DOHA, Qatar, Oct. 30, 2018 – The U.S. women won the World team gold medal, the USA’s sixth team title, at the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The USA also qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The USA’s Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, California/U.S. Olympic Training Center, and Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colorado/University of Oklahoma, will compete in the men’s all-around final on Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. Doha time/9 a.m. ET. U.S. fans can watch the finals live on olympicchannel.com and on the Olympic Channel.
In the team final, the USA posted a 171.629. The USA’s 8.766-point margin of victory is its largest margin in winning any of its previous five World or Olympic team titles. Russia was second at 162.863, edging out China at 162.396. All three countries that medaled in the team competition advanced to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The USA’s team scores for each event were: vault, 44.666; uneven bars, 43.799; balance beam, 41.799; and floor exercise, 41.365. The USA’s sixth World team title puts them third in the list of most team titles, behind the Soviet Union’s 11 and Romania’s seven.
The U.S. women’s team includes Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre; Kara Eaker of Grain Valley, Missouri/Great American Gymnastics Express; Morgan Hurd of Middletown, Del./First State Gymnastics; Grace McCallum of Isanti, Minn./Twin City Twisters; Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J./MG Elite; and Ragan Smith of Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics, is the alternate.
The women begin on vault and were paired with Russia. Three athletes competed on each event, and all three scores counted.
- Vault: McCallum, 14.533; Hurd, 14.633; Biles, 15.500
- Uneven bars: Hurd, 14.433; McCusker, 14.500; Biles, 14.866
- Balance beam: McCusker, 13.733; Eaker, 14.333; Biles, 13.733
- Floor exercise: Hurd, 12.966; McCallum, 13.633; Biles, 14.766
Both Biles and Hurd will compete in the women’s all-around on Nov. 1. Biles will compete in all four event finals. The U.S. women will compete on both days: Nov. 2 – vault, Biles; uneven bars, Biles and Hurd; and Nov. 3, balance beam – Biles and Eaker; and floor exercise, Biles and Hurd.
The remaining finals schedule is: Oct. 31, men’s all-around, 9 a.m. ET; Nov. 1, women’s all-around; Nov. 2, event finals (men – floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings; women – vault, uneven bars), 9 a.m. ET; and Nov. 3, event finals (men – vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar; women – balance beam, floor exercise), 9 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available on the International Gymnastics Federation’s website.
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The organization is committed to creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes. USA Gymnastics has already taken specific, concrete steps to strengthen its safe sport policies and procedures. The organization’s disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and gymnastics for all (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more complete information, log on to usagym.org.