US wins women's team title at gymnastics worlds

Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-31 11:03:29|Editor: Li Xia

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DOHA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The US women's gymnastics team jumped out to a 2.7-point lead after the first rotation and never looked back as it cruised to victory at the world championships in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.

The United States scored 171.629 points, besting second-place Russia, which scored 162.863 points. China was third with 162.396 points. The margin between gold and silver was the largest under the 12-year-old scoring system.

With the win, the US has now won every Olympic and world team title dating back to 2011, and it also secured a berth into the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The top three teams in Doha earned Olympic qualification, although the gymnasts who make up that team won't be selected until that summer.

Competing in all four events, American superstar Simone Biles led the way for the five-woman US team. Joining her on the US team was Morgan Hurd, last year's world all-around champion, who competed on three events Tuesday. Grace McCallum, who turned 16 on Tuesday, and Riley McCusker each did two events, while Kara Eaker performed only on balance beam.

Biles opened with a 15.500 on vault, joining McCallum and Hurd to score 44.666 points on the event. China, the next best team in the first rotation, had 41.966 points. No team got close to the US after that.

On uneven bars, Hurd scored 14.433, McCusker 14.500 and Biles 14.866 to extend the overall lead to 4.666.

That continued on the balance beam, as McCusker, Eaker and Biles combined to score 41.799, which sent the Americans into the final rotation with a 6.533 lead.

The US ended on floor exercise, with Hurd, McCallum and Biles performing. It's more like routine work as the American girls secured the gold in spite of several mistakes.

The world championships continue through Saturday. Biles and Hurd will compete for the all-around title on Thursday and the uneven bars title on Friday. Biles will also go for her first vault world title on Friday. On Saturday, Biles and Hurd go for floor exercise medals, while Biles and Eaker compete for balance beam medals.