When Shane Wiskas' plane landed in Minneapolis ahead of this weekend's Olympic gymnastics trials, he texted his mother that he was happy to be home.
The 25-year-old University of Minnesota graduate and Spring Park native last competed in Minneapolis in 2021 when the city hosted the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, and now he's back for his second Olympic appearance.
Wiskas is one of 20 male gymnasts competing for five spots on the U.S. Olympic men's gymnastics team on Thursday and Saturday at Target Center. In 2021, Wiskas represented the U.S. in Tokyo after winning three individual NCAA titles as a Golden Gopher.
“I don't get to go home very often so it feels good and it's a relief to be able to play here,” Wiskas said.
Wiskas said she has focused on “getting back the love for the sport” over the past three years, dealing with an injury that caused her to withdraw from last year's Pan American Games and increased expectations after the Olympics. She moved to Sarasota, Florida, to train with EVO Gymnastics, which Wiskas said offers the gymnasts they train a steady paycheck and, after the rigorous training, beautiful sunsets.
“I was really tired so I took some time off and got myself ready for this year,” Wiskas said. “Right now I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm just so grateful to be here and not where I was six months ago or a year ago.”
At EVO, Wiskas trains with fellow Trials competitors Brody Malone, Steven Nedorosic and Alex Diab. Malone, a fellow 2020 Olympian, won his third U.S. all-around title in June after returning from knee surgery.
Yul Moldauer, another member of the U.S. team that placed fifth in Tokyo, will also compete at the trials. Trials competitors Moldauer, Asher Hong, Paul Judah, Frederick Richard, Koi Young and reserve Colt Walker made the 2023 World Championships team that won the bronze medal, the U.S. men's best result at a world championships since 2014.
“There weren't a lot of expectations that we'd do big things after the world championships,” Young said. “I think winning a medal has brought a lot of energy and a lot of support to us, especially because a lot of us are young and up-and-coming athletes.”
Young is just as young as ever, 21 years old. She's already won silver medals on both the vault and pommel horse at the 2023 World Championships. Richard and Hong, who won bronze in the individual all-around at last year's world championships, are even younger, at 20. Judah is 22. They're part of a group of young gymnasts hoping to make their Olympic debut.
Like Wiskas, many of the gymnasts who compete in men's gymnastics are former all-around or apparatus champions at the collegiate level. But Wiskas' University of Minnesota program has since been phased out as a varsity sport, competes at the club level and has moved from its decades-old home. Wiskas voiced his support for the team on Tuesday, saying it continues to make its alumni proud.
On Tuesday, ahead of the preliminaries, several gymnasts also discussed attempts by their competitors to increase the difficulty of their competitions and therefore their maximum scores, which, if executed well, would improve their chances of winning a medal in Paris.
“We've made strides since Tokyo in terms of increasing the difficulty. You have to increase the difficulty to be competitive on the international stage, and it's just incredible,” Malone said. “And it's all thanks to our young athletes who are striving to be the best, to increase the difficulty and make us more competitive.”
The men's qualifying rounds are Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. Young spent the last few days binge-watching past qualifying rounds, and on Monday night he watched the 2012 qualifying rounds on YouTube.
Young said that winning a medal in Paris (the men's gymnastics team last won a bronze medal in 2008) would bring attention to men's gymnastics and “will bring more attention to men's gymnastics and more people will talk about us. I would really like to be on the podium to inspire the younger generation.”
