© John Cheng

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Oct. 20, 2010 – The U.S. women won the team silver medal, finishing just 0.201 points behind Russia, at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The U.S. women continued their streak of winning a team medal at every World Championships and Olympic Games since 2000.

The fight for the title came down to the last rotation. The USA finished up on vault, performing three well-executed vaults: Mackenzie Caquatto of Naperville, Ill., and Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass., both competed a Yurchenko double-full, and Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., had great amplitude on her powerful front handspring layout one-and-a-half twist. The Russians and Chinese concluded with the floor exercise. When the chalk had settled, the Russians had edged out the USA, 175.397 to 175.196. China was third at 174.781.

"This was a very dramatic competition," said Martha Karolyi, the women’s national team coordinator. "I think the girls did a good job. They were not quite as solid on the beam as they were the other day, but they stayed on. We hit bars and the vault was excellent so I feel good except we had a mistake on floor and we could not make up for that."

Sacramone, who is competing in her fourth World Championships, said, "The silver feels good. Obviously we wanted gold – we always do – but the girls did a really good job. We had a little mistake here and there but I was happy we pulled it together. We went out there and did the best we could. Waiting for Russia to finish (their floor routines) was not what we were planning on having to do, but that’s what it came down to."

The U.S. women’s team scores for each apparatus were: uneven bars – 44.065; balance beam – 43.799; floor exercise – 41.666; and vault – 45.666.

The six women on the U.S. Team are: Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA; Caquatto, who trains at Legacy Elite Gymnastics; Mattie Larson of Los Angeles/All Olympia; Raisman and Sacramone, both of whom train at Brestyan’s American Gymnastics; and Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s Gymnastics. Chelsea Davis of Austin, Texas/Texas Dreams is the alternate.

On bars, Caquatto had three release moves with a solid Tkatchev, along with a full twisting double back dismount. Sloan had nice lower in-bar/stalder work and dismounted with a double layout. Bross also had great in-bar work with a stalder and Tkatchev, finishing with a full twisting double back dismount.

Photos by John Cheng

 

On beam, Raisman did a solid Arabian double-front dismount. Sacramone had a great front pike mount and a solid back-handspring double-pike dismount. Bross’ routine included a standing Arabian front and an Arabian double-front dismount.

On floor, Bross had a solid routine with a layout double front on her first pass and ended with a two-and-a-half punch full. Raisman had a unique first pass which included back one-and-a-half twist step-out to a double Arabian immediate split jump and dismounted with a nice double pike. Larson had some challenges in her routine, but she stuck her double layout on her first pass and triple full on her second pass.

The U.S. men compete in the men’s team finals on Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) on Oct. 21. The members of the World Team are: Chris Brooks of Houston/University of Oklahoma; Chris Cameron of Winter Haven, Fla./University of Michigan; Jonathan Horton of Houston/Cypress Gymnastics; Steven Legendre of Flower Mound, Texas/University of Oklahoma; Danell Leyva of Miami/Universal Gymnastics; and Brandon Wynn of Voorhees, N.J./Ohio State University. Paul Ruggeri of Manlius, N.Y./University of Illinois, is the alternate.

The World Championships features team, all-around and individual event competition. Qualification rounds determine advancement to the team, all-around, and apparatus finals. The women’s qualification rounds are Oct. 16-17, with the men’s Oct. 18-19. The top eight teams compete in the team finals on Oct. 20 (women) and 21 (men). The top 24 individuals compete in the all-around final on Oct. 22 (men and women). For individual events, the top eight on each apparatus from the qualification rounds advance to the finals (Oct. 23-24). A maximum of two gymnasts per country advances to the all-around and individual event finals.

Fans can follow the action on both Universal Sports and NBC Sports. Universal Sports is carrying a live webcast on universalsports.com and providing same-day, tape-delayed primetime broadcasts on its cable network for all of the final rounds, as well as hosting "Around the Gym, presented by AT&T" after each night’s broadcast to recap the day’s performance and preview the upcoming competition. The live webcast for all of the final rounds is only $9.99 with the code USAGYMFAN. NBC Sports will broadcast coverage on Oct. 23 and 24. For the complete web and TV schedules, go to usagym.org/worlds.

On its official website usagym.org/worlds, USA Gymnastics will provide enhanced coverage from Rotterdam that will include results and exclusive photos from the competition as well as daily video interviews. USA Gymnastics will also post event updates on its Facebook and Twitter pages and provide LIVE team scores and rankings from each day of Team USA competition @USA_GymEvents.

In addition to awarding world medals, the 2010 World Championships also determine the 24 countries that advance to the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. Countries have two opportunities to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games, finishing in the top eight in the team competition at the 2011 World Championships or in the top four at the 2012 Olympic Test Event in London. World champions and medalists will be determined for both men and women in the team, all-around and individual events.

2010 World Championships
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 20, 2010
Women’s team finals

Team standings
1. Russia, 175.397
2. USA, 175.196
2. China, 174.781

U.S. women’s event scores (in order they were competed)

Uneven bars
Mackenzie Caquatto, 14.666
Bridget Sloan, 14.566
Rebecca Bross, 14.833

Balance beam
Alexandra Raisman, 14.333
Alicia Sacramone, 14.600
Rebecca Bross, 14.866

Floor exercise
Mattie Larson, 12.533
Rebecca Bross, 14.633
Alexandra Raisman, 14.500

Vault
Mackenzie Caquatto, 15.000
Alexandra Raisman, 15.066
Alicia Sacramone, 15.600