Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton, John Orozco, Alex Naddour and Chris Brooks were named to the USA men’s Olympic gymnastics team. It hasn’t been four years, it’s been my whole life of training.
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Jacob Dalton celebrates after finishing his routine in the floor exercise during the US men’s … So are Alex Naddour and Chris Brooks.
Brooks said his forearms were cramping up on the horse.
The gymnast in second place is the 29-year-old Brooks, who is the almost man of the Olympics.
There’s a path for the top two all-around finishers to secure an automatic berth, but the reality is Mikulak appears to be the only lock.
Then a teammate suffered a worse injury, and Brooks got the nod.
There will be plenty of them in Rio de Janeiro in August. Each have their own individual strengths.
And perhaps most importantly for a program that’s in some ways been eclipsed on the global stage by upstart Great Britain behind longtime powers China and Japan, each seized their spot by not shying away from the moment. This national team we have here is so close.
Akash Modi competes in the floor exercise during day one of the 2016 Men’s Gymnastics Olympic Trials at Chafitz Arena on June 23, 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri. Behind him was a jumble of a 6-8 contenders vying for one of the remaining four positions.
Overall, team U.S. is poised to threaten the men’s gymnastics power houses of Japan and China and seriously contend for a medal finish at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. And when each committee member jotted down their final ballot during a brief 12-minute meeting at the end of the competition, they were identical. Mikulak, Orozco, and Brooks posses great threats on high bar and parallel bars, and Jake Dalton packs a huge punch for the U.S. on floor, vault, and still rings.
“I was definitely mad”, Mikulak said. “Emotional too. Brooks has spent the better part of a decade on the fringe, stung by injuries or inconsistency”. There might be an alternate that makes it out of this group of four, but most likely these gymnasts will be the favorites heading into the 2020 qualification process.
“Just relief to get off the horse and not hear ’30 seconds (to get back on after falling),”‘ Brooks said. “I started crying a lot, and I don’t cry”, he said. “At the end of the day, that’s all you’ve got”.
There was no need.
He then scored a 15.0 on the vault, 15.5 on the parallel bars and 15.325 on rings. He finished 16th in the all-around, which continued a stretch of disappointing finishes for the only member of the 2012 team to medal. Yet London was a nightmare.
When the 36-year-old Dumais stepped onto the springboard for the final dive of his final event, already out of contention, the biggest crowd of the week roared so loud for so long that Dumais bent over, wiped his eyes and waved to the crowd before making that short jog one last time. He tore ligaments in his knee in 2012 and his Achilles for a second time last summer just months following the passing of his mother. “The pressure was there to help push us and that’s a attractive thing to see”. Scores from the P&G Championships in early June will be combined along with this weekend’s results. But only five were told it was enough to represent the U.S.in the Rio Games. Outside of Mikulak’s typical early meet flub – he slipped off high bar during the first rotation – glaring mistakes were few and far between. Ten had competed at the world championships, including eight who had won medals. He ended his pristine pommel horse set emphatically, pointing to the stands in celebration after putting up at 15.425, the second best of the night. Naddour’s improvement on vault probably helped open the door for Brooks. Brooks is the oldest U.S. Olympian at 29 years old. Not this time. This time, he’ll walk in with the rest of Team USA. This time, he’s going for real.
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Said Mikulak: “I can definitely see him being there”.
