Madison Kocian was edged by less than a tenth of a point for gold (Getty)
On a team of superstars, Madison Kocian earned her time in the gymnastics spotlight Sunday by grabbing the silver medal in the uneven bars.
Kocian and Gabby Douglas were the two United States gymnasts represented in the event, which was the only one that Simone Biles didn’t qualify to compete in. While Douglas, the all-around gold medal winner in the 2012 Olympics, was a favorite to win the event, she finished with a disappointing score of 15.066 that earned her the seventh spot out of eight.
That opened the door for Kocian to steal the show with a score of 15.833, just behind Russia’s Aliya Mustafina’s score of 15.900 for gold.
Kocian’s execution score of 9.133 actually edged Mustafina’s 9.100, but the Russian’s routine earned a difficulty score of 6.800, while Kocian’s scored a 6.700.
The 19-year-old, who is an incoming freshman at UCLA, is an uneven bars specialist and earned a gold medal in the event at the 2015 world championships in an unprecedented four-way tie for first.
While Simone Biles drew most of the eyes Sunday by winning her third of a possible five gold medals in Rio, Kocian didn’t let her chance to shine slip through her fingers.
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