Olympic gymnastics competition has kicked off in Tokyo. The men’s and women’s qualifying rounds have concluded, resulting in both US teams advancing to the Team Finals. Each team qualified individuals for Individual All-Around competition, as well as for Event Finals.
US Women Surprised
The U S women gave a eye-opening performance. The team was in an uncustomary place at the end of the night, finishing in second behind the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee. In international competition, the US has not entered the finals in a place other than first in eleven years. Even Simone Biles, the most tenured veteran on the team, has not witnessed a time that the US didn’t lead going into the Team Finals competition. However, the team did advance and they will compete on Tuesday, July 27 at 5:45 a.m. CST.
Floor Exercise
There were more uncharacteristic routines performed from the US women. Biles finished the qualifying competition in first place, despite bouncing off of the mat completely on the floor exercise. The degree of difficulty in her routine was so complex that she was still able to advance to the individual finals for the event after finishing in second place behind Vanessa Ferrari of Italy. Also advancing to the finals in floor exercise for the US is Jade Carey, who finished the evening just behind Biles.
Vault
In her first vault, Simone Biles under-rotated and took a large step, almost losing her balance completely. Her second vault was almost flawless, and her combined score put her in first place at the end of the night. Jade Carey of the US finished in second, very closely behind Biles, and will advance to the finals. MyKayla Skinner landed two beautiful vaults and finished in fourth place. However, only two representatives from each team may advance to the event finals, so she will not be competing.
Uneven Bars
Sunisa Lee of the United States finished in second place with a score of 15.200, just over one-tenth of a point behind Nina Derwael of Belarus on the uneven bars. Four of the Russian gymnasts finished in the the third through the sixth positions. Because of this happening, tenth place Biles squeaked into the event finals.
Balance Beam
Finally, the US women had some mistakes on the balance beam. Jordan Chiles fell from the apparatus, and there were a few big hops on dismount landings. Sunisa Lee and Simone Biles advanced to the event finals from the United States.
Individual All-Around
Biles (1st) and Lee (3rd) will also be our representatives from the US in the Individual All-Around competition, which will take place on Thursday, July 29 at 5:50 a.m. CST. Jade Carey finished in 9th, MyKayla Skinner in 11th, Grace McCallum in 13th, and Jordan Chiles in 40th place.
Solid Performance For US Men
The US men’s gymnastics team ended the night finishing in 4th place, behind Japan, China and the ROC. The top three places are separated by a mere four-tenths of a point. The two men who will represent the US in the Individual All-Around are Brody Malone (10th place) and Sam Mikulak (13th place). Four of the six apparatus will have US representatives in the finals: Yul Moldauer on floor exercise, Alec Yoder on pommel horse, Sam Mikulak on parallel bars, and Brody Malone on horizontal bar.
The men’s team finals is Monday, July 26 at 5:00 a.m. CST.
Olympic Gymnastics Schedule
US Qualifiers Listed
- Monday, July 26 5:00 a.m. CST Men’s Team Finals
- Team USA
- Tuesday, July 27 5:45 a.m. CST Women’s Team Finals
- Team USA
- Wednesday, July 28 5:15 a.m. CST Men’s Individual All-Around Finals
- Brody Malone
- Sam Mikulak
- Thursday, July 29 5:50 a.m. CST Women’s Individual All-Around Finals
- Simone Biles
- Sunisa Lee
- Sunday, August 1 3:00 a.m. CST Men’s Floor Exercise Finals
- Yul Moldauer
- Sunday, August 1 3:45 a.m. CST Women’s Vault Finals
- Simone Biles
- Jade Carey
- Sunday, August 1 4:44 a.m. CST Men’s Pommel Horse Finals
- Alec Yoder
- Sunday, August 1 5:27 a.m. CST Women’s Uneven Bars Finals
- Sunisa Lee
- Simone Biles
- Monday, August 2 3:00 a.m. CST Men’s Rings Finals
- No US competitors
- Monday, August 2 3:45 a.m. CST Women’s Floor Exercise Finals
- Simone Biles
- Jade Carey
- Monday, August 2 5:54 a.m. CST Men’s Vault Finals
- No US competitors
- Tuesday, August 3 3:00 a.m. CST Men’s Parallel Bars Finals
- Sam Mikulak
- Tuesday, August 3 3:48 a.m. CST Women’s Balance Beam Finals
- Sunisa Lee
- Simone Biles
- Tuesday, August 3 4:37 a.m. CST Men’s Horizontal Bar Finals
- Brody Malone
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