US Men’s Artistic Team Qualifies for Olympic Gymnastics Finals

The U.S. men’s artistic gymnastics team is headed to the Olympic gymnastics team finals on Monday after posting an impressive score of 270.405 on the qualifying rounds on Saturday, boasting the second best score behind the Chinese team.

China earned 270.461 points in the qualification rounds to win the top spot ahead of the Americans, while Russia settled on the third spot with 269.612. 

Japan, Britain, Brazil ranked behind the Russians to complete the list of the team final qualifiers, along with Ukraine and Germany.

The American team dominated the competition through their subdivision, but unfortunately, Saturday was a day full of flaws for the men’s national team.

At the Rio Olympic Arena on Saturday, the U.S. men’s team captain Chris Brooks messed up his Vault routine, lost his balance and fell off the Pommel Horse, and had some error on the high bar. Jake Dalton landed short and low on the Vault event. Sam Mikulak also fell off the pommel horse. And Alex Naddour stepped out of bounds on the Floor routine.

Despite their flaws, the U.S. men’s team still had some outstanding performances. Mikulak and Dalton acquired a score of 15.800 and 15.600 on the Floor exercise, respectively, bragging the two highest scores of the day. 

Danell Leyva obtained the team’s best scores on the Parallel Bar and high bar. In addition, the performance of Alex Naddour on the Pommel Horse achieved the highest score for the Americans.

Sam Mikulak’s score in the All-around (89.041) has earned him the seventh place and a qualification spot for the finals on Wednesday. 

Brooks acquired a total score of 88.631 to achieve the 19th place in the All-around and qualify for the finals. The top 24 All-around performers will proceed to the finals. 

The U.S. men’s national team will need to fine-tune their performances to stand a chance for an Olympic team medal on Monday. China and Japan have been the most competitive countries in the artistic gymnastics discipline in the recent years, and Britain and Russia are expected to compete for an Olympic medal as well.

Aside from the All-around qualification that Mikulak and Brooks had earned, a number of U.S. artistic gymnasts had also earned qualification spots in the event finals later next week. 

In the apparatus event finals, Mikulak will compete against other contenders in the Floor and High Bar finals, while Leyva will participate in the High Bar and Parallel Bar finals. Dalton will take part on the Floor exercise, and Naddour will compete on the Pommel Horse. 

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Canada Names 8-member Gymnastics Squad for 2016 Olympics

On Thursday, Canada named the five female artistic gymnasts and the three trampoline gymnasts that will battle for the Olympic team title in Rio this summer.

Canadian National Championships vault gold medalist Shallon Olsen and 2014 Junior National Champion Rose Woo join Ellie Black, Britanny Rogers and Isabela Onyshko, who were previously named at the national selection camp in Gatineau, Quebec on Wednesday.

They are selected based on the total amount of points they have acquired from the 2015 World Championships, 2016 Elite Canada, 2016 Canadian Championships, some selected international events in February and March, and the camp that took place this week. 

The competition program of women’s artistic gymnastics comprises of Vault event, Uneven Bars event, Beam event and Floor exercise.

In the trampoline gymnastics discipline, three female gymnasts who will be a part of the Olympic team were also named. They were Rosie McLennan, the reigning Olympic Champion in trampoline, and the returning Olympian Jason Burnett, who obtained the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Scott Morgan, who managed to acquire two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, will make his Olympic debut in men’s artistic gymnastics. 

2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games Champion Rosie MacLennan secured an Olympic spot in March with her success at the Canada Cup in Kamloops. B.C.

“I am incredibly excited to be heading to my third Olympic Games,” said the 27-year old athlete in a statement released by Gymnastics Canada. “It’s always an honor to represent Canada in a sport that I am truly passionate about and to join a team of such amazing athletes and people.”

2008 Olympic silver medalist Jason Burnett will participate in his third Olympic competition after acquiring one of the eight available Olympic berths at the Aquece Rio Test Event in April. 

27-year-old Scott Morgan is the only male artistic gymnast to compete in Rio after the team failed to finish among the top four of eight national teams at the Rio Test Event in April. He finished fourth in the vault apparatus in that event after qualifying for the final at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

“Six years ago, seeing the 2010 Olympians in my hometown of Vancouver sent shivers down my spine” he stated. “Now I can’t wait to be part of the team I looked up to… showing the world Canada’s best.”

Reigning Pan Am Champion

Ellie Black, the reigning champion in the Pan Am Games, finished first in the all-around competition in the opening day of the National Camp on Tuesday. She placed first with her vault and floor routine, and placed third on the beam and uneven bars.

23-year-old gymnast Britanny Rogers represented the University of Georgia at the NCAA Championships which took place this year. She managed to obtain the top spot in the uneven bars. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she helped Canada to achieve a best-ever fifth-place finish in the team competition. 

The 18-year old Isabela Onyshko became the champion in the 2016 Elite Canada competition.

Rose Woo, 16, was the junior national all-around champion in 2014.

Shallon Olsen, 15, who became the junior national all around champion in 2013, is the youngest member of the Canadian national team. 

The women’s team will conduct a final Olympic preparation camp in Sarnia, Ontario one week before proceeding to Rio.

The competition for artistic gymnastics will take place at the Rio Olympic Arena from August 6-16, while the qualification and final round of the women’s and men’s trampoline are scheduled for August 12 and 13, respectively. 

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