INDIANAPOLIS, July 12, 2018 – On July 14-15, the U.S. Olympic Training Center will play host to the 2018 Men’s National Qualifier, the last opportunity for men to qualify for the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Boston, Mass., Aug. 16-19, or to tune-up for nationals. Two sessions of junior and senior optional competition are scheduled for Saturday, July 14, with the juniors having an additional session on Sunday.
The 71-man field includes four current national team members, including 2018 Pacific Rim senior all-around champion Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center; Donothan Bailey of Mission Viejo, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center, senior; Luke McFarland of East Haven, Conn./Daggett Gymnastics, junior 15-16; and Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center, 2016 Olympic team alternate.
The qualifier begins on July 14 with two sessions of junior and senior optional competition, with the first starting at 12:30 p.m. MT and the second at 6 p.m. MT. It wraps up the following day with the junior technical sequence at 11 a.m. MT. A total of 71 athletes from 22 states will compete at the training center.
Athletes can qualify to the senior division at the 2018 U.S. Championships in a variety of ways. U.S. Senior National Team members named to the team following the 2018 Winter Cup Challenge automatically qualified to the championships. A minimum of 18 athletes will qualify to the U.S. Championships based on the national Points Ranking System from the National Qualifier. The top six ranked all-around gymnasts who are U.S. citizens from among the top 12 all-around athletes, excluding any previous qualified athletes, as well as athletes who win the individual apparatus titles at the 2018 NCAA Championships also qualify to the U.S. Championships. There may also be some approved petitions to championships. This will total approximately 36 qualifiers.
Juniors qualify in a similar fashion. The top 22 athletes from the 15-16 junior elite age division from the all-around finals at the 2018 Junior Olympic National Championships and the top 14 athletes from the 17-18 junior elite age division from the all-around finals at the 2018 Junior Olympic National Championships qualify to the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. The top six age eligible juniors from the junior elite division at the 2018 National Qualifier will qualify using the rank order all-around results (optional + technical sequence score) with 15-16 and 17-18 age divisions combined also qualify. This will total approximately 42 athletes in two age divisions.
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The organization is committed to creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes. USA Gymnastics has already taken specific, concrete steps to strengthen its safe sport policies and procedures. The organization’s disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and gymnastics for all (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more complete information, log on to usagym.org.