The 2023 world championships ended the longest global medal drought in two decades for Team US, along with a coveted men’s team spot for the 2024 Olympic Games. The Americans beat Great Britain, the 2022 bronze medalist, to finish in the top 12 to guarantee a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the same time, Japan became world champions for the first time since 2015. With the change in power dynamics comes the focus shift on America’s rapid rise on the global stage! With the 2024 Winter Cup conclusion, 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer, defending Team USA’s standing, gave a fair warning in the sweltering Summer Olympics heat.
Yul Moldauer takes center stage
Yul Moldauer, a Winter Cup veteran known for his sporadic all-around victories, proved himself once more. After winning gold in 2017, bronze in 2019, and gold in 2023 and 2024 in a row, Moldauer patted himself, saying, “I got the job,” in a Gymnastics Now YouTube feature. “Japan and Great Britain will be there; those are the top teams,” Moldauer said after earning his career’s fourth all-around victory. When asked about a message for the opponents, he said, “Let them know, Team USA is coming.”
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Moldauer performed well on the floor exercise (14.400) and high bar (13.050) before focusing on the pommel horse, where he had faltered on the first day of the Winter Cup. On Day 2, he showed growth by earning a score of 13.750 despite a small difficulty on the dismount. He finished the competition with a strong performance on the still rings, winning the championship with a score of 14.200.
The 27-year-old finished with a score of 169.750 over two days of all-around competition. Shane Wiskus, Yul’s Tokyo Olympics teammate, finished behind him with a score of 167.450. Moldauer said, “I wanted to come here and show off how excited I am for the season.” Coming off beating the medal draught, Team USA’s World domination is no short of a gymnastics marvel.
Top contingent domination at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championship
Looking back to the 2023 World Championship: Team USA took advantage of Britain’s blunders to pull off a stunning comeback that resulted in a bronze medal. They finished just 1.366 points short of China, the closest total since 2011. While Japan defeated China, the reigning champions, by 1.8 points.
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via Reuters
Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, Sam Mikulak and Shane Wiskus pose for photos after being named to the Olympic team during the final day of Men’s competition in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for gymnastics in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., June 26, 2021. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
The youthful American squad, which included Asher Hong, 19, Khoi Young, 20, and Fred Richard, 19, fulfilled the expectations that made them the clear favorites to win a medal.
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Yul Moldauer, the only team member with Olympic experience at 27, became the oldest American man to win a world medal in two decades. While Hong was the youngest U.S. men’s all-around winner since 1989, posing an incredible vault score of 15.1 points. Yul Moldauer’s warning to Japan and Great Britain remains significant as the 2024 Olympics draw near, putting Team USA as a formidable opponent.
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