USA Gymnastics reorders men’s senior national team roster after Winter Cup

By Kiran Rao

Modified Mar 13, 2024 12:31 GMT

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USA Gymnastics, the national authority of the sport, recently announced that it has reordered the men’s senior national team after the conclusion of the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky.

The new roster is made up of 15 gymnasts:

1. Five gymnasts automatically qualified for the Senior National Team thanks to their top-five finishes in the all-around Winter Cupcompetition.
2. A 10-point program was used to combine the results from Friday and Sunday to additionally qualify five athletes.
3. University of Illinois' Ian Skirkey was selected after he met the Individual Event benchmark and;
4. Brody Malone secured automatic qualification as a reigning world champion.

Gold medalist Brody Malone of United States poses during the medal ceremony for Men's High Bar Final on day nine of the 2022 Gymnastic World Championships at M&S Bank Arena on November 06, 2022 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Based on the criteria mentioned above, this is what the reordered men's roster looks like now, according to USA Gymnastics:

• Taylor Christopulos (Layton, Utah/University of Nebraska (2)
• Asher Hong, Tomball, Texas/Stanford University (1)
• Josh Karnes (Erie, Penn./Penn State University (2)
• Ian Lasic-Ellis, Dover, Mass./Stanford University (1)
• Riley Loos, El Dorado Hills, Calif./Stanford University (2)
• Brody Malone, Aragon, Ga./Stanford University (4)
• Yul Moldauer, Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics (1)
• Kameron Nelson, Evans, Ga./Ohio State University (2)
• Curran Phillips, Naperville, Ill./Stanford University (2)
• Fred Richard, Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan (1)
• Ian Skirkey (Pepperell, Mass./University of Illinois (3)
• Blake Sun (San Antonio, Texas/Stanford University
• Donnell Whittenburg, Milwaukee, Wisc./Salto Gymnastics Center
• Khoi Young, Bowie, Md./Stanford University
• Shane Wiskus, Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics (1)

Landen Blixt will replace Josh Karnes until the 2023 US National Championships based on the all-around D score ranking from Day 1 of the Winter Cup.

Shane Wiskus, Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer and Sam Mikulak of Team United States look on during Men's Podium Training ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Centre on July 21, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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Gymnastics: A spectacle of a sport

The sport was first introduced to the Olympics in 1896 but standardization only occurred at the 1928 Olympics. Gymnastics is widely divided into three different divisions: Artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline.

Alex Diab, Akash Modi, Allen Bower, Cameron Bock, Brandon Briones, Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, Sam Mikulak, Shane Wiskus, and Alec Yoder pose after being selected to the 2021 U.S. Olympic Gymnastic team after the Men's competition of the 2021 U.S. Gymnastic Olympic Trials at America’s Center on June 26, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Since its introduction, gymnastics has become one of the most famous sports in the history of the modern Olympic games. This is largely due to the sport involving a perfect blend of grace, flexibility, and sheer strength. These attributes also enable it to successfully bridge the gap between art and sport.

In the United States, the sport enjoys a different level of popularity with athletes being observed on the national stage from a very young age. The United States (gold- 37, silver- 43, bronze- 37) currently stands as the most successful contingent in the history of the Olympics. They are followed by Japan in second place (103 total medals) and China in third (69 total medals).