Precinct Reporter Group, News for Orange County, Long Beach, San Bernardino

Anchored by 16-year-old high-flying sensation Gabby Douglas, the young USA women’s gymnastics team pulled off a gold medal performance that will not soon be forgotten. The young ladies of the USA were Ranked No. 1 in world going into

the 2012 London Olympic Games, but no one expected them to completely dominate the field. Their gold medal performance earned them a total team score of 183.596, allowing the USA women’s gymnastics program to put plenty of distance between themselves and the rest of the field to leave no doubt. Russia won the silver medal in a distant second with a score of 178.530, followed by Romania who took bronze with a score of 176.414. Douglas, dubbed the Flying Squirrel by coaches because of her high flying act, was the only automatic qualifier to the USA Gymnastics team, and she also qualified to compete in the All Around competition. To help lead The USA to team gold Douglas competed in all four events: the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Douglas will begin competing in the All Around competition later in the week.