Gabrielle Douglas of the U.S was crowned Olympic champion in dramatic gymnastics all-around final!!!
By Rennie Dyball and Simon Perry
After winning the team final earlier in the Games, USA golden girls Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas and Aly Raisman had another shot at glory Thursday in the women's all-around competition. With Russian frontrunners Aliya Mustafina and Victoria Komova also vying for the most coveted prize in women's gymnastics, the competition was an exciting one that came down to the final routines. WARNING ... SPOILERS AHEAD!After the first rotation on vault, 16-year-old Douglas sat in the top spot in the standings ... and she never gave up that rank, winning the all-around gold medal! An uncharacteristic and major error on beam left Raisman in fourth place behind Komova (silver) and Mustafina (bronze). Raisman and Mustafina completed with identical scores, but in the event of such a tie, judges use the athletes' execution scores for the tie-breaker (and Mustafina's were higher than Raisman's). "I feel sad because I was so close to getting a medal," Raisman told PEOPLE afterward. "But it is what it is – and I'm still fourth in the world so that's definitely something I can be proud of." With Komova on her tail through all four events, Douglas pulled out the win with a total score of 62.232. It was a pressure-packed fight to the finish and an even more exciting victory for the gymnast who used to struggle with consistency, especially in big meets. Douglas watched the scoreboard with a serious expression and cried when she saw the result, waving to the crowd. Her win comes on the heels of another big victory for her: taking home the team gold medal Tuesday with the rest of the "Fab Five: Raisman, McKayla Maroney, PEOPLE.com blogger Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross. The ever-likeable Douglas (who won PEOPLE's favorite of the Fab Five poll) was the only gymnast on the team to compete in all four events of the team final.
www.people.com
Gabrielle Douglas of the U.S was crowned Olympic champion in dramatic gymnastics all-around final!!!
By Rennie Dyball and Simon Perry
After winning the team final earlier in the Games, USA golden girls Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas and Aly Raisman had another shot at glory Thursday in the women's all-around competition. With Russian frontrunners Aliya Mustafina and Victoria Komova also vying for the most coveted prize in women's gymnastics, the competition was an exciting one that came down to the final routines. WARNING ... SPOILERS AHEAD!After the first rotation on vault, 16-year-old Douglas sat in the top spot in the standings ... and she never gave up that rank, winning the all-around gold medal! An uncharacteristic and major error on beam left Raisman in fourth place behind Komova (silver) and Mustafina (bronze). Raisman and Mustafina completed with identical scores, but in the event of such a tie, judges use the athletes' execution scores for the tie-breaker (and Mustafina's were higher than Raisman's). "I feel sad because I was so close to getting a medal," Raisman told PEOPLE afterward. "But it is what it is – and I'm still fourth in the world so that's definitely something I can be proud of." With Komova on her tail through all four events, Douglas pulled out the win with a total score of 62.232. It was a pressure-packed fight to the finish and an even more exciting victory for the gymnast who used to struggle with consistency, especially in big meets. Douglas watched the scoreboard with a serious expression and cried when she saw the result, waving to the crowd. Her win comes on the heels of another big victory for her: taking home the team gold medal Tuesday with the rest of the "Fab Five: Raisman, McKayla Maroney, PEOPLE.com blogger Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross. The ever-likeable Douglas (who won PEOPLE's favorite of the Fab Five poll) was the only gymnast on the team to compete in all four events of the team final.
www.people.com
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