MINNEAPOLIS — The men’s U.S. Olympic gymnastics team is hoping to be the first to win an Olympic medal since 2008.
The men’s team was named at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in Minneapolis on Saturday: Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik are going to Paris.
The Olympic alternates are Shane Wiskus and Khoi Young. They barely missed the official team, but are still considered Olympians by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Olympic medalist Brett McClure, the high performance director for the men’s team, has overhauled the U.S. men’s program since the Tokyo Olympics and said the team is aiming to “control their own destiny” and “make a splash in Paris.”
Selecting an Olympic team, he said, is never easy.
“There are so many things that could factor in,” he said. “Inquantifiables, intangibles, leadership and things that you can’t really measure.”
Richard, the reigning world all-around bronze medalist led the all-around standings after both nights of the trials. Richard, 20, a Massachusetts native, is also a star on TikTok, where he documented his journey to the Paris Olympics. He secured an automatic Olympic berth after finishing first in the all-around and in the top three on three of the six events.
U.S. national all-around champion Brody Malone led for the first half of the competition but finished two-tenths of a point behind Richard.
Despite struggling on his best event, the high bar, in the first rotation, Malone had a strong all-around showing and made his second Olympic team. He missed last season after battling a serious knee injury, which nearly extinguished his Paris hopes.
After the team announcement, Malone said the U.S. men are determined to earn a medal at the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
“We have a chance to win a medal, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Malone said.
Their average scores over the past year suggest they could be on track to make the podium in Paris, especially with Russian athletes banned from competing due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The U.S. men won a bronze medal in the team event at last year’s world championships, behind Japan and China.
Nedoroscik knew he had punched his Paris ticket with just one pommel horse routine.
“I’m really good at mental math,” he said. “So I was juggling the numbers.”
He is a world champion on the apparatus and could contend for a medal in Paris. Pommel horse is notoriously fickle and Nedoroscik’s prowess on it clinched his Olympic spot even though he is a one-event specialist.
Hong, a standout at Stanford University, will make his Olympic debut after strong performances on the still rings and vault. It will also be Juda’s first Olympics.
Wiskus, a Minnesotan, charmed the hometown crowd, exceeding expectations by finishing third in the all-around and first on floor. Despite his performance, he will settle for an alternate spot after representing the U.S. in Tokyo in 2021.
