A/N: Team final chapter! I'll be honest, 2014 is one of the most dull years in this story, so I'm trying to get to 2015 quickly!
And so it was, they were marching out into the arena for the team final the following day. It was a bright, cheerful shade of blue, and the girls were all decked out in crimson red leotards, embellished with a simple white swirl below the neckline. Kyla, JJ and Simone had all added a red lipstick to the equation, and as a result, the team looked and felt like they were ready to win.
JJ hadn't known how to play it around Simone when they had gone downstairs for breakfast that morning, but Simone had carried on as if nothing had happened, keeping her promise. It was that small act that had allowed JJ to pick herself up and march into the day as the leader of the team, her confidence unshaken, and her wounds concealed.
One by one, the teams were announced. First, the USA starting on vault, Simone Biles, Jennifer Jareau, Mykayla Skinner, Kyla Ross, Alyssa Baumann, and Madison Kocian, rotating with China at their home championships, Yao Jinnan, Chen Siyi, Tan Jiaxin, Shang Chunsong, Huang Huidan, and Bai Yawen. Russia were starting on uneven bars, with a team consisting of Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Tatiana Nabieva, Daria Spiridonova, and Alla Sosnitskaya. They were rotating with Great Britain, represented by Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Gabrielle Jupp, Ruby Harrold, Kelly Simm, and Hannah Whelan. Italy were starting their team campaign over on the balance beam, with Giorgia Campana, Erika Fasana, Vanessa Ferrari, Lavinia Marongiu, Lara Mori, and Martina Rizzelli. They were seeded with Japan, represented by Wakane Inoue, Azumi Ishikura, Yu Minobe, Mai Murakami, Asuka Teramoto, and Natsumi Sasada. Rounding out the final on floor were Romania, having sent Larisa Iordache, Andreea Munteanu, Anamaria Ocolisan, Stefania Stanila, Paula Tudorache, and Silva Zarzu, and Australia, represented by Georgia-Rose Brown, Larrissa Miller, Olivia Vivian, Mary-Anne Monckton, Kiara Munteanu, and Emma Nedov.
Some teams had already had their fair share of drama; Australia had been planning to have Lauren Mitchell compete (which JJ had been excited about, as she had always been friendly with Lauren when they saw each other at competitions), but she had unfortunately rolled both ankles in training, and was now watching from the stands. Romania had been unable to field five gymnasts to compete in qualifications on every event and had had to count lower than usual scores, which meant they had just made it into the final in seventh place.
Just like in the Olympics two years earlier, JJ was sitting vault for the team final, with Kyla, Mykayla, and Simone leading off their competition. Marta had been tossing over whether to put JJ or Kyla on vault, as they scored in the same margin, but had ultimately decided to keep JJ off to prevent her from competing all-around three times in three days.
It was a calm entrance to competition, with Kyla performing a beautiful and solid DTY to score a 15.100, which was a fabulous start for the girls. She had done her job beautifully, not showing any signs of pressure or nerves, which was exactly how everyone had expected her to perform. Mykayla was up next. It was her first major competition, but if she was nervous about it, she didn't look it.
"Come on Mykayla, you got this!" JJ called as she leant against the edge of the podium, her grips already on her wrists, her team trackpants sitting low on her waist. As the oldest of the six girls, they had all chosen her as their team captain for the competition, a leadership role that JJ had never really seen herself rising to, but was growing into it with each routine that passed.
Mykayla was off, rocketing down the runway and hurdling into a Cheng, the hardest vault being done in the competition. She wrapped it in beautifully, landing it confidently in an upright position.
"Yeah! Nice Mykayla!" JJ cheered with the girls as the crowd clapped loudly. Mykayla looked incredibly pleased; her first Worlds were off to a good start.
Simone's Amanar that followed was oh so typically Simone; high, flighty, and clean, with a good landing, to post the highest of the three scores.
Even with the other rotations still to finish, it was clear they were going to lead the final all the way around.
