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The United States reached the top of the podium for the fifth straight time at the World Gymnastics Championships on Tuesday. The team were brilliantly lead by Simone Biles, as the 22-year-old scored the highest marks on every apparatus that gave her team the gold medal at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. The Russians finished second six points back and Italy made history with a bronze medal finish.
The Americans looked destined for another great run at the championship and Biles at the helm gave the United States every chance of dominating. Coming out of qualifications with high marks, they led the way with Russia and China standing as their best competitors.
Biles set the bar high as usual with a 15.400 and dazzled the crowd on floor with her new tumbling pass. The triple twisting double tuck in her routine scored her a 15.333. Teammate Kara Eaker scored a 14.000 on the beam that propelled their overall score with Sunisa Lee’s to a 40.966 marking the third highest team score of the day. The victory gave Biles her 15th world championship gold medal putting her ahead of Svetlana Khorkina for overall medals haul. (21).
The Russian Federation were out of the running during the second rotation on the balance beam where Anastasia Agafonova and Lilia Akhaimova both fell on their routines. Despite the two mistakes they scored well on 10 of 12 routines throughout the competition. China suffered after finishing second in qualifications with two falls from Liu Tingting on the uneven bars. She then fell off the balance beam which she was the defending champion on.
It opened the doosr for Italy who were consistent enough by nailing the landings on vault and the uneven bars. With comfortable routines on floor, they clinched a bronze medal for the first time in 69 years. With just enough to qualify for the competition, they relied on triple gold medalist Giorgia Villa of the Youth Olympic Games to carry her team to the new milestone.
For Biles and Lee, they gained a shot at competing in the All-Around Final on Thursday with France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos scoring the third highest score on the day.
