Let’s name some Olympians!
As it currently stands after the first day of competition, the most likely Olympic team for the men is Brody Malone, Frederick Richard, a cheeseburger, a F1 car, and a Vin Diesel poster. And we’ll see how it goes from there.
After today, the Brett Committee will see what the highest scoring team is using all four scores from nationals and trials, then what it is using the best 3 of 4 scores across nationals and trials. If those two teams are the same, that’s the Olympic team. If not, we play some games.
Heading into trials, Khoi Young was a favorite, but a sketchfest of a meet on day 1 plonked him in 12th AA with only a vault score that contributed to the team total. That also knocked him off the highest-scoring team from nationals and trials combined, replaced by Paul Juda or Shane Wiskus in a tie. Young will have to seriously pull it back on day 2. Yul Moldauer remains a deeply logical selection for the team, but he also keeps falling on horse, which is not helping anyone. Except Stephen Nedoroscik. Everyone falling on horse is helping him a lot.
Mike Tirico is speaking from a disembodied podium and it makes it look like he’s on stilts.
We’re still saying the words “computer program” with a real 1987 tone of voice.
Every single white boy on the US team looks like he’s named Colt Walker. Except Stephen Nedoroscik looks like he’s named Phineas LeStrand, and that is why I like him.
Rotation 1
Weird that we didn’t open with Young’s vault, which is kind of important, and scored 15.100
Hong – VT – Ri Se Gwang is very good today, medium hop back. 15.250
Malone – HB – tak 1/2, good to liukin, falls – oof – doesn’t really NEED the hit, but it’s not ideal – resumes with cassina – kolman – layout tkatchev to tkatchev, hit – tak 1/1 short, goes over the wrong way – now does it correctly – DLO 2/1, good stick.
Molauder – PB – peach – peach 1/2, solid – good vertical positions on full turns – gets ragged in his makuts, form throughout and a pause but through it – solid salto work – double front 1/2, holds the stick, chest down. But just 14.100 when he should be getting 15s. But he has three 15s previously in the process.
Now we see Young with a very nice randi, small hop back
Wiskus – HB – kolman, good – kovacs, a little close but through it cleanly – layout tkatchev, hit – tkatchev to piked tkatchev, smooth – tak 1/1, very past – tak 1/2, ok – DLO 2/1, chest down, hop.
Juda – PB – peach, hand placement – bhavsar is hit – tippelt, good height – healy – double front, short landing, bigger bounce back. 13.85
Richard – PB – healy, good – stutz, short, some elbows – a couple handstand positions, great amplitude – tippelt – double front, hop back. 14.800
A look back on Whittenburg vaulting, hits today, a little ginger on landing with chest down, but only a small hop. 14.900.
Phillips hits HB today for 14.1, which is a big score, but it’s his only 14 of the process.
So in the trials-only standings, Richard has a big lead now and Hong moves ahead of Malone for 2nd.
Rotation 2
Brett’s like, guys
Malone – FX – double front pike, stuck – double double tuck, also holds the stick, short landing but saves it – front 2/1 to front lay, hop forward – 2/1, stuck – 2.5 to front full, good stick – 3/1, small hop back. Solid. 14.350
Hong – PB – peach – bhavsar, clean – tippelt, good height – makuts, clean – healy, solid – really smooth overall – double front 1/2 out, stuck. Excellent 14.900.
Hong is doing enough so far that if the two 4-day teams end up not matching and you go to the discretionary criteria, he’s looking good.
Wiskus – FX – double front, good stick – double double, stuck – front 2/1 to layout, stuck – 2/1, stuck – Tim bringing out references to spark the youths like Xeroxing – back 2.5 to front full, little hop – 3/1, small bounce. Very good. 14.600 with a 9.000 E score. A 9 E score.
A look back at Moldauer’s HB, which is pretty much his normal for a 13.000.
Maybe if these guys think they’re being underscored on high bar, they should take out full pirouettes that end after horizontal. Be lucky you’re not women, your E score would be 6.300.
Richard – HB – cassina, good – kolman, hit – liukin is hit, close but caught it and works through – tkatchev to piked tkatchev, a little close – tak 1/1 and tak 1/2 both very late – DLO 2/1, stuck. 14.450
A look back at Juda’s high bar – yam, hit, pike – kovacs – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – tak – tak 1/2, hit – stalder – DLO 1/1, stuck with a pike – 5.2 D but an 8.6 E score
Young – PB – lovely quick pirouetting – a muscle up in handstand there – double pike dismount is a little short, hop forward
After 2, we have Richard, then Hong, then Wiskus, Malone, Juda in the AA standings.
Rotation 3
Juda – FX – double double tuck, hop back – front 2/1 to front lay, solid – randi, a little short, hop – 2/1, stuck – back 2.5 to front full, hop to the side – FTDT, hop back. Solid, not the Wiskus landings but solid.
Now it’s Nedoroscik time on horse, and we have a hit routine! 14.850 for Nedoroscik. That’s going to be on the highest-scoring teams. He’ll have a 14.825 PH average overall, and 14.95 when counting 3 of 4.