"So we're almost at the halfway point of the third rotation with just one American left to go on beam, and this should be a good routine from the reigning world and Olympic balance beam champion"
Bars had gone by surprisingly well for the Americans, who had developed a sticky reputation for being weak on the apparatus. But with JJ, Kyla, and inexperienced on the world stage Madison Kocian, they had done a beautiful job on keeping the momentum going for Team USA.
Beam so far had also gone equally as well. Rather than going with the score building lineup she usually used, Marta had decided to bookend Alyssa, the rookie of the team, with Simone going first and JJ going last. It was a strategy that worked; a high 14 and a mid 14 from Simone and Alyssa respectively meant the pressure on JJ had lessened.
Seeing as someone was on floor, JJ's name was never announced. Instead, once she got her green light, she simply saluted, and readied herself.
With a short run, she punched off the springboard, flipping easily through the air.
The flip felt good, but when her feet landed on the beam, one of them was almost totally off.
"Oh GOSH!"
Her weight fell to one side, and all JJ could think was to throw it back the opposite way, her arms flailing as she tried to save it.
For a moment, she was sure she was going to come off, but miraculously, she didn't. The American supporters in the building all cheered, as did the team.
"Nice JJ!"
"Come on girl, you got it!"
"Wow. That was a big mistake, right off the top of the exercise. She's probably going to be a little rattled now"
"That was probably almost a point in deductions right there"
"Come on JJ, you got it!" came Simone's voice, loud and clear from the sidelines.
Up in the audience, Will, Michael, and Sandy had all been gripping the edges of their seats, the stress radiating off them like heatwaves. A collective sigh of relief had escaped them all when JJ pulled it together and saved it without falling.
The rest of the routine was good, if not a little shaky, but by the time she'd dismounted, JJ was feeling quite unsure. Twice this year now she had had a major mistake on beam in competition. What was Marta going to say about that?
"I messed up," she said quietly as she walked down the stairs to join Nick, her face reading anxiety and defeat.
"But you saved it," Nick reminded her softly, putting a hand on her back as they walked over to join the rest of the team. "You saved the fall and did a great job with the rest of the routine, even if it was a little shaky"
Simone was the first of the girls to reach her, giving her a tight squeeze and a big grin. "I was freaking out, I thought you were gonna fall, and then you saved it, and I was like 'damn girl!'" she jabbered away as Kyla hugged JJ quickly. JJ managed a laugh as Simone giggled; something about the tiny little powerhouse of a girl never failed to brighten JJ's mood.
Trying to shake away the upset of beam, JJ moved over to her bag to get ready for floor.
Time to pretend the mistake had never happened.
It was with three very solid routines that the USA closed out their second consecutive world team title. JJ had shaken off her unusual beam routine to deliver a strong start, her bright smile finding its way back to her face as she danced and tumbled her way through the electric choreography of her routine. Mykayla had followed, her difficulty soaring almost as high as Simone's, and her smile at the end proving she was happy with the job she had done.
Simone had, as expected, posted the highest floor score with an exciting routine that had the crowd clapping and cheering along with her. When her score had gone up on the board, the girls were a clear seven points ahead of silver medallists, China, and had celebrated with an excited huddle.
Considering half the team, plus the alternate, Maddie Desch, had never been to Worlds, it was an exciting atmosphere as they stood on the podium, receiving their medals for all their hard work.
JJ was smiling from ear to ear as she stood beside Simone, her eyes scanning the crowd before her to see if she could spot her parents and Will.
"Oh hey, we are all in red!" came Simone's voice to her right, making both JJ and the lady presenting the medals laugh. True enough, every gymnast on the podium that day was in a red leotard.
Medals were presented, the flags were raised, and the anthem was played.
As she followed the girls out to the media zone, Simone at her side, JJ had completely shaken off what happened on beam. She would simply make sure it didn't happen again in the individual finals.
Besides, it was her fourth World Championships.
Time to loosen up and have a little fun.
Skill Guide
Cheng – a Yurchenko family vault. From the roundoff, the gymnast does a half turn onto the table, followed by one and a half twists off in a forward stretched salto. Named after Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei, who famously led her young and inexperienced team to China's first ever team gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.