Four men emerged as the clear frontrunners for the U.S. men’s Olympic gymnastics team Thursday night at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials.
2021 national champion Brody Malone, former world championship team members Shane Wiskus and Yul Moldauer, and two-time Olympian Sam Mikulak finished Day 1 in the top four spots. The latter three are separated by less than 1.1 points.
Malone leads the way with an all-around score of 85.250. Wiskus was second with an 84.300, Moldauer was third with an 83.650, and Mikulak fourth with an 83.200.
The top finisher earns an automatic spot on the Tokyo team, and the No. 2 finisher does as well, provided that he finishes in the top three on three of the six apparatuses. There's an additional individual spot on the line for a specialist, selected by committee, as well as two more team spots.
Malone had the highest score on both high bar (14.450) and floor exercise (14.600) -- tied with Mikulak in the latter. While Malone's breakout has been somewhat unexpected, it was Wiskus who had the biggest comeback Thursday night.
At the U.S. Championships earlier this month, Wiskus was in second place going into the 11th of 12 events, but fell off the high bar three times and finished the competition in ninth place. He rebounded seamlessly, however, getting himself back in line for an Olympic berth. He lead the parallel bars with a score of 14.500 and was third on both high bar and vault.
SEE MORE: Trials: Shane Wiskus leads race for second after Day 1
Moldauer's highest finishes -- both second place -- came on pommel horse (14.100) and parallel bars (14.400). Mikulak was second on both high bar and floor with scores of 13.850 and 14.600, respectively.
As for the battle to secure the individual spot, Alec Yoder emerged as a front runner. He performed a stunning pommel horse routine, earning a 15.050; the next-highest scorer on the apparatus was Moldauer with his 14.100. Stephen Nedoroscik, another pommel horse specialist vying for the spot, fell off early in his routine and earned a 13.650. Additionally, 2016 Olympic alternate Donnell Whittenburg tossed his name into the hat, earning the highest score on vault (15.05) by 0.35 points.
SEE MORE: Trials: Alec Yoder hits stellar pommel horse routine
Men's All-Around Standings - Day 1
1. Brody Malone - 85.250
2. Shane Wiskus - 84.300
3. Yul Moldauer - 83.650
4. Sam Mikulak - 83.200
5. Brandon Briones - 82.700
6. Akash Modi - 82.550
7. Allan Bower - 82.500
8. Paul Juda - 82.200
Apparatus Scores
| Floor T-1. Brody Malone - 14.600 T-1. Sam Mikulak - 14.600 3. Paul Juda - 14.450 4. Allan Bower - 14.400 T-5. Yul Moldauer - 14.250 T-5. Gage Dyer - 14.250 7. Akash Modi - 14.150 8. Shane Wiskus - 14.00 |
Vault 1. Donnell Whittenburg - 15.050 2. Vitaliy Guimaraes - 14.700 3. Shane Wiskus - 14.600 4. Riley Loos - 14.550 T-5. Allan Bower - 14.500 T-5. Brody Malone - 14.500 T-5. Gage Dyer - 14.500 8. Yul Moldauer - 14.500 |
| Pommel Horse 1. Alec Yoder - 15.050 2. Yul Moldauer - 14.100 3. Allan Bower - 14.050 4. Cameron Bock - 13.900 5. Stephen Nedoroscik - 13.650 T-6. Paul Juda - 13.550 T-6. Brandon Briones - 13.550 T-8. Shane Wiskus - 13.500 T-8. Ian Gunther - 13.500 |
Parallel Bars 1. Shane Wiskus - 14.500 2. Yul Moldauer - 14.400 3. Brody Malone - 14.400 T-4. Brandon Briones - 13.950 T-4 Paul Juda - 13.950 T-4 Sam Mikulak - 13.950 T-4. Akash Modi - 13.950 T-8. Matt Wenske - 13.900 T-8. Alec Yoder - 13.900 |
| Rings 1. Alex Diab - 14.500 2. Brody Malone - 14.200 3. Donnell Whittenburg - 14.100 4. Yul Moldauer - 14.050 5. Riley Loos - 14.000 6. Shane Wiskus - 13.900 7. Cameron Bock - 13.800 8. Paul Juda - 13.700 |
High Bar 1. Brody Malone - 14.4502 2. Sam Mikulak - 13.850 3. Shane Wiskus - 13.800 4. Cameron Bock - 13.750 5. Akash Modi - 13.600 6. Robert Neff - 13.350 7. Brandon Briones - 13.300 8. Ian Gunther - 13.250 |
