Team USA had been reeling with the after-effects of a 16-year-medal drought. The Paris-bound Final Five stepped into the competition with the entire nation’s hope resting on their shoulders. Among them, Brody Malone was the only one who returned for his second Olympic Berth. After a phenomenal performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials, the 7x NCAA champion was looking to rise above his results in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a gruesome knee injury back in 2023.

But much to his and the nation’s dismay, his mistake-laden routines during the men’s gymnastics subdivision 1 put an abrupt end to his redemption arc at the French capital. The 24-year-old was hoping to claim an individual Olympic medal as his own. But he didn’t qualify for the finals taking place on July 31. What did the gymnast think of his experience so far? What went wrong with the most experienced gymnast on the team? What contributed to him losing his mojo?

Brody Malone’s Olympic dreams took a dreadful turn

Given how this wasn’t his first rodeo, Brody Malone was deemed the favorite to win an individual all-around medal at the French Capital. However, Brody’s optimism came crashing down when he slipped and fell in front of a full house at the Bercy Arena. His mistakes on floor exercise, pommel horse, and his signature event, the high bars cost him the chance to contend in the all-around finals. However, he turned things around at the men’s gymnastics finals on Monday. He mentioned that –“I mean, that was probably one of the worst meets of my life.” 

Rising above the mishaps on Saturday, the 2020 Winter Cup bronze medalist made a triumphant comeback on the mat. “But I knew that I had the capability to go out and hit routines, so I just kind of set my mind right and went out there and did it for the guys today.” They started the first rotation on the rings. His score of 14.16 was a welcome change from the qualifiers. Next up, Malone had a go on the vault. With a perfect landing, he moved on the parallel bars next. With a clean score of 14.43, Team USA was back on the top!

After experiencing a few falls in the qualifiers, he was back for a second chance on the high bars. Despite being a simple routine as per his standards, a solid score of 14.16 added to the team’s growing tally. Another event that acted as a thorn in his side was the pommel horse. However, his routine on Monday seemed far more stable, giving him a score of 13.70. Even though his performance on July 27 proved detrimental to his all-around dreams, he pulled himself and Team USA through to a historic podium finish on July 29. Not too bad, right?

His Olympic journey came with a multiple setbacks

Even though they clinched their first medal since 2008 in Paris, Brody’s career nearly came to a screeching halt in 2023. At his first Olympic berth in 2020, he was aiming to claim a medal as his own. But when he returned home with none in tow, he decided to focus on Paris. However, a terrible slip up on the high bar at the 2023 DTB Cup in Germany led to a gruesome knee injury, 3 extensive surgeries, and a lot of rehab.

But the resting period proved to be the hardest for the former World Champion. “I’m a pretty busy person like I like to stay, I like to stay busy, I like to move around. I hate not being able to get up and do stuff for myself and go out and do stuff that I want to.” The only time he did move around was to shower or use the bathroom. If that wasn’t enough, he struggled with some of the most basic things. His worst experience, though, was not being able to move his legs.

While most of us take this for granted, Brody elaborated on how terrible this experience was. “I couldn’t really move my leg on its own, I had to pick it up with my arms and move it off the bed, grab my, I had to sit on the edge of the bed and wait for the blood to rush to my leg.” However, undeterred, he continued to focus on getting better. One of the many things that kept him going was representing his nation in Paris. While he might not contest in the individual events, he will be returning home with an Olympic bronze medal. What an incredible journey of him going off crutches and coming in clutch when it truly mattered!