U.S. men gymnasts look ahead to 2024
Teammates see Brody Malone’s breakout as a reason to expect better Olympic outcome.
TOKYO — It might look as though the U.S. men’s gymnastics team is running in place. For the third straight Olympics, the team finished fifth in the team competition, out of a medal once again.
But inside the team, there is optimism that this year’s group can be a springboard to a different outcome in three years in Paris. And a lot of that optimism centers around Stanford’s Brody Malone.
“This man is coming out hot,” said Sam Mikulak, competing in his last Olympics. “We needed someone to rise. He came out of quarantine better than ever, which is hard to do. And going forward, the next three years, I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do.”
What Malone, 21, and his teammates need to do is increase their difficulty if they want to get on the medal podium. The top teams displayed that higher level of difficulty in Monday’s team final.
The Russian Olympic Committee — the ridiculous loophole name for Russia at these Olympics because Russian athletes technically can’t compete for their country because of doping violations — won gold. It was the first for Russia since 1996. Japan, the 2016 gold medalist, edged out China for silver. Great Britain was fourth.
Malone, 21, has become the centerpiece of the U.S. team. This spring, he won the NCAA allaround title, the same title at the national championships and the Olympic trials. Now, he has Olympic experience under his belt.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Malone, who will compete in the allaround competition Wednesday. “I got some nerves out. I got used to the equipment.”
Ratcheting up the difficulty is easier said than done. Unlike their competition, the American gymnasts are products of the collegiate system — one that doesn’t value them much. Shane Wiskus came out of Minnesota program that was just cut. They noted after Monday’s competition that playing it safe for a clean routine isn’t the answer, joking “It’s not the NCAAs anymore.”
That’s what Malone faces: how to increase his difficulty while still competing for Stanford.
“That’s definitely something my coaches and I will have to do, come up with a game plan for when we upgrade routines,” Malone said.
This was a fresh, new team with only one veteran in Mikulak. The Americans might look like they’re running in place, but the experience gained this week is invaluable.
“I know that in Paris, they’re going to crank it out and try to get up on that medal podium,” Mikulak said. “I’m excited to see what they’re going to do with this experience and how they’ll grow from it.”