Tokyo: The Russian women’s gymnastics team took advantage of the dramatic departure of Simone Biles from the US team to win the Olympic title on Tuesday.
The US team withdrew from the final after a disappointing Vault opening and Russia proceeded to beat the champions of the last two matches by more than three points.
England took a bronze medal surprise.
Led by Angelina Melnikova, Russia imitated their men’s team who won gold 24 hours before.
Competing under neutral banners because of the suspension of their country’s doping, Russia ended the order of dominance by US women in the world and the final of the Olympics which stretched back to 2011.
But the main focus of attention at the center of Senam Ariake was biles, who arrived in the Tokyo game in the hope of improving gymnastics The gold Olympics for one competitor, held by Soviet Larisa Latinina.
After leaving the floor of the competition for a moment, Biles was again dropped from the three closing rotations and cheered with his team-mate.
US gymnastics said in a statement he had been withdrawn from the final because “medical problems” were not determined and would be assessed every day to determine whether he could continue in the game.