The U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials begin tonight for men at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Brody Malone, Frederick Richard and Khoi Young are heavily favored to consolidate their Olympic spots, but at least two spots are up for grabs. Simone Biles and the women begin the competition Friday evening.
Nancy Armor and Tom Schad of USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, results and analysis throughout the trials. Follow.
Khoi Young dismounts and falls to 12th
MINNEAPOLIS − Khoi Young was considered a lock for this Olympic team, the best American non-specialist on pommel horse and a rare American medalist in that event at the world championships.
But he has now fallen twice in three nights of competition at the U.S. championships and Olympic trials. His 11..65 on Thursday night, after falling twice during his routine, was the worst score of the meet on the event.
Young, the reigning NCAA champion, also had issues on high bar and still ringing, and found himself in 12th place. The only event in which he has done well is vault, where he is the reigning world silver medalist. Her score of 14.95 was the highest score of Thursday night’s event. −Nancy Armour
Fred Richard crushes high bar routine to tie Asher Hong for first place
MINNEAPOLIS — Pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik had a slim run to Paris, and he could have evaporated Thursday night.
The 2021 world champion on this event appeared to leave out at least one of his usual elements in his routine, knocking at least half a point off his potential score. The result was a score of 14.450 that won’t be enough to justify his specialist spot, though it’s the best score of the event so far. (He scored nearly a point higher in his first routine at nationals.)
Elsewhere, Fred Richard performed a superb routine on the high bar to move into a tie for the overall lead with Asher Hong, while Brody Malone slipped to second place after an awkward performance on the pommel horse. Yul Moldauer also put himself in a strong position with scores on the parallel bars, vault and rings all putting him in the top three of the night with just one rotation remaining.
Brody Malone’s group tightens; Khoi Young made a mistake
MINNEAPOLIS − Brody Malone still leads the overall standings after rotation No. 4. But then it gets interesting, with four men all separated by less than half a point: Shane Wiskus, Yul Moldauer, Fred Richard and Asher Hong.
Of the four, only Richard appears to be safe on the Paris team.
The fourth rotation also saw Khoi Young, another near-lock for the Games, fall behind due to an error on the high bar, resulting in her not even receiving credit for any of the skills of his routine. This probably won’t change his Olympic future, but it could hurt his overall ranking at the trials. −Tom Schad
Brody Malone leads the general standings at the halfway point
MINNEAPOLIS − It’s no surprise that Brody Malone is leading the overall standings at the halfway point. After all, he won his third U.S. title last month.
But to guarantee his spot on the Olympic team, Malone will also need to place in the top three in three or more events. And the 14.3 he just got on the high bar is essential. The high bar is one of the weakest events for American men right now, and Malone is guaranteed to score big and do it consistently. (He won a world title on high bar in 2022.)
Malone also has the second highest score on vault and third on parallel bars. −Nancy Armor
Hong and Whittenburg fail in jump
MINNEAPOLIS − Everyone on the bubble is hoping to prove they can bring consistency and a few extra tenths to their top events. This made the second rotation difficult for Asher Hong and Donnell Whittenburg, who both needed to get big scores on vault and failed to do so.
Whittenburg was so rotated on his jump that he fell off the mat, resulting in a significant deduction, while Hong took two side steps during his landing. Whittenburg’s score of 13.700 could be particularly problematic for her Olympic hopes, as it was well below her scores at the national championships.
Curran Phillips, meanwhile, achieved what could very well prove to be the best score of the evening: a 15.600 on his signature event, the parallel bars. Phillips did not compete on the second day of the national championships, which put a little more weight on each of her routines this week. −Tom Schad
Asher Hong scores 14,450 in rings
MINNEAPOLIS — After a lackluster performance at the national championships, Asher Hong has a lot of work to do this week if he wants to get back on the Olympic stage. But his performance on the rings in the first rotation certainly didn’t hurt.
Hong, the 2023 national all-around champion, posted the highest score in the first rotation outside of Malone’s vault – a 14.450, with an execution score of 8.450. Importantly, that was exactly about what he showed on the rings at nationals, where he stood at around 14,500.
