ANGELINA MELNIKOVA

Angelina Melnikova, a 21-year-old gymnast who won team gold and two individual bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics, posted photos from the festivities.

Angelina Melnikova of Russia won the women’s all-around final on Thursday to claim the first gold medal of the gymnastics world championships. Melnikova, the 2020 Olympic all-around bronze medalist, built up a solid lead with high scores on the vault and uneven bars and finished with 56.632 points. With defending champion Simone Biles and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee of the United States not taking part, the stage was set for a new generation of gymnasts to emerge.

Tokyo Olympics Artistic Gymnastics Jade Carey, of the United States, performs on the floor during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) (Gregory Bull)TOKYO — (AP) — Jade Carey traveled the world for a spot in the Olympics. So the Careys spent 16 months flying to different continents, piling up podiums on vault and floor exercise along the way. Her dramatic routine — one that would fit right in at La Scala opera house in Milan — gave Italy its first women's gymnastics medal since 1928 and capped a long comeback from a torn Achilles tendon four years ago. The medal was the third in Tokyo for Melnikova, who earned gold in the team competition and bronze in the all-around.

American gymnast Jade Carey's long road to the Olympics ended with gold.

Without Simone Biles, U.S. women’s gymnastics seemed likely to end their gold-medal streak in the all-around competition. Instead, a new champion had her moment.

Sunisa Lee is an Olympic champion.

Lee came up big for Team USA after Simone Biles withdrew from the all-around competition.

American gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from two key Olympics competitions to focus on her mental well-being changes the landscape somewhat dramatically for the U.S. gymnastics team in coming days.

Track and Field begins competition on Day 6 of the Tokyo Games and four medal events will be decided in the pool in Thursday's coverage of the Olympics.

It came just a day after the Russian men claimed the same victory in the team finals. The country — barred at the Olympics from using its name, flag or anthem over a systemic doping scandal — swept the gymnastics team gold medals, among the most coveted at the Summer Games. It was the first time either Russian team won gold at the Olympics since shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Both the men and women under the post-Soviet banner of “Unified Team” won in 1992, but faltered in the decades after. But they recovered and became the first team in 11 years to beat the Americans in any event.

Though the history books may mark Tuesday’s victory with an asterisk due to American star Simone Biles’ early withdrawal, the Russian women's gymnastics team's dazzling performance is the result of a concerted transformation since they finished a distant second to the American team at the 2019 World Championship.

The Russians finished a distant second, just like every team trying to catch the Americans over the last decade. The Russians were, which should offer Tuesday night's team final something it has lacked for a decade: actual drama. For years, the Americans — Biles in particular — haven't had to choose. For the Americans, Biles put up the top score as usual and will compete in all five finals. If the Americans can simply match the execution scores of the Russians, they should be fine.

For the first time in years, the U.S. women's gymnastics team has a fight on its hands at the Olympics.

Tokyo Olympics Artistic Gymnastics Simone Biles, of the United States, reacts after performing on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastic qualifications at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo. While Biles leads the all-around with a total of 57.731, it didn't come easy. Sunisa Lee overcame a so-so performance on floor to surge into second behind Biles with an electric bar routine. The Americans arrived in Tokyo riding a decadelong winning streak, one fueled in large part by Biles' unmatched brilliance. ROC's performance's offered proof that the former gymnastics superpower is in the midst of a resurgence led by 21-year-old Angelina Melnikova.

The U.S. women's gymnastics team's bid for a third straight Olympic title is off to a rocky start.

Audience members cheer for Wataru Tanigawa of Japan as he competes in the rings during an international gymnastics meet in Tokyo on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. The non-Japanese entered after a 14-day quarantine at home and were largely kept penned up in their Tokyo hotel in strict isolation. The event is the latest — a Japanese baseball stadium was filled to capacity last week — intended to show that the postponed Tokyo Olympics can open in just under nine months. Fans entering the stadium, which was the venue for swimming in the '64 Olympics, had temperatures taken and hands sanitized. Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organize the Olympics, although a government audit last year said it was twice that much.

What’s important is for Japanese government and Olympic officials to show that foreign athletes can enter the country safely and not spread COVID-19. This is another step in attempting to illustrate that Tokyo will be able to hold next year’s Olympics — even without a vaccine — in the midst of a pandemic. “I have no worries with the venue and there are no restrictions inside of the gym. They will involve 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and thousands of staff, judges, officials, media and broadcasters. Two-time defending Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan, who reported a positive test last week for COVID-19, subsequently tested negative several times.

Simone Biles dropped the mic as she continued making history Thursday at the 2019 World Gymnastic Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Just days after winning a record 21st medal at the competition, the superstar gymnast captured her fifth all-around world title. Biles scored 58.999 points, beating China's Tang Xijing by a whopping 2.1 points her largest-ever margin of victory at the world championships. Thursday's win brings Biles' all-around world titles to five, two more than any other female gymnast in history. On Tuesday, Biles won a record 21st medal, leading her team to their fifth consecutive world team championship in what is likely Biles' last world championship.