The U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team chose a nickname after capturing gold at the Paris Games, and it’s got a throwback vibe that honors the squad’s winning ways with a nod to a beloved 80s TV show.
Team captain Simone Biles, who initially said the team name was “F-Around and Find Out” during a post-meet news conference Tuesday, took to X toreveal that the team’s official name is the “Golden Girls.” She credited her coach Cecile Landi for the idea and noted that it came from the squad’s status as the oldest U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team since 1952.
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Led by Biles, 27, the team’s average age is 22.2. Rookie Hezly Rivera (16) is the lone teen on Team USA’s gymnastics roster, as Jade Carey (24), Jordan Chiles (23) and Suni Lee (21) are all old enough to have a celebratory champagne toast. The gravity-defying vaults, floaty leaps and triple-twisting tumbling passes may not bear much resemblance to Blanche Devereaux, but this group of Olympians definitely earned the “golden” moniker.
The five women representing America in Paris are the latest team to earn a catchy nickname throughout a storied history of U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics medalists. Here’s a look back at previous teams that captured Olympic glory and nationwide admiration.
Magnificent Seven, 1996
The 1996 U.S. Olympics gymnastics team was dubbed the “Magnificent Seven” after winning gold at the Atlanta Games (Photo: Doug Pensinger / Allsport)
Forever etched in the history books as the first Americans to win gold in a women’s Olympic gymnastics team final, the “Magnificent Seven” rose to fame at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Amanda Borden, who was voted captain in her Olympic debut, led a team that included Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Dominique Moceanu and Jaycie Phelps.
The defining moment of this team final came in the final rotation, when Strug landed a vault on one foot to ensure Team USA would place first ahead of Russia.
The leotards that the 2024 Olympic team wore Tuesday were inspired by the leotards the “Magnificent Seven” wore in Atlanta.
Fierce Five, 2012
The 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team that captured gold at the 2012 Games was dubbed the “Fierce Five.” (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/ Getty Images)
Sixteen years later, the U.S. struck gold again at the 2012 London Olympics. Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross beat second-place Russia by more than five points.The “Fierce Five” made an early statement on vault with a lineup that gymnastics fans called “the United States of Amanar,” a reference to the 2.5-twisting vault named after Romanian gymnast Simona Amanar.
Wieber, Douglas and Maroney each hit the difficult vault, with Maroney’s stuck landing in the anchor spot serving as the highlight of the competition.
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Final Five, 2016
The 2016 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team nicknamed themselves the “Final Five” after winning gold in Rio. (Photo: Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images)
Raisman and Douglas returned to join forces with a then-19-year-old Biles, along with Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian in Rio where Team USA defended its gold with another dominant performance. The women of the 2016 team dubbed themselves the “Final Five” because the following Olympics allowed only four athletes on each team. (This would increase back to five after the Tokyo Games.) Biles also posted on social media that the nickname was dedicated to team coordinator Marta Karolyi, who retired after the 2016 Games.
The 2016 team gold was Biles’ first Olympic gold. She now has five with a chance to add four more over the course of the 2024 Games.
Fighting Four, 2020
The U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team earned their “Fighting Four” nickname after the Tokyo Games. (Photo: LOIC VENANCE /AFP via Getty Images)
The Tokyo Olympic team faced unexpected adversity when captain Biles withdrew from the competition after a mishap on the vault due to a mental block known as the twisties, but Chiles, Lee and Grace McCallum stepped up to win a silver medal and left their mark as a group that didn’t give up. The “Fighting Four” name was born from there.
Chiles was only slated to compete on vault and floor in the 2020 team final, but she was pressed into service on bars and beam as well. At the 2024 Olympics, Chiles competed in all four events in the team final and completed the redemption tour the “Golden Girls” have been on since the Olympic Trials.
Required reading
- When does gymnastics start at the 2024 Paris Olympics? Schedule, contenders and how to watch
- The story in Simone Biles’ new floor routine: The ‘big boss of gymnastics’ is back
- How is Olympic gymnastics scored? A guide to understanding the competition
(Photo: Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images)
Tess DeMeyer is a Staff Editor for The Athletic working on the live/breaking news team. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked as an associate digital producer at Sports Illustrated. Tess attended Brown University and originates from a small town outside of Savannah, GA. Follow Tess on Twitter @tess_demeyer
