Mikulak cruises to fifth U.S. gymnastics title
BOSTON—Sam Mikulak soared to his fifth US gymnastics title Saturday, rebounding from a sluggish performance in the opening round to leave little doubt that he's fully recovered from an Achilles injury 18 months ago.
The two-time Olympian finished with the top scores on floor exercise, high bar and parallel bars while posting a two-day total of 172.900 to become the sixth man to win five national championships and the first since Blaine Wilson ripped off five straight crowns from 1996-2000.
Defending national champion Yul Moldauer, who is battling lower-back issues, surged to second following a rocky start during the first round on Thursday. Allan Bower finished third followed by Donothan Bailey, Alec Yoder and Akash Modi.
Mikulak led after the first day despite an admittedly sloppy performance that included coming off early in his high bar routine and a slip off the pommel horse, both miscues coming on skills he's completed thousands of times. The mistakes didn't prevent Mikulak from starting Saturday atop the leaderboard, though he admitted he wasn't quite so sure that was a good thing.
The men's program is in the midst of a generational shift. Mikulak is the only member of the 2016 Olympic team that finished a disappointing fifth in Rio de Janeiro still competing. Yet the next wave is still finding its footing.
The Americans won just a single medal at world championships last year and Modi acknowledged the uneven display the group as a whole put on during the first day of competition is nowhere close to what will be required if the U.S. wants to nudge itself back toward the world's elite.