US men’s Olympic gymnastics team have their eye on the podium in Paris
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team haven’t won an Olympic medal since 2008, and they’re looking to end that drought at the Paris Olympics this summer.
PARIS – For the first time in 16 years, the U.S. men’s gymnastics team has won an Olympic medal.
Buoyed by a resurgent performance from national champion Brody Malone, who competed in five of the six events, Team USA held off Great Britain and Ukraine to win bronze at the 2024 Olympics. Japan surged to gold in the final rotation, while China took silver.
It’s the first time the American men have been on the Olympic podium since 2008, when Jonathan Horton led them to bronze. And ultimately, they finished closer to second-place China (1.3 points off) than they did fourth-place Great Britain (2.2 points).
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Stephen Nedoroscik, a pommel horse specialist whose only contribution to the team score came on the very last routine of the night, helped clinch the bronze for Team USA with a solid performance. But every member of the team hit clutch routines, including Paul Juda and Asher Hong on vault and Frederick Richard on high bar.
The Americans finished fifth at each of the previous three Summer Olympics, and they finished fifth again in Saturday’s qualifying. The difference on Monday largely revolved around Malone.
Malone, 24, had been expected to qualify for the all-around individual final and perhaps even contend for a medal, but he had a dreadful showing in qualifying – with falls on pommel horse, floor and even high bar, the event in which he won a world championship in 2022. It was such a jarring performance that some of his teammates later said he apologized to them afterwards.
“I know Brody’s a dog and a competitor,” Hong said. “So I know he’s going to come into team finals and full send.”
And he did. Malone improved upon or matched his performances on every apparatus, including a significantly better showing on high bar that helped keep the U.S. ahead of its bronze rivals. After falling twice on the apparatus in qualifying, he looked much more comfortable – and stuck the landing – for a score that was nearly two full points higher than his score Saturday.
Hong, Juda and Richard, meanwhile, each competed in four events – each pumping up their teammates, and the crowd, between routines. Chants of “U-S-A!” rang out at Bercy Arena at multiple points over the course of the night.
Although China and Japan were long considered the favorites, the U.S. knew for months that it would benefit from the absence of Russia, which is banned from team competitions at these Olympics because of its invasion of Ukraine.
The Americans knew the bronze medal was there for the taking. And they took it.
Check out all the highlights from the team final.
Stephen Nedoroscik closed out the U.S. men’s rotation on pommel horse, nailing his routine and enciting a massive cheer from the crowd, including a chant of “USA! USA!” His teammates threw him in the air in celebration. He earned a score of 14.866.
Brody Malone scored a 13.700 on pommel horse, leaving only Stephen Nedoroscik’s turn on the rotation left.
Paul Juda opened the U.S. men’s rotation on pommel horse and stuck his landing, drawing a huge roar from the crowd. He scored a 13.900.
U.S. men’s gymnastics in medal position entering last rotation
The U.S. is sitting in third place with just one rotation left to go. Unfortunately, that last rotation is in a notoriously tricky event: Pommel horse.
The U.S. has a 1.8-point lead over Ukraine, which is in fourth place, after a solid showing on floor exercise. Asher Hong, Paul Juda and Frederick Richard all notched scores about 14.100 on floor, with Richard’s routine the highlight.
Now, it just needs to hang on. The U.S. will put up Juda, Brody Malone and Stephen Nedoroscik on pommel horse. Nedoroscik is a one-event specialist whose only routine of the night will be Team USA’s last — with a medal on the line.
U.S. men’s gymnastics has monster high bar set
What a difference a couple of days make. The U.S. men are in third place with two events to go thanks to a monster performance on high bar.
Frederick Richard and Brody Malone improved their scores from qualifying by nearly three points, including a hit by Malone. The 2022 world champ on high bar has been struggling on his signature event all summe, but he came through when it counted most. And Richard was simply magnificent, his release series setting off chants of “USA! USA!” China still has a commanding lead, and Ukraine leapfrogged the Americans. But the Americans are hanging in there.
High bar: Paul Juda (13.366), Frederick Richard (14.833), Brody Malone (14.166)
Brody Malone put up an impressive high bar routine and scored a 14.166.
Monster high bar routine from Frederick Richard. He stuck the landing and scored a 14.833 — roughly seven-tenths better than his routine in qualifying.
The U.S. men are still in medal contention halfway through the team final.
The Americans are 1.201 points behind China after three events, with a score of 130.163. They got a big boost on parallel bars, where Asher Hong improved his score from qualifying by more than a half-point. Frederick Richard also picked up about 1.2 points, offsetting a slightly lower score from Brody Malone.
It’s not just that the Americans are doing their jobs, they’re getting help from the other contenders. Japan is probably out of the running for gold after Daiki Hashimoto fell off pommel horse in the second rotation. They’re more than three points behind China and are almost two points behind the Americans. Britain had to count a 13.033 on vault and are 1.7 points back from the U.S. But the Americans must now go on high bar, a high-risk, high-reward event.
Parallel bars: Brody Malone (14.433), Frederick Richard (14.566), Asher Hong (14.400)
Asher Hong amped after big vault
One of the keys for Team USA, and every team in this final, is to have its stars on each apparatus put up big scores. And Asher Hong certainly did that on vault, which is one of his best events.
