Tonight is the final night of the Men’s Olympic Gymnastics Trials in St. Louis, and by the end of the evening, we will know which five gymnasts will represent the U.S.in Rio this summer.
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“There was no, hardly any hiccups along the way”, said national team coordinator Kevin Mazeika. Though she had not been well, her death still left the family in shock. “I’m glad. I’ve been really actually enjoying it for the first time in a while, so I think I’m going to keep that frame of mind going”. She was still kind of confused.
Dalton, a member of the Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team from 2010-12, finished first in the U.S. Trials on vault and floor exercise, third on rings and third in the all-around competition. He and Hollie Vise – a world champion herself with the US women’s team in 2003 – married in 2015, and they had Lilah in February.
Danell Leyva was a notable name who did not make the cut after performing in 2012. It’s a position Brooks knows only too well. I’m 23 years old and I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, I’ll go to the next Olympics and then I’ll see what I’ll do after, ‘ and then all the sudden it’s like boom, my biggest fan, my mom, my everything, is gone.
“You get the messages, ‘Oh congratulations, ‘” he said. “You’re trying to be nice but in the back of your head you’re like, ‘I didn’t really make it.’ You have those thoughts”.
After the competition Saturday, Raj Bhavsar approached Whittenburg and Leyva and told them to be ready to be called upon. Bhavsar and fellow alternate Sasha Artemev both wound up competing at the Beijing Olympics after Paul and Morgan Hamm were injured. Despite being in second place, Brooks was considered vulnerable because his best events are the same as several of the other Americans but he is weaker on the events where the USA needs help. After watching from the stands in London as an alternate, Alex Naddour transformed himself as a gymnast to ensure he’d never be an also-ran again.
Now, he’ll only get the chance if one of his teammates goes down.
Despite a fourth-place finish at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb., Whittenburg was not among the five Americans selected for the Olympic team by a six-member committee Saturday night. “Thankful that those guys have my back”.
“You feel it whenever you’re pushing”, he said, “but there was no way I was coming off that horse”. He was assistant coach for Team USA in 1996 and served on the staff for the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics team in 2004, 2008 and 2012. It also provides the alternates a little extra time to get over any lingering frustration.
The trials were not the be-all, end-all when it came to qualifying for the Olympics in the sport of gymnastics.
Officials, well aware of the delicate circumstances, have put together a plan designed to create a near identical experience for all involved up until Opening Ceremony on August 5. “I’m glad to be a part of this team”.
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If they need advice on how to handle it, they need only ask Brooks. Mikulak began gymnastics when he was 2 years old. Yet it’s what the program needed. It wasn’t the best time ever. “At the drop of the hat, a lineup can change”.
