2021 World Championships Recap
Just two months after the close of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the US sent a contingent back to Japan for World Championships. Alec Yoder, Yul Moldauer, Donnell Whittenburg, Alex Diab, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Brody Malone were selected to represent the United States in what was without a doubt a successful showing.
Nedoroscik Wins Pommel Horse
Five days before scheduled departure, the news out of State College was looking bleak. Stephen Nedoroscik came down with a fever on top of passport issues that threatened the ability of him and Coach Randy Jepson to leave the country. The Penn State duo were able to just barely make it out, arriving late and missing the first practice.
Forgetting the famed Rec Specs, Nedoroscik hit a huge set on day one of competition, qualifying into the event final in second position. In an almost copy and paste of his day one routine, the Penn State alum went 15.266 in the final, earning him just the third United States pommel horse world medal ever and the first gold.
Malone Finds the Podium on High Bar
After falling just short of the high bar podium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the rodeo slinging gymnast from Stanford University, Brody Malone, was hungry for a World Championships medal this past weekend.
After a strong day one of competition, Malone finished in fourth place on high bar, qualifying for the finals only a few tenths behind the leader. During finals, Malone had the tough task of following the 2020 Olympic Champion, Daiki Hashimoto. However, Hashimoto left the door open after dancing on his dismount. Like a seasoned veteran, Malone saluted the judge looking like he was ready to win a World medal. He started his difficulty packed routine with a beautiful Cassina and a high flying Coleman. The rest of his routine was cake from there. After a few Tkatchevs and some textbook in-bar work, the only thing standing between Malone and the podium was his dismount. He sent his double double straight up and came down to a perfectly stuck landing.
It looked much like that of Paul Hamm’s 2004 Olympic high bar routine which won him an all-around gold medal. After Malone’s routine, many thought he would take over Hashimoto’s score for the gold position. He surprisingly fell one tenth short with his 14.966, putting him in the silver medal position. This, however, clinched his spot on the podium with only China’s Xuwei Hu left to go. After Hu’s routine, Malone finished in third, earning his first World medal.
If there is something to take away from Brody Malone’s performance, it is that he holds a bright future for USA Gymnastics and years of success to come in his gymnastics career. Malone is heading into his senior year at Stanford University where he will look to help lead the team to their third NCAA Championship in a row.
The Rest of the Field
While Alec Yoder and Yul Moldauer were unable to secure hardware in Japan, they no doubt left a mark on the world scene as leaders of the US team for this next quad. Both had strong showings in qualifications. Moldauer qualified into the parallel bars and all-around finals. Yoder qualified third into the pommel horse final behind Stephen Nedoroscik and Weng Hao with a massive 15.30.
Yul left no stone unturned as he took full advantage of his opportunities to compete in the all-around and parallel bars finals. A small error on rings pushed the Sooner legend just out of the Bronze medal position as he finished in 4th, the highest all-around ranking for the American men since fellow Oklahoma Alum Jonathan Horton won Bronze at the 2010 World Championships.
In the parallel bars final, Yul came out of the gate swinging for the fences with his 16.40 start value routine. His astronomic 15.00 score left him in fifth place after losing the tie-breaker for fourth place and missing out yet again on a Bronze medal by just .66. Although Yul came away from Japan empty handed, this was truly a breakout performance for him. Only time will tell, but this performance from Yul should excite team USA fans as it may foreshadow some of the international success that we can expect from him in the lead up to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Yoder’s performances in Kitakyushu solidify him as one of the best pommel horse workers in the world. His fifth place finish in the final further disproves the myth that team USA is weak on pommel horse. As a matter of fact, it proves that team USA is a pommel horse powerhouse.
Alex Diab and Donnell Whittenburg also made their presence known. Diab showed an incredible rings performance in podium training and seemed poised to challenge for a spot in the final. However, an unfortunate mishap on his dismount in qualifications left him out of contention. This will undoubtedly be necessary experience for the Illini great as he continues to dominate the American strong-man competition and aims to push for international success. Whittenburg also had heads turning with his vault. The 2014 World Championships vault Bronze medalist performed what may have been his best ever Ri Se-gwang vault, but a minor error on his second vault left him out of the vault final as well.
Contributions from Bailey Perez, Max Soifer, and Ben Cooperman.