Congratulations to China. They easily defeated a much more experienced team.
1. China 188.900
2. USA 186.525
3. Romania 181.525
The days when pundits assume “Chinese gymnasts collapse under pressure” are ended. The Chinese women are now physically, technically AND psychologically the best team in the world.
All hail.
From International Gymnast:
The Chinese women danced to their first Olympic gymnastics team title Wednesday in Beijing, defeating the world champion American team and the defending champion Romania.
China trailed the U.S. after the first rotation on vault, but pulled ahead with a spectacular display on the uneven bars. Even a fall by captain Cheng Fei from beam (tucked full) in the third rotation couldn’t stop China’s momentum, and teammates Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan followed with near perfect sets. Cheng closed on floor exercise, as expected, to clinch the gold for China by a margin of 2.375.
Runner-up in Athens, the American took silver again. The team began with a strong effort on vault and uneven bars (meet-high 16.900 for Nastia Liukin). Like Cheng, team captain Alicia Sacramone fell on beam (piked front mount), and then also fell on floor exercise (Arabian double front). All three Americans went out of bounds on floor exercise.
Afterward, American coach Marta Karolyi greeted the Chinese gymnasts, telling them, “Congratulations, you deserved it.”
A consistent effort put helped Romania win the bronze by .9 over the favored Russians, who struggled on balance beam and floor exercise. …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 