Poll: Which women's U.S. Olympic gymnastics team was overall the best or most talented?

[clairecloutier]

The U.S. has had some amazing women's gymnastics teams since 2000.

Which team, in your opinion, was overall the best/most talented as a group? Or which did you like the best personally?

 

[Aceon6]

Toss up for me between 08 and 16. Both teams could really bring it.

 

[Doggygirl]

I must say that I really enjoyed ALL of these teams!

 

[barbk]

Some amazingly talented folks on each of those teams, but I picked the 2016 team. I think everyone except Gabby Douglas earned an individual event medal as well as the team gold. Of the fifteen individual event medals available, members of the US team won eight of them, with Biles alone taking four.

 

[Karen-W]

Isn't it hard to judge the 2020 team until after the Olympics?

 

[bardtoob]

2016 US WAG Team had three Olympic AA medalists. Was the last team that had that the USSR WAG Team in 1976?

 

[A.H.Black]

1996

 

[VGThuy]

2012 is my personal favorite but 2016 is probably the most talented on paper. 2008 could have been incredible but they were fatigued and broken before the competition.

2004 had half the selection pool break before final Selection Camp. On paper, good enough to win gold anyway but Kupets injuring herself majorly, McCool suffering from an undiagnosed wrist fracture and having the worst meet of her life, and Carly Patterson single-handedly losing 0.600 in team finals from her score in prelims when the Americans lost the gold to Romania by 0.699. The fact that we had to rely on Mohini on beam (and floor when her Prelim score of 9.525 and FX finals qualification was more of a fluke than anything) showed how bad things got for the team by finals.

 

[Hedwig]

McCool is one the of gymnasts I really feel for. She was so overhyperhyped and then was a complete non entity come Olympics. She must have been going into this thinking that she might make AA and win but then there was nothing left. Peaking at the wrong time in addition to being injured maybe? Bad training for sure. Poor kid. I never heard from her again. And this should have been only the start of her career!

 

[Stephanie]

McCool is one the of gymnasts I really feel for. She was so overhyperhyped and then was a complete non entity come Olympics. She must have been going into this thinking that she might make AA and win but then there was nothing left. Peaking at the wrong time in addition to being injured maybe? Bad training for sure. Poor kid. I never heard from her again. And this should have been only the start of her career!

I'm far from an expert, but there was a lot of talk at the time that a lot of the connections she was given on beam at nationals/trials would never have been credited internationally, so I'm not sure the US judges, Marta, and her coaches did her any favors in this regard.

 

[VGThuy]

I'm far from an expert, but there was a lot of talk at the time that a lot of the connections she was given on beam at nationals/trials would never have been credited internationally, so I'm not sure the US judges, Marta, and her coaches did her any favors in this regard.

Honestly, the US Trials scores were pretty accurate to what most gymnasts received and what McCool probably would have received for a hit routine. She didn’t hit beam so it’s hard to know. still would have scored in the high 9.4s on her beam maybe touching upon mid-9.5. What helped McCool’s scores were her execution and form. They took out a lot for form during that cycle.

McCool is one the of gymnasts I really feel for. She was so overhyperhyped and then was a complete non entity come Olympics. She must have been going into this thinking that she might make AA and win but then there was nothing left. Peaking at the wrong time in addition to being injured maybe? Bad training for sure. Poor kid. I never heard from her again. And this should have been only the start of her career!

@Hedwig she ended up having a fruitful career in college.

 

[canbelto]

I liked the 2012 team's gymnastics the best aesthetically but 2016 had Simone. Nuff said.