American women extend streak

DOHA, Qatar The juggernaut led by Simone Biles keeps right on rolling, kidney stone or no kidney stone.

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team cruised to a gold medal at the world gymnastics championships on Tuesday, extending a run of dominance that only seems to be picking up momentum.

The Americans posted a team score of 171.629 in winning their fourth straight world title, well clear of silver medallist Russia and bronze medallist China. The 8.766 margin of victory is the largest at a major international competition since the U.S.’s streak began in 2011. The gap between first and second was more than two times the margin between second and eighth.

Even a couple of rare missteps by Biles, the reigning Olympic champion, did little to slow the Americans and their 21-year-old star. Biles is dealing with a kidney stone diagnosed last week and is attempting to fight through the pain.

Biles waved to the crowd at the half-filled Aspire Dome after completing her floor routine then went over to join teammates Riley McCusker, Kara Eaker, Morgan Hurd, Grace McCallum and Ragan Smith to celebrate.

Russia slipped past China for silver, to give the event the same top-three finish as at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The real scramble is behind the Americans. Canada backed its surprising fourth in qualifying to finish a close fourth behind the Chinese. Brazil had a shot to reach the podium before falling apart on uneven bars.

Nikita Nagornyy stuck his high bar dismount, flexed just a bit and let out a sigh. Exhausted but exhilarated, the Russian gymnast thought his country’s long wait to return to the top of the sport was finally over.

Then Nagornyy’s score flashed and a whoop went out at the Aspire Dome Monday. Only it didn’t come from the Russians but the Chinese, who took gold at the world championships in a tense if sloppy men’s team final by less than fivehundredths of a point to claim their first major international title in four years.

China’s total of 256.634 was just ahead of Russia’s 256.585. Nagornyy — who stalled midway through his final routine and was scored 13.733, not quite enough for Russia to slip past the Chinese — couldn’t seem to figure out how gold turned to silver.

“Of course I don’t feel positive about it because I think that we were very close and they didn’t let us win,” Nagornyy said through an interpreter.

When asked if he was talking about the judging, Nagornyy shrugged.

“I don’t really blame judges as such but .... I don’t think it’s right,” he said.