Sunday 25 October 2015
USA’s women booked their place in the Team Final of the 2015 World Championships and the 2016 Olympic Games, after a strong performance saw them qualify in first place in front of a 6,000 strong crowd in The SSE Hydro.
The team of Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Ally Raisman and Brenna Dowell dominated the competition scoring 236.611. They finished over five points ahead of second placed Russia, who controlled day one of the qualifications, finishing with a score of 231.437.
The USA, who are aiming to win their second consecutive World Team title, were pleased after a successful day of competition.
Brenna Dowell competing at her first World Championships said: “We definitely did really good, we had a couple of mistakes here and there but we came together and were able to finish it up.”
Current women’s World Champion Simone Biles said: “That’s pretty good, but we still had mistakes which we need to go into the gym and perfect.”
Gabby Douglas added: “It’s just amazing how everyone’s come so far and we stay strong as a team. It’s good because we are all so strong and all have different things and different treasures which we can contribute to USA.”
The USA will be joined in the Team Final by China, who finished in second behind the USA at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China. The Chinese women had a disappointing qualification, a number of individual errors leaving them in fourth place. China’s Wang Yan said “If we can calm our nerves for the (Team) final I think we can improve.”
Host nation, Great Britain, will also be in the Team Final after qualifying in third place with a score of 227.162 to earn their highest ever Olympic qualification, placing third.
Becky Downie summed up the girls performance saying: “We are incredibly proud to have secured Great Britain’s place at Rio 2016. Coming in to this Championships all our focus was on producing the best team results we could and to have placed third – our best ever Olympic qualifying performance – is very special.
“Competing in Glasgow with the amazing support of the home crowd definitely gave us that extra energy and every member of the team contributed to our success. It’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication and that’s definitely all paid off, we’re all so happy to know we’ve got the Olympic places and we can head to Tuesday’s Team Final full of confidence.”
Day 2 Team Qualification Standings