Breakout Team USA star Brody Malone and Olympic veteran Sam Mikulak competed in the men's individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing in 10th and 12th place, respectively.
Malone, 21, is competing at his first Games after winning his first all-around U.S. national title in April, then finishing first in the all-around ranks at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials. The 28-year-old Mikulak, conversely, is competing in his third and final Olympic Games, seeking his first medal. He finished seventh in the all-around in 2016 and fourth on high bar; as a member of the 2012 team, he finished fifth, as the U.S. men's team also did this year.
Both Malone and Mikulak are both typically strongest on the high bar, but were both off in this final. Malone scored a 14.400, down from his 14.533 in qualifications (which, in turn, was still a bit off for him). Mikulak, in his final high bar routine ever, scored a 13.633. Malone will compete again in the high bar event final later this week.
Mikulak's best event was the parallel bars, where he scored a 14.966. That was down from his huge 15.433 in qualification, but he'll have one final shot at a medal in the event final. Although Malone had a low parallel bars score (13.466) he debuted a new mount to begin his routine, and the skill will be named after him in the Code of Points.
Malone closed out the day with a strong 14.300 on floor.
As for the actual race for the podium, it all came down to the final event with leaders Xiao Ruoteng, Nikita Nagornny and Daiki Hashimoto all on the high bar.
Xiao scored a 14.066 on the high bar, including a three tenths deduction. He submitted an inquiry about the deduction, but it was rejected. Nagornyy would have needed to score over 14.400 to overtake Xiao for the gold medal, but just missed out with a 14.366.
Hashimoto needed a 14.566 to overtake both Nagornyy and Xiao (he was 15.033 in qualifications) and got it, delivering a gold for the host nation. Hashimoto, 19, is the first teenage man to win an Olympic all-around.
See below for a rotation-by-rotation recap.
Rotation 1
U.S. on pommel horse
The always-exuberant Mikulak appeared elated after going second on pommel horse. He scored a 13.566, below his 13.900 from qualification. Malone put up a big-time routine, scoring a 14.100 to open his competition; he had scored a 13.733 in qualification.
Elsewhere in the rotation, Japan's Daiki Hashimoto threw down a big 14.833 floor routine, besting his 14.700 from the team final. The ROC's Nikita Nagornyy scored a 14.433 on floor, down from his 15.066 in qualification.
Standings after Rotation 1:
Daiki Hashimoto - 14.833
Xiao Ruoteng - 14.500
Caio Souza - 14.500
Rotation 2
U.S. on rings
Mikulak got things started on the rings, scoring a 13.533 with a small hop on his dismount, under his 13.866 from qualification. Malone went next and earned a 13.833 after getting a 14.200 in qualifications.
Elsewhere around the rotation, China's Sun Wei scored a great 14.966 on the pommel horse, then Hashimoto followed up with a 15.166 (well above his 14.766 from qualifications). Great Britain's Joe Fraser came off in his routine and scored a 13.300.
Standings after Rotation 2:
Daiki Hashimoto - 29.999
Sun Wei - 29.466
Xiao Ruoteng - 29.400
Rotation 3
U.S. on vault
Malone got things started with a 14.366, including a substantial hop forward on the landing (he scored a 14.533 in qualification). Mikulak stuck the landing on his attempt, earning a 14.533, besting his 14.133 qualification performance.
Turkey's Adam Asil, rotating with the U.S., hit a 15.133 on vault. Elsewhere, Germany's Lukas Dauser scored a 15.400 on the parallel bars.
Standings after Rotation 3:
Xiao Ruoteng - 43.933
T- Sun Wei - 43.532
T- Daiki Hashimoto - 43.532
Rotation 4
U.S. on parallel bars
Mikulak posted another strong parallel bars routine, albeit slightly off from his qualification attempt. He earned a 14.966 with a big hop forward on the dismount, down from his giant 15.433 in qualifications.
Malone went last and debuted a new mount on the parallel bars that will get named after him in the Code of Points. He scored a 13.466 for the routine, over a point below his qualification score of 14.633.
Elsewhere around the rotation, Nikita Nagornyy hit a 14.900 vault, besting his qualification score by two tenths.
Standings after Rotation 4:
Xiao Ruoteng - 58.633
Sun Wei - 58.432
Nikita Nagornyy - 58.265
Rotation 5
U.S. on high bar
Both Malone and Mikulak were off of their usual high standards on the high bar. Malone scored a 14.400, down from his 14.533 in qualifications (which, in turn, was still a bit off for him). Mikulak, in his final high bar routine ever, scored a 13.633. He had a low score in qualifications as well, but in the team final, Mikulak put up a 14.566 on the apparatus.
Xiao Ruoteng and Nikita Nagornyy each had big parallel bar routines in this rotation. Ruoteng put up a 15.366 and Nagornyy a 15.400.
Standings after Rotation 5:
Xiao Ruoteng - 73.999
Nikita Nagornyy - 73.665
Hashimoto Daiki - 73.532
Rotation 6
U.S. on floor
In the final all-around event of his career, Mikulak was off — but as per usual, he had a smile on his face the whole. He mistakes on a few landings, scoring a 12.933. Malone, however, earned a 14.300 with an 8.300 execution score. He put up a 13.666 in qualification.
Kitazono Takeru had a strong floor routine as well, posting a 14.566, as did James Hall with a 14.466. Joe Frasier and Sun Wei had strong high bar routines, both earning 14.400s.
Xiao Ruoteng scored a 14.066 on the high bar, including a three tenths deduction. He submitted an inquiry, but it was rejected.
Nikita Nagornyy would have needed to score over 14.400 on high bar to overtake Xiao for the gold medal, but just missed out with a 14.366.
Hashimoto, also on bars, needed a 14.566 to overtake both Nagornyy and Xiao (he was 15.033 in qualifications) and got it, delivering a gold for the host nation. Hashimoto, 19, is the first teenage man to win an Olympic all-around.
Final standings:
1. Hashimoto Daiki - 88.465
2. Xiao Ruoteng - 88.065
3. Nikita Nagornyy - 88.031
4. Sun Wei - 87.798
5. Kitazono Takeru - 86.698
6. Artur Dalaloyan - 86.248
7. Tang Chia-Hung - 85.798
8. James Hall - 84.598
9. Joe Frazer - 84.499
10. Brody Malone - 84.465
11. Illia Kovtun - 83.797
12. Sam Mikulak - 83.164
