WATCH: Team USA men celebrate first team podium since 2014 at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp
At the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, the United States of America's men’s gymnastics team ended a decade-long disappointment at global competitions
On Tuesday, October 3, Team USA delivered under pressure to win the bronze medal in the Belgian city, their first at the world championships or the Olympics since 2014.
It was a young team comprising Asher Hong (19), Khoi Young (20), Fred Richard (19), and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer (27) that ended the medal drought. They raised their performances when it mattered to finish with a score of 252.428, with Japan (255.594) taking gold and China (253.794) finishing as the runners-up.
Team USA pipped last year’s bronze medalist Great Britain by a mere 2.967 points to claim their spot on the podium.
Hong, Young, Richard, and Moldauer were understandably ecstatic in their celebrations. You can watch a video of the same below:
“We have so much potential to go” - Fred Richard takes pride in Team USA's World Artistic Gymnastics Championships bronze
Fred Richard was ecstatic with Team USA's performance at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and stated that they have enough potential in them to target a gold medal in the future.
“We have so much potential to go. We were there on the third place [step] so happy, but we were like, wow, we can really get to that first place, too,” he saidv(via NBC).
In Antwerp, Khoi Young and Richard performed a clutch rotation at the end to ensure Team USA pip Great Britain to the final spot on the podium. After the event, Young stated took pride in delivering when it matters by overcoming his nerves.
“We always like to say, the real gymnasts show up fifth and sixth event. I’m not a high bar guy, so I was a little nervous. But I had these guys behind me,” he said.
Yul Moldauer, who became the oldest American man to win a world medal in 20 years, stated that the decision for him to go first on floor exercise was taken a few days ago, one he accepted as he had confidence in his teammates to also deliver.
“I could tell when we talked about lineups a couple days before, just the look that they [my teammates] had at me. I was like, you know what, this is my job, and if I can do a good set and just get the ball rolling, I know that these guys will go out there with confidence,” he explained.