The United States won the women's title at the World Gymnastics Championships Tuesday in a commanding performance ahead of next year's London Olympics. The Americans scored 179.411 points, finishing 4 points ahead of Russia, last year's champion. It is the first title for the US since 2007. China won the bronze medal. The Americans were dealt a blow when Beijing Olympic team captain Alicia Sacramone tore her Achilles tendon last Friday, leaving them with Aly Raisman as the only one who'd competed at a world championships before. But the young competitors oozed confidence from the moment they stepped on the floor Tuesday. The men's final is Wednesday night. “Team USA is really strong,” Aly Raisman said, “and we're just going to keep getting stronger.” “I was hoping for it, but I could not be 100 percent sure because there were so many newcomers,” said national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, beaming. The gold is the 10th medal at Worlds for Sacramone, breaking the American record she'd shared with Shannon Miller and Nastia Liukin. Sacramone sent a message to the team on Twitter afterward, saying, “Words can't describe how proud I am of all of you!” Alexander Alexandrov, Russia's coach, insisted he was more than “satisfied” with the second-place finish. The Russians were without defending world champion Aliya Mustafina, who injured her knee in April, and Alexandrov said Anna Dementyeva had been running a fever in recent days. The Americans never faltered, cruising through qualifying without a single missed routine. Team finals offer a different type of pressure. Scoring starts from scratch and the format changes, with three gymnasts competing on each event and all three scores counting.
