The U.S. women’s gymnastics team survived the team preliminary round on Sunday, finishing in sixth place overall to qualify for the team finals on Tuesday.
Led by current European champion Svetlana Khorkina, Russia finished the day in first with 154.874 points. Romania was second with 153.991, China third with 153.388, Ukraine fourth with 151.914, Spain fifth with 151.558. The U.S. scored 151.439 points.
The U.S. team competed in the first of four sessions today at the Sydney SuperDome – they finished in second place behind China in the morning session.
The Americans started on beam and national champion Elise Ray turned in the team’s best performance with a 9.687. Three-time Olympian Dominque Dawes fell after a front salto to score a 8.60.
1996 Olympic medalist Amy Chow and Kristen Maloney posted the team’s best floor scores with 9.525s. Elise Ray complained of sore shoulder that “popped out” during her first tumbling pass but said later the shoulder “popped back in” and was not sore. Ray went out of bounds and scored a 9.225.
The team performed well on vault with Ray and Chow scoring 9.468s. Ray turned in the top bars score with 9.687 but Amy Chow had a break and stopped mid-routine, scoring a 9.40.
Tasha Schwikert competed on beam and bars while Dantzcher worked floor and vault.
The U.S. men compete Monday in the team finals starting at 7 PM.