London is Burning: U.S. Women's Gynastics Team Takes Gold

Now introducing.. the latest "Fab Five." Or is it the Fierce Five?

The U.S. women's team has won the gold medal in the gymnastics team final with a superlative performance and an overall score of 183.596. Russia scored a 178.530 to take the silver and Romania won the bronze with a score of 176.414.

The 2012 U.S. women's gymnastics team is composed of Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney. According to the Olympic format, each team selects three gymnasts for each of the four apparatuses in the final -- balance beam, uneven bars, vault and floor.
 
Perhaps to the delight of Jalen Rose Chris Webber, Maroney told Will Graves of The Associated Press that the quintet would like to be called the "Fierce Five" rather than the "Fab Five" as some had taken to calling them.

The 16-year-old Douglas performed in each of the rotations while Wieber was called on for the floor, vault and uneven bars. Raisman worked the floor and the beam, with Ross performing on the beam and the uneven bars. Maroney was the only U.S. gymnast with just one event but no one on the team registered a score higher than her 16.233 on vault. That score was the highest of all competitors in the team final.

Russia was the primary challenger for the U.S. team in middle stages of the competition but completely fell apart during the floor routine, with two gymnasts falling during their routines. After Russia's mistakes, the U.S. team headed to the floor knowing three solid performances would likely win them the gold. Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman delivered impressive floor routines to clinch the first team gold for the U.S. since the "Magnificent Seven" won in 1996.

After Douglas opened up the U.S. turn on the floor with a 15.066 score, Wieber proved that she was not going to let her disappointment in missing the individual all-around distract her in the team competition. Delivering a confident, powerful performance, Wieber seemed to be struggling just to contain her excitement near the end of her routine, knowing how close she was to a gold medal. Rounding out the U.S. trio on the mat, Raisman scored a team-high 15.300. With tears in her eyes, she left the mat knowing that the U.S. would be atop the medal stand.

Michael Phelps Finishes 4th In 400 IM, Ryan Lochte Wins Gold At London Olympics

Ryan Lochte strolled the deck of the Olympic Aquatics Centre wearing diamonds in his mouth and lime-green sneakers on the feet that powered him through the water faster than anyone else. Beaming, he chomped playfully on his gold medal while Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" blared throughout the massive arena.

Michael Phelps?

He was nowhere to be found.

Not during the race.

Not when it came time to hand out the medals.

On a stunner of an opening night at the pool in London, Phelps was routed by his American rival in the 400-meter individual medley, losing to Lochte by more than 4 seconds Saturday. That's not all: The winningest Olympian ever didn't win any medal at all, the first time that's happened in a race of this magnitude since he was a 15-year-old kid competing in just one event at the Sydney Games, a dozen years ago.

"It was horrible," Phelps told coach Bob Bowman when he climbed out.

Bowman's reply: "It was."

Lochte turned the much-anticipated duel with Phelps into a blowout, raising serious questions about whether the guy who has won 14 gold medals and 16 medals overall has anything left in the tank for his Olympic farewell.

Phelps is planning to retire as soon as he finishes the last of his seven races in London, but he looked ready to call it a career while struggling just to pull himself from the water when his first event was done.

He was totally spent.

He was thoroughly beaten, perhaps signaling a changing of the guard at the pool.

"This is my year," said Lochte, who popped in his grillz – diamond-studded mouth jewelry – for the victory ceremony. "I know it and I feel it, because I've put in hard work. I've trained my butt off for four years ... and there's no better way to start this Olympics off than getting gold."