One of the most anticipated events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was the women’s all-around gymnastics final. With 2016 champion and 2020 favourite, Simone Biles out of the competition, it was anyone’s gold to win.
In the first rotation, USA’s Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee put up impressive scores on vault with a 15.200 and a 14.600 respectively. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade had the lead after her vault scored a 15.300.
The next rotation saw Lee, Carey and the rest of their group on the uneven bars. This rotation saw high scores from ROC’s Vladislava Urazova and Angelina Melnikova as well as Nina Derwael from Belgium. Lee was last up on the apparatus and she put up the highest score of the rotation (and the highest on uneven bars for the whole day) with a 15.300.
The third rotation for the leading group was on the balance beam. Carey scored an 11.533 which unfortunately was much lower than the rest of the group. Her fall on beam put her out of the medal hunt. The rest of the group scored well and the competition was tight heading into the final rotation. Urazova had the highest score of the group on this apparatus with a 14.200.
Heading into the final rotation, the standings were as follows:
1 Suni Lee United States 43.733
2 Vladislava Urazova Russian Olympic Committee 43.566
3 Rebeca Andrade Brazil 43.532
4 Angelina Melnikova Russian Olympic Committee 43.233
5 Nina Derwael Belgium 42.532
With the scores tight so big performances on the floor were needed to secure a spot on the podium.
The first performances of the group were clean and scored well. Melnikova performed third and scored a 13.966, putting her ahead of teammate Urazova and into a medal position. Lee hit the floor next and put out a beautiful floor routine. She scored 13.700, putting her in first place. With just Andrade and Carey left to go, she would finish with at least a silver medal. Andrade stepped out of bounds twice and scored a 13.666 meaning Lee would win the gold medal.
She is the fifth consecutive American woman to win the event (Lee 2020, Biles 2016, Gabby Douglas 2012, Nastia Liukin 2008 and Carly Patterson 2004). Lee of St Paul, MN takes home her first gold medal at the Olympic Games and will compete for Auburn University in the fall. The reaction from the 18 year old’s family watching back home was absolutely incredible. This moment was a long time coming for Lee and she is an absolute joy to watch.
Andrade took home silver and Melnikova held on to take the bronze. Both ladies had a fantastic showing at these games and in this competition.
Here were the final scores:
1 Suni Lee United States 57.433
2 Rebeca Andrade Brazil 57.298
3 Angelina Melnikova Russian Olympic Committee 57.199
4 Vladislava Urazova Russian Olympic Committee 56.966
5 Mai Murakami Japan 56.032
Gymnastics is far from over in Tokyo. Still to come is all of the event finals which means more incredible performances and more medals to be handed out. Come back to Unbenched for more Olympics content every day.
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