Malone gets through horse, a big leg break on a russian travel, but a hit.
Young on HB – yam, good height – front stalder, lovely – tak 1/1, quick finish to avoid being too far past, tak 1/2 – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – stalder – DLO 2/1, a struggle landing big hop back but keeps it to his feet. 13.250
Hong – HB – kolman, close but hit – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – stalder – DLO 2/1, hop forward. 13.200
A look back at Richard on floor, who didn’t get the score this time at just 13.900 for a downgraded routine, and some errors on landing, lots of hoppies.
Moldauer – FX – DLO 1/1, good stick, a little pike – randi is a struggle, chest down and a rebound – front 2/1 to front full, off to the side and a step OOB – 2/1, stuck – 2.5 to lay, solid – 3/1, bounce back. 13.700 low for him. He’ll be behind Wiskus and Juda for a 4-day floor average.
It’s Richard easily in front now, then Hong, Malone, Wiskus, and Juda.
Rotation 4
This rotation started with an “actually pommel horse” moment, with Paul Juda getting 14.250. Richard is through hose with a 13.600, which is an issue but still his best horse of the process.
Malone lunges back on his double double rings dismount, but a hit.
Young – FX – front full to double front, stuck – back 2.5 to front lay, stuck – DLO, small hop – 2/1, hop back – 3/1, hop back – 2.5 final pass, holds the stick with a swim
Moldauer on to horse and needing a routine, drops down to the horse on a pommel handstand right at the beginning – the interior is nice but he struggles through the dismount. 12.900
Hong – FX – front 2/1 to double front, a little short, slide back – front full to double front pike, little hop – double double lay, bounce back right into the corner – 2.5 to front lay, hop – 3/1, crossed legs, holds the stick.
Tim’s like, being an alternate and Olympic trials are stupid. Win team gold, or be nothing.
A look back on the Wiskus rings routine, which gets him 14.150, keeping up with the Malones.
Hong on 14.150 floor with a 7.950 E score. Not passing Richard on floor means that Richard should get his top-3 on three events.
A look back on Whittenburg hitting the floor routine he needed today, 14.850. If he had vault and floor on day 1 like this, we would be having a different conversation.
What focus group said this is about the parents and not the sport, and how do we stop it?
After 4, it’s still Richard, Hong, Malone, Wiskus, Juda. Hong will drop back after horse in rotation 5, but by how much?
Rotation 5
Malone – VT – Kas 1.5 with a good stick
Hoopes is through a hit horse routine. Doesn’t have the E of Nedoroscik but he’s going through with more difficulty. 15.000 is the top number of the meet on horse, though he’ll be behind Nedoroscik on average over the four meets, but ahead over the trials.
Young onto pommel horse. KEY ROUTINE. (I’m really going to start just yelling KEY ROUTINE at completely not key routines. Like, it’s time for Josc on bars. KEY ROUTINE.) Today it’s a hit horse for Young, the problem being that he has two misses over the four meets, so one of them will affect his 3 of 4 average as well.
Wiskus – VT – Kas 1.5 is very good, stuck landing, just a bit of form and direction.
Asher Hong gets smashed off the horse, which is going to destroy his AA placement, even though he has a couple useful event scores today.
Juda goes 13.850 on rings with a hop back on a DLO 1/1 with pike, and Richard gets the same score, keeping him .750 ahead of Malone going to the last event.
After 5 it’s Richard, Malone, Wiskus, Juda, and Hong is dropped to 5th after 11.750 on horse.
Rotation 6
We have Young with a scratch on rings for the sixth rotation on the scores.
John Roethlisberger giving us National Lampoon references is the most on-brand part of the entire Olympic Trials.
Moldauer has a 14.100 on vault, which is fine but not great.
Hong has a big stick on his layout double double on rings. John and Tim are REALLY putting him on the team. 14.700 is very useful.
Malone with a bounce back on his double pike on PBars
Richard – VT – Kas 1.5 is hit, slightly under rotated and a hop to the side. 14.200, wins the AA and top 3 on 3 events.
Juda with a big vault, going 14.700 for a nearly stick Kas 1.5, small step back but so much better in the air than the others.
Wiskus finishes out his excellent day with a hit PB routine, dismounts double pike with hop forward. 14.500
So I guess we’re not doing the Phillips PBars routine.
Brett’s OUT.
Like NBC, I also have Richard, Malone, Juda, Hong, Nedoroscik for both formulations, which would be an automatic team.
This team has pretty good coverage. Theoretically, you would have wanted Khoi Young in there rather than Nedoroscik because he can give you a big pommel horse score and other events, but…
Moldauer less than a tenth shy of Asher Hong on the 3/4 team. So very close to going to discretionary criteria.
Meanwhile Wiskus won the day 2 AA.
Announcing the team now. I really enjoy having the previous gymnasts announce the names of the team like it’s the Oscars. Now, you need to have them give a little speech about how each team member has impressed them.
Team: Paul Juda, Asher Hong, Stephen Nedoroscik, Frederick Richard, Brody Malone.
Alternates: Khoi Young, and Shane Wiskus
I do love a clear selection procedure that tells you what the team is going to be based on the scores.