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U.S. women's gymnastics team reveals its nickname

Simone Biles, Gabrielle Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman pose with their gold medals. (REUTERS)
Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman pose with their gold medals. (REUTERS)

The United States women’s gymnastics team — Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian — arrived in Rio with enormous pressure to match the “Fierce Five” that dominated in London four years ago.

[SPOILER WARNING]

On Tuesday, this year’s quintet scored on all counts, not only scoring a repeat gold medal in the team gymnastics competition, but revealing their own nickname: After winning gold, the five women circled up, put their hands in the middle and yelled, “The Final Five.”

So there you have it. Go USA!

It’s a tribute to retiring coach Martha Karolyi, who took over leading the team from her husband Bela in 2001, and has transformed the team into a dominating force. Karolyi, now 73, is handing off coaching duties after the Olympics, and this was the finest way possible the team could have honored her.

The Final Five outpaced their closest rivals, the silver medal-winning Russians, by more than eight points, an astronomical total in gymnastics. Eight teams made the finals, each team doing 28 rotations. But only the United States performed mistake-free, a tribute to Karolyi’s meticulous, constant, consistent training. The Final Five honored her not only with words, but deeds.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.