TOKYO, July 27. /TASS/. Strong will and unity helped Russia’s female gymnasts to win Olympic gold medals in the team event, two-time Olympic champion Svetlana Khorkina told TASS.

Earlier, Russian gymnasts won gold in the team all-around competition for the first time. It was the Unified Team that prevailed in the event at the 1992 Olympics.

"It was just like I was competing, I was ready to put on a leotard and run," Khorkina said. "Despite two major mistakes on the balance beam, our girls were in it to win it, that’s very valuable. We had strong will and unity. This is the first team gold medal in Russia’s modern history, I hope that these historic events will give a new boost of popularity to gymnastics."

The Russian women’s team earned 169.528 points in the four rotations. The US team placed second (166.096), while the UK gymnasts won the bronze medals (164.096).