Stand up, rotate, fall, stand up, rotate… continue – this had been Asher Hong’s two-day schedule in the US Olympic gymnastics trials. Riding on such repetition, the 20-year-old was sure to leave the trial venue, Target Center, in Minneapolis with a radiant face. But that one word, ‘fall’ made him worried in the trial. However, as a gymnast from Stanford Cardinal, Asher Hong does not have much experience of facing a fall while doing his gymnastics schedule. But on the penultimate day of trials, he had to digest the much-cursed loose end. Yet, he didn’t let his mojo fall, even after giving his point away because of the fall. 

In a recent interview with NBC, Asher Hong relished that defining moment when he had to choose one of the ways- one, bearing the torment of facing the fall and diminishing his chance to pass the trials or stand to the challenge and counter the moment. Ultimately, he went with the second option and came out stronger. That feeling led him to say, “I am proud of that.” In the end, the scoreboard showed him with 167.650 points. That score landed Asher Hong, the ultimate five-men squad of the USA for the Paris Olympics. Another part helped Asher Hong to move on from the fall and forward with fresh energy. 

It was his experience from the NCAA gymnastics. Notably, last season, the Plano native earned three top podiums- in steel rings, vault table, and parallel bars. And he achieved that with much tinkering his moves or facing slips from the apparatuses. “[I just told myself] reset and forget about the fall. In the collegiate space, you don’t want to fall a second time for your team,” as he explained in the conversation, giving a tidbit of his emotional rundown in the trials. Furthermore, in the trial, he had known that his next schedule was steel rings- a strong zone where he could have compensated for the fall by every means. Needless to say, Asher Hong did that. 

In the following steel rings apparatus, he made it big. Finally, the overall points collected from the steel rings (14.450 and 14.700) proved to be the top as it added chunks to his final score. Such a story of making a comeback after facing heartbreak owes to the preparation level at Stanford University. 

Asher Hong finds the lesson of earning momentum at the NCAA level 

Asher Hong’s gymnastics den, Stanford Cardinals at the University of Stanford has a record of breeding champions, not only at the elite level but also in NCAA gymnastics. As the results show, the US Olympic gymnastics team in the men’s category holds three Stanford Cardinals standouts, Brody Malone, Asher Hong, and Khoi Young. Whereas at the NCAA level, both Asher and Khoi swept several medals. Furthermore, Brody Malone hails the achievement of being a three-time US all-around champion and world champion in a high bar apparatus. Asher himself clinched the all-around title in the 2023 Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships. So how the Cardinals’ gymnasts are managing both boats? 

The US high-performance director, Brett McClure, said that the Cardinals’ gymnasts shed sweat in the initial season and take a huge lead in the NCAA gymnastics. Later, such a big lead pays off nicely as the gymnasts don’t have to invest extra effort. Moreover, the national team-level gymnasts also join the pack in mid-season. That allows less pressure on the regular stars. So finding this additional time, they utilize their effort in practice that results in better results in the upcoming elite gymnastics. Asher Hong and Khoi Young are enjoying this cushion right now. Hopefully, they will continue to do that in Paris as well.