Post by Admin on Jul 29, 2019 22:09:49 GMT
The deafening cheers of the hometown crowd could not drown out the U.S. women’s gymnastics team’s roar to the podium. It secured a team gold Saturday night at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 behind a dazzling performance from Riley McCusker, who finished first in both the uneven bars and the floor performance.
Team USA was competing in the same subdivision as host Peru, which led to untimely and unexpected outbursts from the crowd. Instead of letting this distract them, the ladies used it as motivation to propel them to a final team score of 171.000, almost 11 points more than second place Canada (160.600). The gold is Team USA’s fifth straight and 11th overall at the Games.
“It was definitely more fun this way,” McCusker said of the crowd’s participation. “There was a lot of energy. It was cool, they were actually doing the wave. It kept the mood pretty light. They were a great crowd.”
Before McCusker could unleash her dominant performance, it took some momentum from the team’s first apparatus, the balance beam. There, teammate Kara Eaker started Team USA off on the right foot, scoring highest on the apparatus with a 14.850. McCusker was right on her heels, however, with a 14.250. Team USA teammates Leanne Wong (13.650) and Morgan Hurd (13.100) rounded out the remainder of the top four.
“It was really important for us to hit those routines,” Wong said. “It’s how we get started strong. Doing all of that was a really good start for us.”
That electric start carried over into the floor performance. McCusker continued to shine, scoring a 14.050, the best of the day. She eked out the first-place finish over Team USA teammate Eaker, who was right on her heels with 13.850. Aleah Finnegan scored a 13.750 to claim fourth and add to Team USA’s point total.
“I’ve been training every day in the gym,” McCusker said. “I’ve been working on hitting it when it counts and just building up my consistency.”
Team USA was competing in the same subdivision as host Peru, which led to untimely and unexpected outbursts from the crowd. Instead of letting this distract them, the ladies used it as motivation to propel them to a final team score of 171.000, almost 11 points more than second place Canada (160.600). The gold is Team USA’s fifth straight and 11th overall at the Games.
“It was definitely more fun this way,” McCusker said of the crowd’s participation. “There was a lot of energy. It was cool, they were actually doing the wave. It kept the mood pretty light. They were a great crowd.”
Before McCusker could unleash her dominant performance, it took some momentum from the team’s first apparatus, the balance beam. There, teammate Kara Eaker started Team USA off on the right foot, scoring highest on the apparatus with a 14.850. McCusker was right on her heels, however, with a 14.250. Team USA teammates Leanne Wong (13.650) and Morgan Hurd (13.100) rounded out the remainder of the top four.
“It was really important for us to hit those routines,” Wong said. “It’s how we get started strong. Doing all of that was a really good start for us.”
That electric start carried over into the floor performance. McCusker continued to shine, scoring a 14.050, the best of the day. She eked out the first-place finish over Team USA teammate Eaker, who was right on her heels with 13.850. Aleah Finnegan scored a 13.750 to claim fourth and add to Team USA’s point total.
“I’ve been training every day in the gym,” McCusker said. “I’ve been working on hitting it when it counts and just building up my consistency.”
