US Women Win World Title at 2011 World Championships
Despite an onset of injuries plaguing the team, the US Women's Gymnastics team beat the odds and won the gold at the 2011 World Championships.
A young and talented U.S. women's team won the world title at the 2011 World Championships at the Tokyo (Japan) Metropolitan Gymnasium, besting second place Russia by over 4 points. This is the USA's third women's world team title, following up on 2003 and 2007."This is a very young team and I knew they were well prepared physically, but we were not sure how they would hold up under the pressure of three-up, three-count," said Martha Karolyi, the U.S. women's national team coordinator. "It is harder than the qualifications, and these girls proved that they did the right preparation physically and mentally also. I am very proud of them.
"I am very satisfied," said Karolyi. "This is my passion and every time the results come up as you plan, you certainly are extremely happy, and that is how I feel today -- happy and proud of the program and these young ladies."
The women on the U.S. Team are: Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute; McKayla Maroney of Laguna Niguel, Calif./All Olympia AOGC; Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics; Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y./Dynamic Gymnastics; and Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts' Twistars USA. Team member Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics, who tore her Achilles tendon during training, has returned to the States for medical treatment, and Anna Li of Aurora, Ill./Legacy Elite Gymnastics LLC, is the alternate.
"I feel awesome and I am so proud of each and every one on this team," said Wieber. "We went out there and were confident and did our job and it turned out awesome."
The finals schedule is: Oct. 12, men's team; Oct. 13, women's all-around; Oct. 14, men's all-around; and Oct. 15-16, individual events.
Fans can follow the action at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships via the web, cable TV and network television. Universal Sports will carry a live webcast of the finals, as well as same-day coverage on its cable network. In addition, usagym.org will have photos and updates from Tokyo, with expanded coverage of "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T." NBC Sports will broadcast coverage of the World Championships on Oct. 15-16.