Enjoy this blog of Top Moments where we take a look back at the Top 5 Best Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team in Olympic history!
The USSR Women's Teams dominated the all-around events for almost 30 years. As a reference, at Summer Olympics in Rome 1960, the Soviet team included Larisa Latynina - the most decorated gymnast ever at the Olympic Games - who lead a team that won all individual gold medals but one.
5 - USSR at Moscow 1980
4 - USSR at Munich 1972
3 - Romania at Los Angeles 1984
2 - The USA at Rio 2016
1 - USSR at Rome 1960
5. USSR AT MOSCOW 1980
MARIA FILATOVA, NELLIE KIM, YELENA DALYDOVA, STELLA ZAKHORAVA, YELENA NAIMUSHINA, NATALIA SHAPOSHNIKOVA
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII olympiad was an international multi-sport event held in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russia.
As the repeated team all-around champions since Melbourne 1952. The USSR arrived as favorites for yet another title. But, with Nadia Comaneci and Maxi Gnauck, the soviet team had serious competition. Still, led by Nellie Kim and Yelena Davydova the soviet took consecutive gold one last time.
4. USSR AT MUNICH 1972
OLGA KORBUT, ELVIRA SAADI, LUDMILLA TOURISCHEVA, TAMARA LAZAKOVICH, LYUBOV BURDA, ANTONINA KOSHEL
The Soviet Union (USSR) competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 371 competitors, 298 men, and 73 women took part in 180 events in 22 sports.
The 5th consecutive team title of the soviet team also marked the first Olympics of 17-year-old Olga Korbut who won two gold and one silver in the single competition. Her teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva also won a gold medal in an individual competition. Both, Olga and Ludmilla are considered as two of the most important and best gymnasts of the Soviet Union of all time.
3. ROMANIA AT LA 1984
LAVINIA AGACHÉ, LAURA CUTINA, CRISTIANA ELENA GRIGORAS, SIMONA PAUCA, MIHAELA STANULET, ECATERINA SZABO
Due to the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, USSR women's national gymnastics team did not participate in the 1984 Olympics. The 1984 Olympics marked the first time that the USSR did not win the gold medal in Olympic women's team all-around competition, since the 1948 Summer Olympics. Romania won gold in this event for the first time in history.
The USSR dominated the women’s team all-around event for almost 30 years but didn’t attend the 1984 Olympic. The Romanians took the opportunity with Ecaterina Szabo leading the team towards its first gold medal. Szabo’s four Olympic medals from the same game equaled the record at that time held by Larissa Latynina, Agnes Keleti and Vera Caslavaska.
2. USA AT RIO 2016
SIMONE BILES, GABBY DOUGLAS, LAURIE HERNANDEZ, MADISON KOCIAN, ALY RAISMAN
The Final Five was the United States women's team in artistic gymnastics that won the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was the United States' third gold medal in the event and second outside the United States. The five members of the team were Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman. After the team event, Biles won a gold medal in the individual all-around event, the vault, and on floor exercise and won a bronze on the balance beam; Raisman, the team captain, won silver in the individual all-around and on floor exercise; Kocian won silver on the uneven bars; Hernandez won silver on the balance beam. The previous team to medal in every event, including the team and individual all-around, was the Unified Team at the 1992 Games; the only previous U.S. team to do so was at the boycott-reduced 1984 Games.
1. USSR AT ROME 1960
LARISA LATYNINA, POLINA ASTAKHOVA, LIDIA IVANOVA, TAMARA LYUKHINA, SOFIA MURATOVA, MARGARITA NIKOLAEVA
At the 1960 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome from September 5 through 10th.
The team was led by Larissa Latynina the most decorated gymnasts of the Olympic game. All the individual medals were won by the soviet players except balance beam gold won by Czech gymnast Eva Bosakova The team gold from 1960 was part of a soviet streak that started in 1952 and lasted until 1980.
Watch the top moments here: Video at Olympic Channel
