MINNEAPOLIS – When Frederick Richard walked off the floor with his fists raised Thursday night, he flashed a big smile.
Reigning world bronze medalist Richard had a lot to celebrate. Her amazing floor routine propelled her to the top of the all-around leaderboard after the first night of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials with a score of 85.600, just ahead of national champion Brody Malone.
Both Richard and Malone were near-contenders for the men’s team at the 2024 Paris Olympics next month, so it was no surprise to see them top the leaderboard. It was much more interesting to see how the rest of the field came together behind them.
Khoi Young, another potential member of the Olympic team, had a disastrous night – falling twice on pommel horse, one of her best events, and failing to complete an element on high bar. It was such a weak performance that he left himself with some work to do on the second day of the trials, i.e. Saturday.
Shane Wiskas, who grew up just blocks away from the Target Center, is in third place after Thursday night’s competition, followed by Paul Judah and Asher Hong. Of these three, Judah may have really put himself in the best position for Saturday’s team selection with excellent performances on floor and pommel horse – an event where the US desperately needs help.
Here’s everything you missed on Night No. 1 in Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS – Khoi Young was a perfect fit for this Olympic team, the best non-expert on pommel horse among American men and a rare American medalist at the world championships.
But he has now dismounted the horse twice in three nights of competition at the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials. Her 11.65 on Thursday night, after being dismissed twice during her routine, was the worst score of the meet in the event.
Young, the reigning NCAA champion, also had trouble with the high bar and still rings and is ranked 12th. One event in which she performed well was vault, where she is the current world silver medalist. His 14.95 was the highest score in the event on Thursday night.nancy armor
MINNEAPOLIS – Pommel horse expert Stefan Nedoroschik had a slim road to Paris, and it may have been over Thursday night.
The 2021 world champion missed at least one normal element from his routine in this event, shaving at least half a point off his potential score. The result was a score of 14.450 which would not be good enough to justify his expert spot, despite it being his best score ever in the event. (She scored almost a full point higher in her first routine at nationals.)
Elsewhere, Fred Richard hit a spectacular high bar routine to jump into a tie with Asher Hong on the all-around leaderboard, while Brodie Malone slipped to second after an awkward performance on the pommel horse. Yul Moldauer also put himself in a strong position with scores on parallel bars, vault and rings that rank in the top three of the night with only one rotation.
Minneapolis – Brodie Malone still leads the all-around standings through rotation #4. But after that it gets interesting, with less than half a point difference between four guys: Shane Wiskus, Yul Moldauer, Fred Richard and Asher Hong.
Of the four, only Richard is believed to be safe in the squad for Paris.
Khoi Young, another near-lock for the Games in the fourth rotation, also fell far behind due to a slip-up on the high bar, which resulted in her not even getting credit for a single skill in her routine. This probably won’t change his Olympic future, but it could impact his overall finish at the trials.Tom Shadd
MINNEAPOLIS – It’s no surprise that Brodie Malone is leading the all-around standings. After all, he won his third US title last month.
But to solidify her spot on the Olympic team, Malone will also need to finish in the top three in three or more events. And the 14.3 he just got on high bar is significant. High bar is one of the US men’s weaker events at the moment, and Malone is guaranteed to post a big score and do so consistently. (He won the world title on high bar in 2022.)
Malone also has the second-highest score on vault and the third-highest score on parallel bars.nancy armor
MINNEAPOLIS – Everyone in the bubble will be hoping to prove they can bring consistency and a few more tenths of a second to their best events. This made the second rotation difficult for Asher Hong and Donnell Whittenberg, both of whom needed to score big on vault and failed to do so.
Whittenberg went overboard on his vault so much that he rolled off the mat, resulting in a significant deduction, while Hong took two steps sideways upon landing. Whittenberg’s score of 13.700 may have been particularly problematic for her Olympic hopes, as it was significantly lower than her score at nationals.
Meanwhile, Curran Phillips posted what could prove to be the best event score of the night: 15.600 on her signature event, parallel bars. Phillips did not compete on the second day of Nationals, which gave each of her routines a little more importance this week.Tom Shadd
MINNEAPOLIS – After a disappointing performance at nationals, Asher Hong has a lot of work to do this week to get back into the Olympic picture. But his performance on the rings in the first rotation certainly didn’t hurt.
