PARIS — Brodie Malone, who returned from a foot injury to win his third U.S. championship in June, fell twice on the horizontal bar and once on the pommel horse, ruining his chance to return to the individual all-around final as the United States finished behind Great Britain in the men’s gymnastics qualifying rounds.
Great Britain won the first of three divisions on Saturday with a team total of 256.561 points. The United States, which surpassed Great Britain for third place at the 2023 world championships, had 253.229 points.
The United States arrived in Paris believing it had a legitimate chance to win a medal in the team event for the first time since winning bronze at the Beijing Games 16 years ago.
There was work to be done after Britain’s nearly faultless six-rotation routine. Jake Jarman (84.897) and Joe Fraser (84.666) topped the overall scores, while six-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock, 31, looked relieved after thrilling the crowd with an electrifying pommel horse routine – his speciality.
Whitlock’s score of 15.166 was second to specialist Steven Nedorosic of the United States, who scored a 15.200 to book a spot in the final of the event and likely give his teammate some early momentum.
In the all-around, Frederick Richard and Paul Judah will represent the United States. Richard, who won the bronze medal in the all-around at the 2023 World Championships, was expected to advance, but Judah’s performance was a bit of a surprise.
The 23-year-old Judah unashamedly cried after being named to the five-man Olympic team and threw his hands into the air after landing on floor exercise. His total score of 82.865 was good for fourth among qualifiers, behind Richard (83.498), Jarman and Fraser.
Qualifying rounds will continue late Saturday with longtime rivals and gold medal favourites Japan and China competing in the second of three divisions. The top eight teams will advance to Monday’s team final.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
