Vanessa Ferrari hit full throttle as she led a super-charged Italian team to glory at the qualifying event for the 2012 Olympics.

Ferrari displayed the form that landed her the 2006 all-round world title by impressing the judges on all four apparatus to secure the Italians a place in the July 27-August 12 London Games.

Ferrari, Erika Fasana and Carlotta Ferlito made sure Italy held on to the lead from start to finish as they eclipsed Canada by 2.708 points. France and a hugely relieved Brazil overcame falls from the beam to snatch the final two spots to complete the 12-nation lineup for the team competition at the Olympics.

They join the United States, Russia, China, Romania, Britain, Germany, Japan and Australia, who had all booked their places at the world championships in October.

"We were well prepared. We have been training hard since July last year. After not getting through at the Tokyo world championships we continued to train even harder and are so, so happy to be here," said Italy's Chiara Gandolfi.

While Italy enjoyed a smooth ride thanks to the nerveless displays of Ferrari, Fasana and Ferlito - who completed a sweep of the top three places in the all-round standings - the real drama was to see who would grab the last place.

The occasion seemed to get to many of the competitors whose Olympic hopes disappeared in a flash after they lost their grip on the asymmetric bars or tumbled off the beam.

Brazil, who had become the crowd favourite following their rousing, high-energy routines on the floor, looked to be out of the running when Jade Barbosa, the penultimate competitor of the evening, lost her balance on the beam and slipped off.

Her mark of 11.866 left Brazil out of the top four and Barbosa broke down in tears as her team mates huddled around her in support.

The distraught gymnast turned her back to the competition area in the North Greenwich Arena, unable to watch her final team mate, Daniele Hypolito, execute her display on the beam.

Once Hypolito completed her dismount, the Brazilians stood in a line holding hands, their eyes fixed on the large scoreboard as they anxiously awaited the final verdict.

As their total score of 217.985 flashed up, Brazil's entire entourage of coaches and gymnasts erupted in joy and celebrated their last-gasp success in landing a place at the Olympics.

Despite waiting for what seemed an eternity for their final total to come up, Hypolito was confident she had not let the team down.

"The instant I saw Jade fall, I knew all the pressure was on to my shoulders. I knew I had to stay calm and focus on my performance to ensure I did not make a mistake," an animated Hypolito told Reuters.

"As I'm the last one to perform on each apparatus, I am aware that it may all come down on my routine. As soon as I stuck my landing, I knew we had done enough to come back here in July."

Team mate Daiane dos Santos, who was still celebrating with fist pumps an hour after the competition ended, added: "We were very nervous and just wanted the score to come up. It seemed to take forever and when it did, it was fantastic."

Brazil's lucky escape meant Belgium, Spain, South Korea and the Netherlands missed out on an Olympic adventure.

Reuters