Hong, the 2023 all-around national champion, posted the highest score of the first rotation outside of Malone’s vault – 14.450, with an 8.450 execution score. Importantly, this was right around what he showed in the rings at the national level, where his score was 14.500 or so.
Among other athletes on the bubble, Minnesota natives Shane Wiskas (14.400 on vault) and Paul Judah (14.050 on pommel horse) also posted solid scores to start their night. Meanwhile, Yul Moldauer will be disappointed with his pommel horse’s performance. He is generally quite reliable on the event but faltered in the second half of his routine, dropping his score to 13.100.Tom Shadd
MINNEAPOLIS – What Brodie Malone didn’t have in the safe was almost as remarkable as what he did have.
Malone, who broke her kneecap during a high bar dismount in March 2023 and required three surgeries to repair it, vaulted without the heavy brace she was wearing at the national championships last month. She told Gymnastics News earlier this week that her shins were tearing because of the braces, a problem she faced in an event that required her to sprint down the runway.
Malone did well with a dismount on his Cass 1.5 Volt. He scored 14.6, which was better than any night’s score at the national level.nancy armor
The U.S. gymnastics trials are at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Mike Tirico will host NBC’s coverage, and Terry Gannon (play-by-play) will join on the call with analysts Tim Daggett, Samantha Peszek and John Roethlisberger.
There are five spots on both the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at the Olympic Trials.
There are different selection processes for each team – the puzzle is a little more complicated for the men as they have six events and the women four – but consistency and the ability to post high scores will be key for both.
Like the women, the men’s scores from the two days of competition at the trials will be combined. But unlike the women, the winner is guaranteed a spot on the Paris team only if he also finishes in the top three in all three events.
The U.S. men have a real chance for their first Olympic team medal since 2008, and the selection committee is trying to find the right combination that can generate the highest score in the team final. Having an all-rounder who performs well in at least three events helps a lot. It’s about finding guys who can add up to big scores, or at least perform consistently well in events where the Americans have holes to fill.
Brody Malone, who is vying to make his second Olympic team, is a three-time U.S. all-around champion and the 2022 world champion on high bar. At this year’s Nationals, Malone performed remarkably consistently and brilliantly to easily win, posting a total score of 172.300 that left a significant gap between her and the rest of the field.
Simone Biles is expected to compete in her first rotation (uneven bars) shortly after 7:45 p.m. ET on Friday, then proceed in the order of events scheduled for Olympic competition – balance beam, then floor. Exercise, then vault. On Sunday night, Biles will begin with her first attempt on vault at approximately 8:20 p.m. ET. She will then move on to uneven bars and balance beam before concluding on floor.
The senior men will compete Thursday night and Saturday night, while the women will compete Friday and Sunday.
The first session of the men’s competition will be broadcast Thursday on USA Network, while the next three nights – including the final Saturday and Sunday sessions – will be on NBC. The network will also show every minute of all four nights on its streaming service, Peacock, where it will offer both a general stream and device-specific streams for viewers hoping to watch a specific athlete.
If Brody Malone has the same performance at the Trials as he did at the U.S. Championships in early June, he’s headed to Paris. Same for Fred Richard and Khoi Young, who were second and third nationally and in the top five in two other events. Richard was first on floor exercise and second on high bar while Young was second on parallel bars and fourth on high bar. Young also achieved the second highest score of the meet on the second night on pommel horse, where she is the defending world silver medalist.
The contenders are Tokyo Olympians Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiscus; Paul Judah, a member of last year’s world team; and Donnell Whittenberg, a two-time medalist at the World Championships and the 2016 Alternative. Also keep your eye on Cameron Bock, Colt Walker and Asher Hong.
If the selection committee decides it is solid enough elsewhere but needs a big score on pommel horse, it could go with 2021 world champion Stefan Nedorošić in the event; Or Patrick Hoopes. Read Nancy Armour’s full article on who could make the US men’s team.
This post was published on 06/27/2024 5:22 pm
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