For the first time in 16 years, the U.S. men’s gymnastics team bagged an Olympic team medal. They achieved the bronze medal, and this is huge for the team considering the USA has not been on the podium for gymnastics since the 2008 Beijing Games. Japan took the gold and China got the silver, but the USA team shone through, especially after a shaky start in the qualifiers. While the team was fighting for the podium, one member was left at home: Yul Moldauer. But when it came to celebrating the winning spirit, he made sure the world knew how happy he was.

Team USA held it together with some stellar routines, despite the hiccups. Nedoroscik nailed a 14.866 on the pommel horse, and Hong was right behind him with a 14.833 on the vault. Richard also had a killer high bar routine. The arena was electric, as “U-S-A!” chants from the crowd filled the arena. Angie Tyler from Louisville said Richard’s high bar routine blew her away, and you could see the whole crowd going fanatic with excitement. Unfortunately, all Moldauer could do was be a bystander and celebrate the team’s achievement.

Philadelphia’s Wally Orlov summed it up nicely: “It’s nice to see the boys catching up with the girls again.” Now, Richard and Paul Juda are moving on to the all-around finals, and Nedoroscik is aiming for a pommel horse medal. With bronze already achieved, Yul Moldauer had something to share from home. He put up a post on X saying, “This moment!” while sharing the post from the gymnastics team’s page that stated, “STEPHEN. NEDOROSCIK. The routine that clinched @USAGym’s first Olympic medal in the men’s team final since 2008.”

Although this was a victory for the team, it must have hurt him to know that he could have contributed. Knowing him to be an athlete of high caliber, there is a strong possibility that he believes that with him, the team could have scored a higher medal. But without letting these thoughts get to him, he joined in on the celebration. Moldauer has always been a promising athlete, and the only reason he was not in pairs was due to his lack of performance during the qualifiers. So let’s take a deeper look into what stopped him from making it to Paris.

Why was Yul Moldauer not at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Yul Moldauer wasn’t able to make it to Paris for the Olympics this year. After a stellar performance at the Xfinity Championship and high hopes for redemption after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he faced a tough break at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Despite his incredible skills, particularly on the pommel horse and parallel bars, and his gold medal sweep at the 2024 Pacific Rim Championships, Moldauer fell just short in the final trials.

He tied for the fifth spot with Asher Hong on Day 1 and had a chance to make a comeback, but ended up in 9th place by the end of the trials. His performances, especially on the high bar and pommel horse, didn’t quite hit the mark needed for one of the coveted Olympic spots. Even though Moldauer didn’t make it to Paris, he’s still a huge supporter of Team USA, as we can see from his post on X. From back home, he’s been cheering them on as they clinched bronze in the all-around team final. It’s a bittersweet moment, but knowing the athlete’s resilient spirit, this setback is just another challenge he’ll overcome.

Considering that, do you think that Yul Moldauer will make it through the qualifiers for the next Olympic Games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.