Introducing Melnikova, Listunova, Urazova and Akhaimova - the gold medal gymnastics team that broke a decade of USA dominance

The U.S. women's gymnastics team were seen by some to be unbeatable going into the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

But after a decade of dominance - with team golds at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 - the Americans finished with silver after the withdrawal of Simone Biles following the first apparatus.

With the event going down to the final rotation, the brilliance of the gymnasts representing ROC shone through, including Angelina Melnikova, Vladislava Urazova, Lilia Akhaimova, and 2021 European all-around champion Viktoria Listunova.

So want to know more about the gold medal winners? Find out more.

Angelina Melnikova

After years of dedicated training and sacrifice, documented in depth and behind the scenes in the Olympic Channel original series All Around, she claimed the Tokyo 2020 women's team title with ROC on Tuesday (27th July 2021), beating the U.S., and Great Britain, who took third.

Melnikova was clutch for the ROC, as she was the final gymnast to perform on floor, easily scoring what she needed to to confirm victory. She is the 2019 world all-around bronze medalist - and her Olympic gold brought her to tears.

Melnikova, 21, is known as a fiercely determined and hard-working gymnast, as documented in All Around. You can watch her full journey for free and without subscription, here.

Vladislava Urazova

Though both Urazova and Melnikova suffered falls on balance beam in the penultimate rotation, ROC held strong to assure the Olympic gold was theirs - matching the win their men's team had on Monday (26 July).

The 2019 junior world team champion (with Listunova), Urazova will celebrate her 17th birthday next month. She won the silver medal on uneven bars at Europeans earlier this year.

She took up gymnastics at age four, and lives by this motto - written on her Instagram: "Create a dream and it will create you."

How about the dream of winning an Olympic gold medal?

Viktoria Listunova

Listunova was the 2019 junior world champion on the team with Urazova that won gold. She's the youngest member of the trio, having turned 16 just this May.

Had the Olympics taken place in 2020 as planned, she would have been too young to compete, and told Olympic Channel that she was excited at the opportunity to meet Simone Biles in Tokyo, but that she and the team were aiming for gold from the start.

Born in Moscow and nicknamed "Vika," Listunova was the Russian national champion in 2021.

Lilia Akhaimova

Double World Championship silver medallist Akhaimova now has Olympic gold to her name after being part of the ROC women's team.

She played a small but important role in the final, producing the top score out of all competitors on the vault. She'll also take part in the women's individual vault event on 1st August.