Rio 2016 Olympics gymnastics women's team final: Team GB hope to be best of the rest with American squad set to star

Star attraction: Simone Biles
(Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

British hopes of a medal are high in the women’s gymnastics team final but all the talk ahead of tonight surrounds the American squad, led by Simone Biles.

The United States blew away the opposition by almost 10 points in qualifying, propelled by Biles’s gravity-defying vaults, vibrant floor choreography, and perfect landings.

The performance earned her a total score of 62.366 and the bubbly 19‑year-old’s ear-to-ear grin also won over the audience at the Rio Olympic Arena. Team mate Aly Raisman had the second-highest score of 60.607.

“They are unbeatable at the moment,” lamented Russian Aliya Mustafina.

And Britain’s Claudia Fragapane said: “She just wows us. I really take my hat off to her.”

Fragapane and her team-mates qualified fourth for the final but, having won silver at this year’s European Championships and bronze at the worlds last season, expectations are high.

In qualifying, Ellie Downie landed heavily on her head during her floor routine and admitted to feeling dizzy afterwards but insisted she had been given the all clear for tonight.

“I think I’ll be fine,” said 17‑year‑old Ellie, whose sister Becky, 24, is also in the team.

Despite the fall, Ellie went on to compete on the vault but admitted: “I was pretty nervous just to go and do my first vault when I came back out [after a medical check]. I didn’t know how much it was going to hurt but it was all right actually. I had a lot of adrenaline as well so maybe later it will be more sore but I should be good.”

Of the fall, Downie added: “My rotation was too slow so I was like ‘I’ll try a punch front anyway’. I’ve done a couple like that before but never that bad. My legs buckled and I was nowhere near over. So, I just crunched on my neck and I heard it crack a little bit. So I thought ‘try to finish it’. I went for my last tumble and I felt a little bit dizzy.”

Although Britain finished 11 points behind the US in qualifying, their score of 174.064 points was less than two behind second-placed China.

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