Video: Needham native helps lead team to gold

LONDON -- The Americans lived up to their considerable hype and then some Tuesday night, routing silver medalist Russia and everybody else on their way to their first Olympic title in women's gymnastics since 1996. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points better than Russia's, and set off a debate over whether this is the best U.S. team of all time.

Video: Aly Raisman helps lead team USA to the gold

Needham native and captain Aly Raisman closed out the event with a rollicking routine to "Hava Nagila," soaring high on her tumbling passes and sticking a landing with a cement-like firmness.

Coach Mihai Brestyan was jumping up and down as Raisman finished, the tears already starting to fall. They gave way to shrieks of joy as she collapsed into her teammates' arms.

"We knew we could do it," Raisman said. "We just had to pull out all the stops."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.