RIO DE JANEIRO _ In coaching national teams from two countries at a total of 11 Olympic Games, a career that spans nearly a half-century, U.S. national team director Martha Karolyi has cried only twice.
The first time was when her first prodigy, Romania's Nadia Comaneci, registered a perfect 10.0 at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
She cried again Tuesday night when, after Team USA delivered the retiring Karolyi a golden going-away present in the form of the most dominant performance in Olympic gymnastics history, team members informed her that their new designation was a tribute to her.
The Final Five.
"I'm not sentimental, but when Aly (Raisman) told me the name of the team is the Final Five, that was the moment I cried," Karolyi said. "It's touching."
The name is fitting, and not only because of Karolyi's impending retirement or that these Olympics are the last in which five gymnasts per nation will compete in the team competition.
