World Gymnastics Championships 2015: Results and Reaction from Friday

Russia took a flying start to grab the lead in the women's team qualifying sessions of the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships on Friday, while hosts Great Britain took a major step toward qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics with a strong showing in Glasgow, Scotland.

The British women are aiming for a spot in the final, and a finish in the top eight would take them to the Olympics. After the first day of competition, they find themselves in second place. The defending champion United States will take to the floor on Saturday.

Here's a look at the current top 10:

Position	Team	Total
1	Russia	231.437
2	Great Britain	227.162
3	Italy	224.452
4	Japan	223.863
5	Canada	222.780
6	Brazil	221.861
7	Germany	219.261
8	Romania	217.220
9	Spain	210.094
10	Poland	208.527

The full schedule for the competition can be found on the event's official website. For the full team and individual results, visit the FIG's official website.

Recap

Team Great Britain enjoyed a strong first day of competition on Friday, led by four-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist Claudia Fragapane, who will celebrate her 18th birthday on Saturday.

The team finished with a final score of 227.162. As British Gymnastics noted, that was good enough for the top spot when the team's session ended:

Fragapane stole the show on the floor with a score of 14.600, executing a number of moves that had NBC Sports' Tim Daggett in awe:

The routine made up for a shaky start on the beam, but fortunately, her team-mates picked up the slack. Ruby Harrold started with a 13.600, and 15-year-old Amy Tinkler added a 13.633, setting the tone for a wonderful afternoon.

On the floor, Team Great Britain showed their remarkable depth, with Ellie Downie scoring a 14.400, one of three to score above the 14-point mark along with Fragapane and Tinkler. She followed that up with some solid work on the vault, where Downing averaged 14.949 to give herself a strong shot at the individual final.

Will Graves of the Associated Press came away impressed with the team as a whole:

A few struggles on the bars brought the team's score down a bit, but the total of 227.162 was still impressive and gave hope for a top-eight finish, which would see Great Britain qualify for next year's Olympics.

As reported by British Gymnastics' official website, Harrold credited the fans for their incredible support and explained her role within the team:

"

It was a nerve-racking start on beam; we were all really keen to get off to a good start and remain calm, that was our big focus. As soon as we warmed up we felt good, the crowd gave us energy and it felt great to make a solid start. I see myself as a team player and that’s my role to help the younger gymnasts and the team as a whole and I’m proud to have done that today. Hopefully we’ll make that top eight, we’ve done a great job and we’ll be watching the scores closely.

"

Fellow athletes like Louis Smith took to social media to congratulate the team:

Once the set was over, the team sat and watched as the rest of the pack started their routines, and with the qualifying rounds continuing on Saturday, the British women will have to wait another day to find out whether their performance was good enough for the final.

The Russian and Italian teams were thought to be virtual locks to qualify for the final. The Russians predictably took the top spot with an overall score of 231.437, but the Italians surprisingly fell more than two points short of the British team.

With strong nations like Italy, Germany and Canada failing to overtake Great Britain on Friday, the hosts are likely to qualify for the final. The United States will lead the way on Saturday before the men's squads take to the stage on Sunday.

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