues tomorrow with the men’s all-around finals at 7 p.m. local time/7 a.m. ET. Fans in the United States can watch live coverage on USAGymWorlds.com.
The USA is the first to win back-to-back women’s World team titles since Romania’s string of five (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001 (a team competition was not held during the missing years or during an Olympic year). The U.S. Team won the team title at the 2011 World Championships, the last time a World team competition was held. The USA also took top team honors at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The women’s squad features Alyssa Baumann of Plano, Texas/WOGA; Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre; Madison Kocian of Dallas/WOGA; Ashton Locklear of Huntersville, N.C./Everest Gymnastics; Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max; and MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights. Madison Desch of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE, is the alternate, and Jenny Liang of Gym-Max is the women’s head coach.
The USA led throughout the competition, posting a total of 179.280. China was second at 172.587, followed by Russia at 171.462.
On vault, Ross led off for the USA with a clean Yurchenko double twist for a 15.100. Skinner was second and performed a Cheng (Yurchenko half-on, Rudi off) to score a 15.775. Biles closed the rotation with a big Amanar vault and earned a 15.866.
Ross was the lead gymnast again on the uneven bars, where she showed her trademark routine and stuck her double layout dismount for a 14.733. Second up, Kocian delivered a 14.900 after sticking her full out dismount. Locklear anchored the event, beginning her routine with an in-bar stalder full to in-bar Shaposhnikova to Pak salto for a 15.100.
Opening with a clean standing Arabian, Baumann was elegant throughout her balance beam routine and earned a 14.500. Ross was second and saved a side somi in the middle of her routine. The remainder of her routine was nearly flawless and she posted a 14.333. Biles closed the event, performing a front aerial to sissone and two back handsprings to full-in dismount for a 14.966.
Opening with an Arabian double to stag leap, Ross scored a 13.966 on floor exercise. She closed her routine with a clean double back tuck. Skinner was second up and opened with back-to-back layout and tucked double-doubles. Dismounting with a one-and-a-half to a two-and-a-half, she posted a 14.666. The last competitor of the competition, Biles had the arena stage to herself. Needing just an 8.683 to take the team gold medal, she never let up. Wowing the crowd with her soaring tumbling – including a tucked double-double and the Biles (double layout half-out) – she tallied a 15.375.
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 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China. The time difference between Nanning and New York City is 12 hours; when it is noon in Nanning, it is midnight in New York. For more information on the World Championships, please go to usagymworlds.com.
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Live webcasts. UniversalSports.com will have live webcasts of the team, all-around and individual event finals from Nanning, which will also be available at usagymworlds.com. For U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings time, the live webcasts are scheduled for: Oct. 9 – men’s all-around, 7 a.m.; Oct. 10 – women’s all-around, 7 a.m.; Oct. 11-12 – individual event finals, 1 a.m.
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Cable TV. Universal Sports Network will air each finals session of the 2014 World Championships daily from 8-10 p.m. ET on Oct. 7-12. In addition, UniversalSports.com will provide LIVE streaming of the final six sessions. The network’s broadcast team includes Olympic gold medalists Bart Conner and Amanda Borden. Live webstreams of the finals sessions will also be available at usagymworlds.com.
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NBC. NBC will broadcast coverage of the Worlds on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. ET, hosted by NBC Sports Group’s gymnastics team of Al Trautwig, Tim Daggett, 1984 Olympic team gold medalist, and Nastia Liukin, 2008 Olympic all-around champion.
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usagymworlds.com. USA Gymnastics will provide enhanced coverage from Nanning, including results, photos, interviews and the webcast. Fans can also follow the action on Facebook, facebook.com/USAGymnastics, and Twitter, @usagym, #FIGWorlds2014ART or #USAGymWorlds.
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Live scoring. The International Gymnastics Federation provides live scoring from its World Championships. For more information and access, go to fig-gymnastics.com.