Hong took a slight hop on his Ri Se-gwang vault — a full twisting, double back somersault — but nevertheless notched a strong score of 14.833, pumping his fist and yelling in celebration as he walked off the podium. Between that vault, Paul Juda’s stuck landing, and dramatic improvement on this apparatus by Brody Malone, the U.S. put up another strong showing and moved into first place in the overall team standings — at least for a brief moment.
If you’re simply comparing Team USA’s performance to its performance in the qualifying round, then things are looking good. The Americans improved by four-tenths on still rings and roughly 0.9 points on vault.
Vault: Paul Juda (14.666), Brody Malone (14.533), Asher Hong (14.833)
Japan’s hopes take a hit
The gold will go to either China or Japan, and Daiki Hashimoto’s mistake on pommel horse might loom large.
The reigning Olympic and world champion wound up on his back on top of the horse midway through his routine and dropped off. The crowd gasped, and Hashimoto put his head in his hands after he finished, knowing what a costly error it was. His score of 13.1 was almost 1.4 points below his score in qualifying. Unlike in qualifying, when teams can drop their lowest score, every score counts tonight.
The only positive is that the mistake occurred early enough in the competition that Japan has time to make up ground. Still, the reigning world champs are a half-point behind China.
There’s a lot of gymnastics left to go, but the U.S. got to off to a solid start on still rings. Frederick Richard led off with a 14.033 — which was a half-point improvement on his rings score in qualifying — while Brody Malone and Asher Hong finished right around their scores Saturday. The result was a net positive of four-tenths for Team USA over qualifying, where they finished more than three full points behind third-place Great Britain.
Still rings scores: Frederick Richard (14.033), Brody Malone (14.166), Asher Hong (14.533).
U.S. rotations at Olympic gymnastics team final
In Monday’s eight-team final, the Americans will be rotating from one apparatus to another with Italy and start off on still rings. And they’ll end with arguably the trickiest event in men’s gymnastics: Pommel horse, which is often compared to balance beam on the women’s side.
After a rough showing in the qualifying round, reigning U.S. champion Brody Malone will have the busiest night in the final, competing in every event except floor. Asher Hong, Paul Juda and Frederick Richard will have four routines apiece, and Stephen Nedoroscik will wrap up the night with his only event: Pommel horse.
Here’s the complete lineup for Team USA in Monday’s final, and their order of events:
- Still rings: Frederick Richard (14.033), Brody Malone (14.166), Asher Hong (14.533).
- Vault: Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Asher Hong
- Parallel bars: Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong
- High bar: Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, Brody Malone
- Floor exercise: Paul Juda, Asher Hong, Frederick Richard
- Pommel horse: Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik
NBC is airing the men’s team final, Peacock is live streaming it.
The men’s team final is happening now, after starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. The U.S. men’s gymnastics team is vying to win its first medal since 2008. The Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team competes in the team final on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. ET.
When does Simone Biles compete next?
Simone Biles will next compete in Paris in the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday (12:15 p.m. ET). Here’s her full Olympics schedule:
- The women’s team final begins at 12:15 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 30. Biles will compete in all four events in the team final, even after tweaking her calf in qualifying on Sunday.
- The women’s all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 1.
- The women’s vault final is at 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 3.
- The women’s balance beam final (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise final (8:20 a.m.) are Monday, Aug. 5.
Stephen Nedoroscik to step into pommel horse pressure-cooker
There was a bit of controversy over Stephen Nedoroscik‘s inclusion on Team USA. He only competes in one event — pommel horse — but he is one of the best in the world on that apparatus when he hits.
That means there’s a ton of pressure for the Penn State product to nail his routine in the team final Monday.
The timing, or rather order of events, only further adds to that pressure. The Americans will go last on pommel horse, and Nedoroscik will be the third and final member of the team to compete. Meanwhile, Great Britain and Ukraine, who are expected to be Team USA’s biggest rivals for the bronze medal, will be on floor exercise — where Great Britain recorded the highest score in qualifying.
The rub: When Nedoroscik steps up to the pommel horse, there could very well be a medal on the line.
Olympic gymnastics schedule
Here is the complete Paris Olympics gymnastics schedule.
- The men’s team final begins today at 11:30 a.m. ET.
- The women’s team final begins at 12:15 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 30.
- The women’s all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 1.
- The women’s vault final is at 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 3.
- The women’s uneven bars final is at 9:40 a.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 4.
- The women’s balance beam final (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise final (8:20 a.m.) are Monday, Aug. 5.
Frederick Ricahrd, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik are looking to end the Americans’ 16-year medal drought in the men’s gymnastics team final. Here’s what to know about them.
Olympic gymnastics scoring: How does it work?
A gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. (Vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.)
Winning an Olympic team medal is difficult. Difficulty doesn’t have to be what keeps the U.S. men’s gymnastics team from winning one, however. Since the Tokyo Olympics, where they finished fifth for a third straight Games, the Americans have prioritized making their routines harder in hopes of breaking what is now a 16-year medal drought. You can do the most beautiful gymnastics in the world and it won’t matter if your skills aren’t as difficult as what the top teams are doing.
“I hate to say that about Tokyo but yeah, that was kind of what that was,” said Brody Malone, referring to the 7-point gap between the U.S. men and China, the bronze medalists.
In the gymnastics scoring system, there is one score for the difficulty value of a routine and another for how well it’s executed. The Americans still lag well behind Japan and China, perennial favorites in men’s gymnastics. But with no Russia, which won the team title both in Tokyo and at the world championships before it, the bronze medal is there for the taking.