Among the other athletes competing, Shane Wiskus (14.400 on vault) and Paul Juda (14.050 on pommel horse) also had good scores to start their evening. Yul Moldauer, for his part, will be disappointed with his performance on pommel horse. He’s usually pretty reliable in this event, but he fell in the second half of his routine, giving him a score of 13.100. −Tom Schad
Malone strong on vault, competes without bulky corset
MINNEAPOLIS − What Brody Malone didn’t have on vault was almost as remarkable as what he did have.
Malone, who shattered his knee on a high bar dismount in March 2023 and required three surgeries to repair it, vaulted without the bulky brace he wore at nationals last month. He told Gymnastics News earlier this week that the braces were causing tears in his tibia, a problem in an event that requires him to sprint down a landing strip.
Malone did well, landing the dismount on his Kas 1.5 jump. He scored 14.6, better than he had on both nights at the nationals. −Nancy Armour
Where are the 2024 USA Gymnastics Olympic trials held?
The American gymnastics trials take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials Announcers
Mike Tirico will anchor NBC’s coverage, and Terry Gannon (play-by-play) will be joined by analysts Tim Daggett, Samantha Peszek and John Roethlisberger on the call.
How many spots are there on the US Olympic gymnastics team?
Five spots are up for grabs on the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams at the Olympic trials.
How are American Olympic gymnastics teams selected?
The selection procedures are different for each of the teams (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.
As with the women, the men’s scores from the two days of competition during the selections will be combined. But unlike the women, the winner is only guaranteed a place on the Parisian team if he also finishes in the top three of three events.
The U.S. men have a real chance to win their first Olympic team medal since 2008, and the selection committee will try to find the right combination that can produce the highest score in the team finals. Having a versatile and spectacular player in at least three events greatly contributes to this objective. It’s about finding guys who can add big scores, or at least be consistently decent, on events where the Americans have holes to fill.
Brody Malone: What You Need to Know
Brody Malone, who is in contention for a second Olympic team, is a three-time U.S. all-around champion and the 2022 high bar world champion. At this year’s national championships, Malone put together a remarkably consistent and convincing performance to win handily, posting an overall score of 172.300 that left a significant gap between himself and the rest of the field.
When will Simone Biles compete in the US Olympic gymnastics trials?
Simone Biles is scheduled to perform her first rotation (uneven bars) shortly after 7:45 p.m. ET Friday, then move on to the Olympic order of events: balance beam, floor exercise, and then vault. On Sunday night, Biles will begin on vault, with her first attempt around 8:20 p.m. ET. She will then move on to uneven bars and balance beam before concluding on floor exercise.
2024 USA Olympic Gymnastics Event Schedule
The senior men will compete on Thursday night and Saturday night, while the women will be in action on Friday and Sunday.
- Thursday, 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET: Men’s Competition, Day 1
- Friday, 7:40 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Competition, Day 1
- Saturday, 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET: Men’s competition, day 2
- Sunday, 8:10 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET: Women’s competition, Day 2
How to Watch the US Olympic Gymnastics Trials
The first session of Thursday’s men’s competition will be televised on USA Network, while the next three nights, including the deciding sessions on Saturday and Sunday, will air on NBC. The network will also stream every minute of all four nights on its streaming service, Peacock, where it will offer both a general feed and device-specific streams for viewers hoping to follow a specific athlete.
Who will make the US Olympic men’s gymnastics team?
If Brody Malone performs similar to the selection events he did at the US championships in early June, he will be on his way to Paris. The same goes for Fred Richard and Khoi Young, who finished second and third at the national championships and in the top 5 in two other events. Richard finished first on floor exercise and second on high bar while Young finished second on parallel bars and fourth on high bar. Young also had the second-highest score of the competition on the second night on pommel horse, where he is the reigning world silver medalist.
Contenders include Tokyo Olympians Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus; Paul Juda, a member of last year’s world team; and Donnell Whittenburg, a two-time world medalist and 2016 alternate. Also keep an eye on Cameron Bock, Colt Walker and Asher Hong.
If the selection committee decides he’s strong enough elsewhere but needs a big score on pommel horse, it could go with Stephen Nedoroscik, the 2021 world champion on the event; or Patrick Hoopes. Read Nancy Armour’s full story on who could make the U.S. men’s team.
News Source : www.usatoday.com
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