By James Toney, in Rio

THE self-styled Sass Squad briefly looked more like Glum Girls after failing to match their world medal in the gymnastics team final at the Olympics in Rio.

The Double Downies - Rebecca and Ellie - Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold and 16-year-old Amy Tinkler, from Bishop Auckland, have an average age of just 18.

Some of them can't vote or drink, so perhaps we should take a deep breath and remember what we were doing at 18, before questioning whether their fifth place finish will effect lottery funding or overall team morale.

Last year the same team made history when they claimed bronze at the World Championships in Glasgow, holding off Russia in dramatic fashion as the USA and China took gold.

But the tears of happiness from Glasgow were destined not to be repeated. Normal order was restored in Rio as the superpowers of USA, inspired by superstar Simone Biles, Russia and China gave the podium a familiar look.

“I couldn’t have done much more and overall, with all the pressure, I still think we’ve done well,” said Becky Downie, the oldest in the team at 24.

"It’s been an amazing experience, even if it hasn’t quite come off the way we hoped but I don’t think we could have done anymore.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We’ve improved everything since Glasgow but the level has gone up in the last 12 months. It wasn’t quite the third but we are slowly creeping up on the rest of the world and we’re working as hard as we can.

“We’ve got strong competitors but we don’t have the same depth as other countries on individual apparatus.

“We’ve been working for that Olympic medal but things don’t always go how you want. We should still be proud of what we’ve done and it’s really encouraging for the future.”

The Northern Echo:

Team GB's Elissa Downie competes during the women's team finals at Rio Olympic Arena. Picture: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Not long ago a fifth place finish would have been celebrated, which is a testament to how far British gymnastics has come.

Eight years ago they didn’t make the final while a fifth place in London was greeted with banner headlines.

But success demands more success and five medals at last year’s Worlds - the men took team silver in Scotland but ranked fourth here - set the bar perhaps too high.

The women qualified for the final in fourth place after a fraught qualification that saw many tears and a few tumbles too.

European champion Becky Downie failed to make the individual final on the bars while younger sister Ellie botched a landing on her floor routine and suffered a nasty fall.

Four-time Commonwealth champion Claudia Fragapane fell on both the bar and beam and missed her all-around final by a fraction.

But gymnasts are taught to bounce at the earliest age and put on smile, even though their heart might be breaking.

Great Britain were third after the first rotation, on arguably their strongest apparatus, the uneven bars, but then slowly slipped down the rankings. They body language said it all as they moved to the vault, they knew a medal had gone.

Amy Tinkler will return for the floor final, where she’ll look for a repeat of this team final routine, set to a version of Pretty Woman specially designed for use in shopping centre lifts.

“I just wanted to try and enjoy this Olympic experience and the team did an amazing job I believe and it was always going to be difficult to crack the podium,” said Tinkler, the youngest member of Team GB in Rio.

“The USA are on another level and it comes down to a bit of luck on the day. We went all out for it and I’m just really looking forward to having another go in front of this crowd.

“This is my first Olympics and I’m learning so much. Whatever happens I’m going to be a better gymnast for this experience.”

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