The U.S. Gymnastics Championships is a crucial tournament for the men, with Brodie Malone, Fred Richard, Yul Moldauer and Asher Hong all competing for spots on the Olympic team.
Tune in to USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour and Tom Shad as they provide live updates, results and analysis throughout the tournament.
Brody Malone leads with one event remaining
FORT WORTH, Texas — Brodie Malone said he wasn’t competing in the all-around at the U.S. Championships for show, he wanted to win.
He’s keeping himself in shape.
Malone, competing in the individual all-around for the first time since suffering a knee injury in March 2023, is in the lead with one event remaining on the first day of the U.S. Championships. With 71.050 points, he’s 0.25 points ahead of Koi Young, who won two individual medals at last year’s world championships.
Both Malone and Young were at their best in their final rotations and should finish well, with Young coming in fourth on the pommel horse and Malone coming last on the horizontal bar.
Koy Young reaches first base on the horizontal bar
FORT WORTH, Texas — Koi Young’s success at last year’s world championships led to him winning the NCAA all-around title last month.
It might even help him win a national title.
Young, who won a bronze medal in the team event at the world championships, as well as silver medals on the pommel horse and vault, surged to the top of the rankings after four events at the U.S. Championships on Thursday night. The Stanford University gymnast got off to a tough start when her right hand slipped through the rings on her landing from a stationary ring, but has steadily worked her way up the ranks since.
The bars aren’t his strong suit; he was half-grimacing, half-smiling as he finished, but his 13.75 was his best score of the night on the event, giving him 56.650 points with two events remaining, just 0.50 points ahead of his Stanford teammate Asher Hong. Brody Malone continued his impressive comeback by taking third place with 56.50 points.
Yul Moldauer, who was in the lead at the halfway point, spun off the pommel horse towards the end of his performance and dropped to fifth place.
Asher Hong and Yul Moldauer earned 43.25 points in three events
FORT WORTH, Texas — Midway through the first day of the U.S. Championships, Yul Moldauer has the lead.
But it’s a close call.
Moldauer and reigning national champion Asher Hong both have 43.25 points after three events, but Moldauer gets the tiebreaker with a better performance. But they’re both worth keeping an eye on behind them. Koi Young just moved into third place on the parallel bars with 14.9 points, and still has his specialty event, the pommel horse, to go.
Brodie Malone continues to hold the top spot, placing fifth in his first individual all-around competition since suffering a knee injury in March 2023.
Yul Moldauer takes the lead in the second event, the horizontal bar
FORT WORTH, Texas — Yul Moldauer is keeping his competitors at bay.
The horizontal bar is not Moldauer’s strong event, but he performed well and held on to the lead with a score of 13.25 points, and after two events he had 28.65 points, just ahead of reigning champion Asher Hong.
Brody Malone took third place, followed by Shane Wiskas and Coy Young.
Yul Moldauer: What you need to know
Yul Moldauer placed sixth on floor exercise and helped the U.S. team to a fifth-place finish in Tokyo and is seeking his second Olympic appearance. The soon-to-be 28-year-old Moldauer was the 2017 national champion and a two-time NCAA all-around champion at Oklahoma. Moldauer was part of the U.S. team that won bronze at last year’s world championships and also won bronze on floor exercise in 2017.
Brody Malone got off to a strong start on floor exercise.
FORT WORTH, TX – Welcome back, Brody Malone.
The two-time U.S. champion only decided to compete in the all-around last month after a serious knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season, but he started off with a solid performance on floor exercise Thursday night, earning 14.0 points, including a deduction of one tenth of a point for being out of bounds on one pass.
Even more impressive is that Malone completed the routine after a hard fall in his pre-competition warm-up. He extended his right knee during touch warm-ups just before the competition, which made his landing a bit shaky. But with more turns on the floor, his performance score should improve to an 8.4.
Malone placed fourth in the individual all-around and won the horizontal bar at the 2022 World Championships, but suffered a tibial plateau fracture and tore her meniscus and several ligaments while dismounting from the horizontal bar in March 2023, requiring three surgeries to repair the damage.
Yul Moldauer is in the lead after the first of six rotations, while Koi Young and Fred Richard, individual medallists at last year’s World Championships, must fight their way back after tough starts.
When are the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials?
It will be held in Minneapolis from June 27th to 30th.
What’s at stake at USA Gymnastics Championships
This weekend’s event is the final one before the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, so it’s a key showcase for anyone hoping to reserve tickets for the Paris 2024 Games.
For men, the U.S. Championships carry even more weight because the scores there factor into the scoring matrix used to select the men’s Olympic team. The women’s team is optional, but the men’s team is selected based on the best overall scoring scenario of the five gymnasts, using data from the U.S. Championships and Olympic Qualifiers. –– Tom Shadd
USA Gymnastics Championships TV Schedule
- Saturday, June 1: Senior Men’s Day 1 – CNBC (tape delay) – 12:00 noon to 2:30 p.m.
- Saturday, June 1 Senior Women’s Session 2, Day 1 – CNBC (recorded on delay) – 2:30-5:00 p.m.
- Saturday, June 1st Senior Men’s Day 2 – CNBC LIVE – 8:00-10:30pm
- Sunday, June 2 – Senior Men’s Day 2 – NBC (Tape Delay) – 3-4 p.m.
- Sunday, June 2 – Senior Women’s Session 2, Day 2 – NBC LIVE – 7-9pm
Where to watch the USA Gymnastics Championships
The first half of the senior competition, both men’s and women’s, will be broadcast live on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock and taped on CNBC on Saturday, with the men’s session broadcast from 12:00 pm-2:30 pm ET and the women’s session broadcast from 2:30 pm-4:30 pm ET.
The second and final session of the men’s competition will be broadcast live on both Peacock and CNBC, while the second session of the senior women’s competition, featuring Biles, will receive the most prestigious television slot of all: a primetime slot on NBC on Sunday. –Tom Shad
When will Simone Biles compete at the USA Gymnastics Championships?
Simone Biles will compete in session two, meaning she and other big names on the women’s division will compete on Friday night at around 8pm ET and Sunday night at around 7pm ET. Tom Shad
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2024 USA Gymnastics Championships Schedule
The senior boys will compete on Thursday night and Saturday night, while the girls will compete on Friday and Sunday.
While the Olympics have separate individual all-around and individual finals, the national championships will feature two individual all-around events for men and women. More than 50 athletes will also compete in the junior division.
- Thursday, 8:00pm-10:30pm ET: Senior Men, Day 1
- Friday, 2:45-5:00 PM EST: Senior Women (Session 1), Day 1
- Friday, 7:45pm-10pm ET: Senior Women (Session 2), Day 1
- Saturday, 8:00pm-10:30pm ET: Senior Men’s, Day 2
- Sunday, 1:45-4:00 PM EST: Senior Women (Session 1), Day 2
- Sunday, 6:45pm-9pm ET: Senior Women (Session 2), Day 2
Where will the 2024 USA Gymnastics Championships be held?
The national championships will be held Thursday through Sunday at Dickies Arena, a few miles west of downtown Fort Worth. Tom Shad
