Newly minted World All-Around bronze medalist Kenzo Shirai was third up in the FX event final, turning in another spectacular routine (15.633), which assuredly earned him the gold medal. The only question left, was who would win silver and bronze. The next two competitors on the start list were Israel's Artem Dolgopyat and Yul Moldauer. Both turned in outstanding routines, but [...more]
China and Japan were up to their old tricks, dominating the final standings at the 2017 World Men's Gymnastics Championships. China's Xiao Ruoteng (86.933) improved on his 2nd place finish in the qualifying round to earn his first World All-Around title. His teammate Lin Chaopan (86.448) was right behind him to take silver. Japan's Kenzo Shirai (86.431), competing in his first Worlds AA, earned bronze. Shirai, the heir apparent to [...more]
The U.S. men qualified three gymnasts to the World Championships finals. Yul Moldauer, Donnell Whittenburg and Alex Naddour will represent Team USA on two events--Floor and PH. Moldauer, as expected, also qualified for Thursday's AA final. He just missed being able to compete in the top group of six, finishing 7th (84.331). Moldauer advanced based largely on his superior execution, which was the 4th highest (50.731) of the top-10 qualifiers. His start value was the second [...more]
A recent article about the culture of USAG had some words about the U.S. men’s program that have me very concerned. From USAG sexual abuse scandal is a symptom of deeper issues... ”I witnessed this dynamic in the men’s program. There were instances where scores were changed that [...more]
The following is a transcript of a press conference with Men's High Performance Director Brett McClure. The press conference was held at the Honda Center (Anaheim, CA), just hours after the Selection Committee announced the 2017 World Team last Sunday (August 21). Who is on the team for HB? Well, we have a world team camp coming up in a couple weeks (September 5th through September 10th at the USOTC in Colorado Springs) and we will basically be able to finalize our lineups once we get out to camp. Right now, we have a [...more]
The 2017 Taipei World University Games (WUG) Men's Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) team arrived back in the USA Thursday after finishing 7th in team standings, while Robert Neff placed 12th in the All Around. A good start for future USA MAG teams competing at the every other year sporting event! The three top team scores went to Japan, Ukraine and Russia. (Since 2001, these three teams plus Korea, and Romania once, have finished in the top [...more]
With day one, the biggest day, of the 2017 World University Games (WUG) behind the USA's Men's Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) team, the waiting begins. Three more sessions of teams compete today, followed by tonight's team awards ceremony. How TeamUSA will finish only time will tell. Today is all about this team. Each team member expressed their genuine excitement to be part of this USA team. They trained skills and routines since the start [...more]
ANAHEIM,CA -- Yul Moldauer earned his first U.S. Championships all-around title, leading the contest the whole way, also garnering a share of the floor title. He joins rare company among those who have won JO, U.S. and NCAA all-around crowns. Now with a domestic trifecta, the world awaits. Moldauer also tacked on top-8 placements on four other events (PH,SR,VT,PB), including a 2nd-place finish on PB. His only blemish on twelve events was a fall on HB, but he made up for that with a spectacular performance on FX (14.95). Moldauer's former Oklahoma teammate Allan Bower again demonstrated his uncanny [...more]
With the 1st of 2 days and 2 of 5 subdivisions complete for team finals, AA and individual qualifications, Team USA sits in 1st place with a score of 242.325; 10.525 points ahead of 2nd place Hungary and 12.275 points ahead of 3rd place Romania. Robert Neff finished 1st in the AA with an 82.1. He also placed 2nd in PBs, HB and floor; 5th on PH. Alex Diab finished [...more]
Yul Moldauer put some daylight (1.95 points to be exact) between himself and his main rival, Akash Modi. The probability of Moldauer making enough mistakes to find himself an equivalent distance behind Modi (or someone else) is very low. However, Modi can make up almost all the ground he lost from his low score on PH (12.75) if he hits that event (and makes no other major errors), as he is capable of scoring in the mid 14s on horse. The gap may also close if [...more]
