The Fierce Five was the artistic gymnastics team that won the second team gold medal for the United States in the women's team competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Originally referred to as the Fab Five, the five members of the team were Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber. Later in the Olympic Games, Douglas won a gold medal in the individual all-around event, becoming the first African-American ever to do so; Maroney won silver on the vault; Raisman, the team captain, won bronze on the balance beam and gold on the floor exercise.
Team background Aly Raisman, the oldest team member, became age eligible for senior international competitions in 2010. That year, she helped the American team win the silver medal behind Russia at the World Championships. Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, and Jordyn Wieber began competing in senior competitions in 2011 and competed at the 2011 World Championships alongside Raisman, Sabrina Vega, and Alicia Sacramone. The team won the gold medal by over 4 points ahead of Russia. Wieber then won the individual all-around title while Raisman finished fourth. Maroney won the vault title, and Wieber and Raisman won bronze medals on the balance beam and floor exercise, respectively.
Kyla Ross, the youngest team member, began competing in senior competitions in 2012. She made her senior debut at the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships alongside Wieber, Douglas, and three junior athletes, and they won the team title by nearly 20 points over China. Later that month, Ross, Maroney, and Raisman won another team gold medal at the City of Jesolo Trophy. Raisman won the all-around title ahead of Ross at the U.S. Classic while Douglas finished first on the uneven bars, Maroney finished first on the vault, and Wieber finished first on the balance beam. Then at the U.S. Championships, Wieber won the all-around title ahead of Douglas, while Raisman and Ross finished third and fourth, respectively. During the warmups, Maroney she fell on a tumbling pass and landed on her back. She was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a minor concussion and nasal fracture. She was medically cleared to compete at the Olympic Trials less than three weeks later.
Olympic Trials
The Olympic Trials for women's artistic gymnastics took place on Friday, June 29, and Sunday, July 1, 2012, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Both nights of the competition were broadcast by NBC. Heading into the Olympic Trials, Douglas, Wieber, and Raisman were considered locks for the team based on their all-around results that year.
Douglas, Wieber, and Raisman finished first, second, and third in the all-around competition. As the winner of the Olympic Trials, Douglas was the automatic qualifier for the team. Maroney won the vault competition, Douglas and Ross tied for first on the uneven bars, while Raisman won the balance beam and floor exercise. Afterward, Douglas, Maroney, Raisman, Ross, and Wieber were the five gymnasts chosen to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The team alternates were Sarah Finnegan, Anna Li, and Elizabeth Price. +Olympic Trials results for the Fierce Five Gymnast Day Total Gabby Douglas 1 15.800 15.250 14.900 15.450 61.400 2 16.000 15.900 14.850 15.300 62.050 Total 31.800 31.150 (=1) 29.750 (6) 30.750 (3) 123.450 (1) McKayla Maroney 1 16.100 13.350 13.650 15.200 58.300 2 16.150 13.700 15.000 14.500 59.350 Total 32.250 (1) 27.050 (11) 28.650 (10) 29.700 (5) 117.650 (7) Aly Raisman 1 15.550 14.200 14.950 15.600 60.300 2 15.300 14.450 15.400 15.500 60.650 Total 30.850 28.650 (=8) 30.350 (1) 31.100 (1) 120.950 (3) Kyla Ross 1 14.500 15.500 14.900 14.500 59.400 2 15.150 15.650 15.050 14.750 60.600 Total 29.650 31.150 (=1) 29.950 (=3) 29.250 (9) 120.000 (5) Jordyn Wieber 1 15.900 15.350 15.050 15.400 61.700 2 15.800 15.350 14.900 15.600 61.650 Total 31.700 30.700 (4) 29.950 (=3) 31.000 (2) 123.350 (2)
Nickname and captain The U.S. media originally dubbed the team the "Fab Five" before the Olympic competition started. However, the "Fab Five" was also a nickname given to the five members of the Michigan college basketball team recruited in 1991. Jalen Rose, a former Michigan Fab Five member, complained about the gymnastics team being dubbed the Fab Five. Maroney and Wieber were credited for changing the team's nickname from the "Fab Five" to the "Fierce Five" a few days before their gold medal win at the Olympics while on the bus to a training session. They reportedly searched on their phones for words that started with F describing the team. The top choices were feisty and fierce. Maroney and Wieber opted for "fierce", as they said it described their floor routines, and the rest of the team concurred. Maroney also stated, "There have been Fab Fives in the past but I like Fierce Five because we are definitely the fiercest team out there."Samuelsen, Jamie. "Jalen Rose: Don't Call The Olympic Gymnasts The 'Fab Five'". CBS News. August 6, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012. Despite the name change, some news sources still used the term Fab Five during the Olympics.Almasy, Steve. "'Fab Five' brings home gymnastics gold". CNN. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012."Fab 5: U.S. women claim gymnastics team gold". Fox News. July 31, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012. When the U.S. won the team competition, NBC announcer Al Trautwig proclaimed, "The Fab Five is going gold!"
