RIO DE JANEIRO — Led by the world’s best gymnast, Simone Biles, the powerhouse American women’s gymnastics team romped to the gold medal at the Rio Olympics Tuesday.
The team of Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian lived up to expectations as prohibitive favorites by putting up the highest total score in every apparatus. Russia won silver and China bronze. The margin of victory was a whopping 8 points.
The gold medal, the Americans’ third team gold after 2012 and 1996, came in the final Olympics for the national team coordinator, Martha Karolyi, a crucial player in the rise of American gymnastics for more than 30 years.