Women's Gymnastics Team Takes Gold In Rio Olympics

The United States women's artistic gymnastics team placed first in the team finals competition on Tuesday in Rio, securing their gold medal with a commanding eight-point lead ahead of their competitors. Russia came in second place and China took home the bronze, NBC Olympics reports.

The talented squad is comprised of captain Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, both 2012 Olympians, as well as Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Simone Biles, who is widely regarded as the best gymnast in the world. The team easily swept the competition to retain their gold-medal status, as the United States also won gold at the London Olympics in 2012 and the world championships in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

This year's group, who christened themselves the "Final Five," as the Rio Olympics will be the last to see women's gymnastics teams with five competitors, has long been the favorite to win the gold, and they lived up to every expectation with incredible performances from each athlete.

Biles, Raisman and Hernandez kicked things off for the team on vault, with Biles, Kocian and Douglas competing on uneven bars. Biles, Raisman and Hernandez then competed on beam and floor exercise, with Biles scoring a 15.8 on floor to finish off the competition.

Biles and Raisman will next compete in the women's individual all-around competition on Thursday.

Article originally appeared on Womanista.com