U.S. women gymnasts take laughable lead over China

RIO DE JANEIRO – Because the sport was gymnastics, in which young athletes improbably torque their bodies, no one should have been surprised that Aly Raisman's stomach hurt Sunday night.

Because she is the captain of the U.S. Olympic team, a bastion of depth and specialization, no one should have been surprised that Raisman's sore abs were the result not of injury or stress but of giddy laughter.

The U.S. women dominated the qualifying round at the Rio Games, taking a remarkable 9.959-point lead over second-place China into Tuesday's finals, placing a gymnast at the top of the standings of each individual discipline and quickly turning the team competition into, yes, a laugher.

"We've been having so much fun," Raisman said. "Even in the cafeteria today, I was hysterically laughing. We've all been really giggly, which is good. Laughter is the best medicine.

"My stomach is sore. Not from training, but from laughing so hard."

The U.S. is so deep that Gabby Douglas, who won individual all-around and team gold medals in London in 2012, finished better than athletes from all other competing countries, yet did not qualify for the all-around final on Tuesday.

She finished behind Simone Biles and Raisman. In the Olympics, only two gymnasts from one country can qualify for the all-around finals.

"It's not really a bummer," Douglas said. "For me, I would have loved to go out and defended my title, but I'm still rejoicing. I'm not ashamed at all. I'm so happy for Aly. She works so hard and she's such an amazing kid."

Biles, a three-time world champion, earned a chance to become the first woman gymnast to win five gold medals in a single Olympics. If she doesn't, she may have her teammates to blame.

Biles posted the top score on Sunday in the individual all-around (62.366), vault (16.050), balance beam (15.633) and floor exercise (15.733). The session ended after Biles stuck the dismount from the beam, then rushed to her teammates.

All five U.S. gymnasts will compete in at least one event in the finals Tuesday.

They executed a group hug, then a team cheer before posing for team photos.

Raisman finished with 60.607 all-around points, followed by Douglas with 60.131.

"It's never 100 percent perfect," said Martha Karolyi, the national team coordinator. "But I think we showed our gymnastics is at the highest level."

If there were any suspense for the U.S. once the competition started, it occurred during Raisman's beam routine. She wobbled once, almost falling, but then righted herself. "Sometimes," Karolyi said, "it's a little windy."

"Besides the little thing on the beam, it was the best meet I've had in my whole entire life," Raisman said. "I'm very happy. I can't believe my [uneven] bar score. I think I'm going to frame it in my room.

"I'm going to frame this leotard, because I did my best vault, too."

Karolyi has announced that this will be her last Olympics as coordinator.

"Martha was so happy for us," Raisman said. "She said, 'I want to see how many points you guys won by.' We ran and told her 10. She started jumping up and down. She said, 'I love you guys even more now.' She's never jumped up and down before."

Raisman said her team is so talented that any of her teammates could rise up to win the all-around title on any given day. "Well, except for Simone," Raisman said. "She's just always the best.''