As the sixth and final round of the U.S. Men's Gymnastics Olympic Trials concluded, the wait began.
Even Brodie Malone, the current U.S. gymnastics individual all-around champion and Tokyo Olympian, said his heart was pounding as officials calculated Saturday which gymnasts had earned tickets to Paris.
But Frederick Richard could sit back on a comfy white couch on the floor of Target Center, knowing that his performance at the trials had already secured him a seat on the plane. He didn't have to wait for the numbers to be calculated, he didn't have to agonize over the deliberation.
Richards placed first in the two-day all-around competition with 170.500 points, and after finishing in the top three in three of the six events, she was “automatically” selected for the Olympic team. After each high score, Richards pumped her fist or cheered the crowd.
“I'm going to have fun [the pressure of Paris]”I'm 20 years old and the whole world is watching, so I'm going to give everyone something to enjoy,” Richard said.
The remaining members of the team were selected via a formula: Asher Hong, Brody Malone, Paul Judah and Steven Nedorosic joined the team, while Shane Wiskas and Koy Young will travel to Paris as reserves.
Wiskas, a Spring Park native and University of Minnesota graduate, delighted the hometown crowd and those wearing “Shane Wiskas Fan Club” T-shirts by placing third in the all-around. “I felt the love from Minnesota,” said Wiskas, a member of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team. His performance proved it. But his solid performance in the all-around was overshadowed by other gymnasts who received higher scores in their individual events.
According to men's program director Brett McClure, the oft-cited formula was born out of a desire by players and coaches for a more consistent standard for making the national team. The calculation takes into account a player's performance at trials and at this summer's national championships. But it's not as simple as just picking the top five overall finishers and an reserve.
For the team competition in Paris, each country will select three athletes to compete on each apparatus, mixing and matching rosters to maximize the difficulty of routines and the points available.
If the equation was a puzzle, Whiskas's pieces didn't quite fit together.
A specialist like Steven Nedorosic fits the plan. The Penn State graduate is a world champion on the pommel horse, a historically weak event for the U.S. men's team, so adding him would give the U.S. a better chance of winning an individual medal and making up for weaknesses in the team events.
“I am really [crunch the numbers]”I didn't look at a spreadsheet or anything like that, but I knew if we played it right, we had a good chance of taking the horse guy,” Nedorosic said.
Young and Yul Moldauer, two members of the team that won the bronze medal at last year's world championships, had shaky performances in qualifying. Young secured an alternate spot after winning the difficult vault at U.S. championships and finishing third in the all-around.
Malone fell on the horizontal bar during her first rotation on Saturday but recovered to finish second (170.300) in the all-around standings at the trials. Like Wiskas, Malone will be competing in her second Olympics after suffering a serious leg injury in March 2023 and undergoing three surgeries.
“After everything I went through with my foot injury, it was a tough battle to get back on track,” Malone said. “I just relied on God, my teammates and my coaches.”
Hong, 20, who competes at Stanford University, held second place behind Richard for most of the competition before a fall on the pommel horse dropped her to fifth place. Still, her best scores of the night on the vault, rings and parallel bars worked in Hong's favor.
Judah, another University of Michigan gymnast, placed fourth behind Wiskas. Judah also placed runner-up to Wiskas at the U.S. Championships, but performed better on certain apparatus required for the team.
Earlier this year, Judah wrote out his goals on a whiteboard. It said: “Olympian.” “That's a big check mark,” Judah said, through tears.
The oldest skater in the event, Donnell Wittenberg, 29, a member of five world championship teams but who has never competed in an Olympic Games, received a standing ovation from the crowd after completing her final two rotations, on the floor and on the rings.
The U.S. men's gymnastics team will be seeking its first Olympic medal since 2008 at the Paris Games, where gymnastics competition runs from July 27 to Aug. 5. McClure said he believes the athletes have stepped up their game since the Tokyo Games to the point where they can compete for a team medal at Paris.