Raisman, the oldest on the team at 18 years old, was elected team captain by the other members. The team was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated'''s Olympic Preview issue; it was the first time since 1996 that a gymnast had appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
2012 Summer Olympics
Qualifications The United States qualified for the team final in first place with an overall score of 181.863. Wieber, Douglas, and Raisman competed on all four apparatus, Ross competed on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, and Maroney only competed on vault. Raisman, Douglas, and Wieber qualified in second, third, and fourth place for the individual all-around competition. However, due to the rule allowing only the top two from each country to compete in an individual final, only Raisman and Douglas advanced. +Qualification results for the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer OlympicsGymnast Total ScoreRankScoreRankScoreRankScoreRankScoreRank Gabby Douglas 15.900 15.333 6 15.266 3 13.766 33 60.265 3 McKayla Maroney 15.900/15.700 Avg: 15.800 1 Aly Raisman 15.800 14.166 23 15.100 5 15.325 1 60.391 2 Kyla Ross 14.866 11 15.075 6 13.733 34 Jordyn Wieber 15.833 14.833 12 14.700 12 14.666 6 60.032 4 47.633 1 45.032 4 45.441 1 43.757 2 181.863 1 Team final
In the team final, Douglas competed in the all-around, Wieber competed on three events, Raisman and Ross competed on two events, and Maroney once again only competed on the vault. On the vault, Wieber, Douglas and Maroney all competed well-executed Amanar vaults, giving them a large lead after the first rotation that the team held onto for the rest of the competition. The team finished with a score of 183.596, 5.066 points higher than second-place Russia- an "unheard-of" margin of victory.Jenkins, Sally. "U.S. women are simply flawless en route to dominant Olympic gold in team competition". The Washington Post. July 31, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2013. They became the second U.S. team, after the "Magnificent Seven" in 1996, to win the team competition.Keating, Steve. "Fierce Five trump Magnificent Seven". Reuters. July 31, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012. Additionally, this was the sixth consecutive Olympic medal for the United States in the women's team competition. +Team final results for the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnast Total Gabby Douglas 15.966 15.200 15.233 15.066 61.465 McKayla Maroney 16.233 Aly Raisman 14.933 15.300 Kyla Ross 14.933 15.133 Jordyn Wieber 15.933 14.666 15.000 48.132 (1) 44.799 (3) 45.299 (1) 45.366 (1) 183.596 (1)
Individual all-around
In the individual all-around final, Douglas won the gold medal, becoming the first Black woman to win the event. She was also the first American gymnast to win the team and individual all-around gold medals at the same Olympics.Clarke, Liz. "Gymnast Gabby Douglas soars to women's all-around gold". The Washington Post. August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012. Raisman tied for the third-highest score with Russian Aliya Mustafina. However, a tiebreaker was used to determine the bronze medalist, in which the three highest apparatus scores were counted. This led to Mustafina winning the bronze medal while Raisman finished fourth. + Gymnast Total Gabby Douglas 15.966 15.733 15.500 15.033 62.232 (1) Aly Raisman 15.900 14.333 14.200 15.133 59.566 (4)
Event finals
Maroney was the only American to qualify for the vault final. As the defending world champion in this event, she scored 15.866 on her first vault but fell on her second, scored 14.300, and won the silver medal."Maroney Wins Vault Silver Medal at 2012 Olympic Games" . USA Gymnastics. August 5, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012. Her facial expression while standing on the podium became an internet meme known as "McKayla is not impressed".Netburn, Deborah. "First meme of Olympics 2012: Gymnast McKayla Maroney is not impressed". Los Angeles Times. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
As the only American in the uneven bars final, Douglas, finished in eighth after making a timing mistake on a full pirouette. In the balance beam, Douglas finished in seventh after falling. Raisman initially received a score of 14.966, which would have left her in fourth place. However, her coach inquired about the difficulty being too low, and the judges accepted and raised her difficulty score by one-tenth of a point. Her 15.066 matched Romanian Cătălina Ponor for third place, and this time, Raisman won the execution-score tie-breaker to earn the bronze medal."Raisman earns two medals at 2012 Olympics: Team USA's first ever gold medal on floor, bronze medal on beam" . USA Gymnastics. August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
In the floor final, Raisman won the gold medal with a score of 15.600, four-tenths ahead of the second-place Ponor. Raisman became the first American woman to win the gold medal on the floor, and with her third medal overall, she was the most decorated member of the Fierce Five during the Olympics. Wieber finished seventh in the event. + Gymnast Gabby Douglas 14.900 (8) 13.633 (7) McKayla Maroney 15.083 (2) Aly Raisman 15.066 (3) 15.600 (1) Jordyn Wieber 14.500 (7)
Post-Olympics