United States Women Gymnasts Capture First Team Gold Since 1996
2012 London Summer Olympics

US Women's Gymnasts -- Pictured: (l-r) Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas, Bob Costas -- (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas
(Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

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London, England

The United States gymnastics team defeated close rival Russia in overwhelming fashion to win its first team gold since 1996.

The team -- composed of Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber -- earned a total score of 183.596 to beat the Russians, who collected 178.530 points. Romania took bronze with a score of 176.414.

The gold was the second for the US team since ruling the event in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the sixth medal dating back to 1992, the second-longest active women's Olympic team medal streak behind Romania (1976-2012).

The USA posted the highest team score on vault (48.132), balance beam (45.299) and floor exercise (45.366) and placed third on uneven bars (44.799) behind China (46.399) and Russia (46.166).

"We are certainly enjoying this moment. This is the result of the teamwork and what we did through the years. All the hard work paid off in the end," Women's National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi said.

"This couldn't be possible without everyone stepping up today. Everyone did their job and was completely amazing. I am so excited," Wieber said.

"We all did our events the best that we could and hit our routines, and we are all really proud of each other," Ross added.

The USA women started off strong on vault with Wieber scoring 15.933, Douglas 15.966 and Maroney 16.233 for a total score of 48.132, 1.733 points ahead of China.

Wieber produced another solid routine on uneven bars for a score of 14.666, Ross earned 14.933 and Douglas had an impressive 15.200 to put the US ahead of Russia in the overall standings.

Ross got the Americans to a good start with her routine on the balance beam, scoring a 15.133 while Douglas and Raisman produced 15.233 and 14.933 points respectively to give the US a 138.230-136.931 edge over Russia.

Douglas showed off her amazing moves on floor exercise to grab a score of 15.066 while Wieber completed the routine of her life to score a 15.000 before Raisman clinched the gold medal for the US with a score of 15.300.