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Brody Malone warmed up perfectly for the Olympic Trials with a stunning showing on the opening day of the US Gymnastics Championships on Thursday in Texas. The two-time NCAA all-round champion led the pack with 86.25 points, ahead of his decorated rivals Sam Mikulak and Yul Moldauer.
Competing at the US Gymnastics Championships for the first time in four years, Malone showed no signs of rust and put himself one step ahead of the US Olympic Trials in the latter part of the month. Six-time US champion Mikulak (82.45) finished a disappointing seventh while 2017 US champion Moldauer was tied for second with 83.6 points.
For the first time since 2016, Milulak was outscored in all six events as he fell off the parallel bars and committed major errors on floor exercise and pommel horse. The US Gymnastics Championships was participating in his first competition in almost 15 months.
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The 21-year-old Malone, last seen at the Nationals four years back, was right on the money from the onset. He committed some errors while landing on the floor but that didn’t deter him from taking the top position on Day 1.
No expectations before US Gymnastics Championships: Brody Malone
Malone finished in the top four in four of the six events and called his NCAA Championship triumph in April a confidence booster. He stated that he only had the Olympics in mind and clearly didn’t go into the competition with any sort of expectations.
“My goal is to push for the Olympics. I think tonight, everything went well. I kind of stayed in the zone pretty well and just took it. I really didn’t have any expectations. I think I was definitely more nervous going into that competition than this one because there’s so much on the line for the team,” said Malone.
Mikulak, who participated in the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Games, admitted he hadn't suffered this kind of a crash in a long time. He revealed that he would soon consult his nutritionist to alter his diet so to gain more energy and use this US Gymnastics Championships as a trail for the big event coming in three weeks time.
“By no means did I feel like my good, confident, gymnastics self. I haven’t had a crash like that in a long time (doing an all-around). One thing I guess I got going right now is the bar is set real low. I should be able to improve a lot,” Mikulak said.
DAY 1 US Gymnastics Championships full results:
All-Around (men)
Brody Malone — 86.25
Brandon Briones — 83.6
Yul Moldauer — 83.6
Shane Wiskus — 83.35
Akash Modi — 82.95
Allan Bower — 82.6
Sam Mikulak — 82.45
High Bar
Sam Mikulak — 14.75
Brody Malone — 14.45
Brandon Briones — 13.85
Shane Wiskus — 13.85
Floor Exercise
Eddie Penev — 14.75
Gage Dyer — 14.55
Yul Moldauer 14.5
Parallel Bars
Colt Walker — 14.55
Shane Wiskus — 14.55
Brody Malone — 14.4
Pommel Horse
Stephen Nedoroscik — 15.1
Alec Yoder — 15
Allan Bower — 14.25
Still Rings
Alex Diab — 14.95
Brody Malone — 14.6
Yul Moldauer — 14.5
Vault
Brody Malone — 14.7
Gage Dyer — 14.7
Eddie Penev — 14.45
Kiwan Watts — 14.45
