China beams to glory

The United States' women's gymnastics team's long run of dominance at the world championships is over.

China used a spectacular performance on the balance beam in the third rotation to surge into the lead, and then held on to claim gold during a tense team final on Wednesday in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The five-woman Chinese team's total of 165.764 was just enough to edge the 165.531 of the US team, ending the Americans' run of seven straight world championships titles that began in 2011.

The gold was the first for China at a major international competition since the 2008 Olympics, and the first at the world championships since 2006.

Japan took the bronze, its first podium finish at the worlds in 60 years. France was fourth.

Russia, which finished third behind China and the US in qualifying, and is competing at a major international team competition for the first time since winning gold at the 2020 Olympics, struggled from the outset in the final.

Taking the floor without a handful of its most experienced competitors — including 2020 Olympic gold medalist and 2021 world all-around champion Angelina Melnikova — after they were denied visas by the Netherlands, Russia's competition began with a fall on the uneven bars, and it never threatened to catch up on its way to a sixth-place finish.

The Americans led by nearly two points through two rotations after excellent turns on the vault and uneven bars, but it vanished quickly on the balance beam.