2025 CGA USA Gymnastics National Championships Recap
The first USA Gymnastics National Championships of the 2028 Olympic quadrennium took place In New Orleans, August 7th-10th. Over two exciting days of competition numerous NCAA and CGA affiliated athletes showed off their immense ability. This competition was used to determine three important teams; the National team, the Junior World Championships team, and the World Championships team.
Below we cover some highlights from this competition by event!
All Around:
USA Gymnastics decided to implement a bonus system to incentivise athletes to compete routines with higher difficulty values. Asher Hong (Stanford) capitalized on the bonus system and packed his routines with impressive skills, which gave him an edge on the competition and led to his 7 point victory in the all-around over his Olympic teammate, Fred Richard (Michigan) and third place finisher Fuzzy Benas (Oklahoma).
Asher’s best routine on each event:
Floor | Pommel Horse | Rings | Vault | Parallel Bars | High Bar
Floor:
Kameron Nelson (Ohio State) performed two triple backs in his routine enroute to performing the most difficult floor routine competed anywhere in the world so far in this new code of points. However, Asher’s dominance of the weekend was too much to overcome, and Kameron finished the weekend in second on floor. Incoming freshman Junnosuke Iwai (Stanford) took the bronze.
Pommel Horse:
Winning the USA National title on pommel horse required competing the highest start value attempted this season over two days of competition and hitting nearly 9.0 marks in execution. Patty Hoopes (Air Force) did this with Brandon Dang (Illinois) right on his heels, just over 2 tenths of a point behind after two days of competition. Reigning Olympic pommel horse bronze medalist, Stephen Nedoroscik (Penn State) also competed.
Rings:
Asher Hong took the still rings title followed by his former Stanford teammate and two time Olympian, Brody Malone. An honorable mention and not a CGA affiliated athlete is Donnell Whittenburg, who scored the highest single day total. While not CGA affiliated, we can appreciate great gymnastics when we see it.
Vault:
Yet again, Asher Hong took the national title here over Kameron Nelson. Nebraska’s Alex Nitache performed one of the best executed Yurchenko triple twist vaults that has ever been done.
Parallel Bars:
Brody Malone was the man of the weekend on parallel bars, showing the strong skill set and consistency that we have now become accustomed to after the many years of watching Brody perform on the biggest stages. Colt Walker (Stanford) had a struggle on the second day of competition, but his routine from the first day scored the highest overall single day total on parallel bars, along with posting the highest start value of the weekend on that event.
High Bar:
The high bar competition was impressive this year. Taylor Burkhart (Stanford) topped the chart with a unique style and skill selection that is rewarded in this new code of points. Crew Bold (Minnesota/Michigan) also showed a big routine to finish behind Taylor and ahead of his Michigan teammate, Fred Richard. Brody’s day one performance was far from his peak form on the event, but his day two performance was world class.
The 2025 USA Men’s Gymnastics World Championships team:
Asher Hong (Stanford)
Brody Malone (Stanford)
Patty Hoopes (Air Force)
Brandon Dang (Illinois)
Kameron Nelson (Ohio State)
Donnell Whittenburg (Not Affiliated)
Taylor Burkhart (Stanford) - Non traveling replacement athlete
2025 Junior World Team:
Sasha Bogonosiuk (Oklahoma)
Danila Leykin - high school senior
Nathan Roman (Oklahoma)
2025 National Team by Program:
Air Force:
Patty Hoopes
Illinois:
Brandon Dang
Preston Ngai - Sr. Dev Team
Michigan:
Crew Bold
Fred Richard
Nebraska:
Alex Nitache - Sr. Dev Team
Ohio State:
Kameron Nelson
Oklahoma:
Fuzzy Benas
Sasha Bogonosiuk - Sr. Dev Team
Nathan Roman - Sr. Dev Team
Penn State:
Josh Karnes
Stanford:
Taylor Burkhart
Asher Hong
Junnosuke Iwai
Riley Loos
Brody Malone
Colt Walker
Not Affiliated with the CGA:
Dante Rieve - high school senior
Donnell Whittenburg
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