United States women's national artistic gymnastics team

The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions.

As of 2023, the U.S. team is the reigning World team champion and the reigning Olympic team silver medalists, with the four gymnasts nicknamed the "Fighting Four".

History

The U.S. women won the team competition bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Afterwards, they did not win another Summer Olympics or World Championships medal until the 1984 when the Olympic team won silver. During that competition, Mary Lou Retton also became the first American to win the individual all-around gold medal. The Americans started consistently winning Olympic and World team medals in the early 1990s with future Hall of Famers Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes. The 1996 Olympic team, known as the Magnificent Seven, was the first American team to win Olympic gold. An iconic moment in the sport's history came late in the competition, when an injured Kerri Strug stuck a vault to secure the title. After 1996, the team regressed for several years as their stars took breaks from competing.

Márta Károlyi headed the program after the 2000 Olympics, ushering in an era of success for the U.S. team as they became one of the most dominant countries in women's gymnastics. The U.S. team has medalled in every Olympics and Worlds since 2000. They won their first World gold medal in 2003. At the 2004 Olympics, they won the team silver, and Carly Patterson became the second American gymnast to win the individual all-around. The U.S. team continued their success in the next quad. They won another Olympic silver medal in 2008. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson were two of the best gymnasts of their era and finished first and second in the 2008 individual all-around.

They won gold at the 2011 Worlds and then won gold at the 2012 Olympics by over five points. The 2012 team was nicknamed the Fierce Five and included Gabby Douglas, the first African American woman to win the Olympic individual all-around. In 2013, Simone Biles started her senior career and helped the U.S. team dominate the sport through 2016. In addition to the team gold medals, Biles won the individual all-around at the Worlds and Olympics for four straight years. The 2016 Olympic team, featuring Biles and veterans Douglas and Aly Raisman, was named the Final Five. They won the team competition by more than eight points.

Olympic Games

The USA Gymnastics women have won the Olympic Gold three times, in 1996, 2012, and 2016. These successes led to the nicknames Magnificent Seven, Fierce Five, and Final Five, respectively. They won four silvers in 1984, 2004, 2008, and 2020 and three bronzes in 1948, 1992 and 2000. The 2016 team name alluded to Márta Károlyi's final team to coach and that the team structure will be changed to four members beginning with the 2020 Olympic Games. The 1988 Olympic Games was the only year in which the team did not medal since its formation in 1982; they missed the bronze medal by one deduction. Six American women have won the Olympic individual all-around title, including five consecutive titles from 2004–20: Mary Lou Retton (1984), Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012), Simone Biles (2016), and Sunisa Lee (2020). The most decorated American gymnasts at the Olympics, with seven medals apiece, are Shannon Miller (2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) and Simone Biles (4 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze).

World Championships

The United States women team is currently third in the all-time medal count for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The first American gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships was Cathy Rigby who won silver on beam in 1970. The first female American gymnast to win a world title was Marcia Frederick in 1978 on the uneven bars. The most decorated American gymnast at the World Championships is Simone Biles, who won 25 medals (19 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze) from 2013 to 2019. The United States won team gold in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019. Additionally, eight American women have won the individual World all-around title: Kim Zmeskal (1991), Shannon Miller (1993-1994), Chellsie Memmel (2005), Shawn Johnson (2007), Bridget Sloan (2009), Jordyn Wieber (2011), Simone Biles (2013-2015, 2018-2019), and Morgan Hurd (2017). Biles is the only American gymnast to win both the Olympic and World all-around titles.

Current roster

As of June 2, 2024:

Senior team

Junior team

Staff

• Dan Baker – Developmental Lead
• Chellsie Memmel – Technical Lead
• Alicia Sacramone-Quinn – Strategic Lead
• Annie Heffernon – Senior Vice President
• Krissy Klein – Women's Program Manager
• Kim Riley – Managing Director of Athlete and Coaching Programs

Team competition results

Olympic Games

World Championships

Names in italics are alternates who received a team medal.

Pan American Games

Pan American Championships

Junior World Championships

Names in italics are alternates who received a team medal.

Most decorated gymnasts

This list includes all American female artistic gymnasts who have won at least four medals at the Olympic Games and the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined.

Best international results

Hall of Famers

Nine national team gymnasts, one national team coach, and one official have been inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame:

• Béla Károlyi (coach) – 1997
• Mary Lou Retton – 1997
• Cathy Rigby – 1997
• Shannon Miller – 2006
• Dominique Dawes – 2009
• Kim Zmeskal – 2012
• Jackie Fie (FIG official) – 2014
• Alicia Sacramone – 2017
• Nastia Liukin – 2018
• Shawn Johnson – 2019
• Chellsie Memmel – 2022

See also

• Artistic gymnastics in the United States
• United States men's national artistic gymnastics team
• List of former United States women's national gymnastics team rosters
• List of U.S. National Championships medalists in gymnastics
• List of Olympic female artistic gymnasts for the United States
• United States at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

References