LONDON, Aug. 1, 2012 – Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics) earned the all-around bronze with a 90.698 at the 2012 Olympic Games at North Greenwich Arena. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura earned gold with a 92.690 and Marcel Nguyen took silver with a 91.031.
John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, finished eighth with 89.331, climbing from last place following the second rotation.
"I wanted to hit beautifully like I did today but with a stick," said Leyva. "Either way, I know that I did good. To win an Olympic medal is a dream come true."
"Danell has always been coming from the bottom to the top," said Leyva’s coach and stepfather, Yin Alvarez. "He’s done it many, many times in his career since he was a little kid. I think every coach always hopes that you can go up and, even with a mistake, you can finish in the top."
Both Orozco and Leyva began the competition on floor. Orozco was second up and hit a very nice routine to score a 15.433. His routine included a piked double Arabian and his last pass was a two-and-a-half twist, which he stuck. Leyva started his routine with a layout double-twisting, double back and finished with an impressive double layout, earning a 15.366.
On pommel horse, Orozco’s routine included a scissor to handstand and single pommel spindles, but he struggled on his dismount, scoring a 12.566. Leyva’s routine featured single pommel circles into a single pommel Russian, Magyar, Sivado, Tong Fei and a handstand pirouette dismount, where he had a little trouble, scoring a 13.500. Of the 24 competitors, Leyva ranked 19th, with Orozco trailing at 24th.
"I’m still really upset with pommels," said Orozco. "But you know what, this is something to think about for the next four years. I’m really happy for Danell. At least we have one USA medal for now."
On rings, Leyva performed a whip-it to L cross, pike, tuck and layout Yamawakis, and full-twisting double layout dismount, which he stuck, tallying a 14.733. Orozco performed an Azarian L cross, tuck and pike Yamawaki and a one-and-a-half twisting dismount to score a 15.200.
Leyva and Orozco continued their respective climbs in the rankings on vault. Leyva competed a Kasumatsu full, scoring a 15.556. Orozco earned a 15.900 for his handspring front double full. Heading into the last two events, Leyva posted a four-event total of 59.165 for 11th place, and Orozco’s total of 59.099 had him in 13th place.
On parallel bars, Leyva scored a 15.833 in the next to last rotation. He executed a good routine, featuring a peach Diamidov, peach full, a giant Diamidov, and double pike dismount. Orzoco’s routine included a peach half, giant Suarez, front one-and-a-quarter, Tippelt, Stutz and a double-pike dismount and earned a 15.266.
Leyva’s 74.998 pulled him into sixth place. Orozco’s 74.365 total moved him into 10th place. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura held a commanding lead of 77.590 followed by Kazuhito Tanaka of Japan with a 75.974 and Germany’s Marcel Nguyen in third with a 75.731.
On the last event, Orozco performed a clean routine that included a Yamawaki, layout Tkatchev and a full-twisting double-layout dismount to score a 14.966 and pull him into eighth place with his 89.331 Leyva started off well, executing a full Takamoto, Yamawaki and layout Kovacs to earn a 15.700 and pull him into the medals.
Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas will compete in the women’s all-around finals Aug. 1. Individual event finals are Aug. 5-7. Team USA individual event finalists for men are: Jake Dalton, floor exercise; Sam Mikulak, vault; Jonathan Horton, horizontal bar; and Leyva, horizontal bar. For women are: McKayla Maroney, vault; Douglas, bars; Douglas and Raisman, beam; and Jordyn Wieber and Raisman, floor.
Ways to follow the Olympic Games include:
- USAGym.org, the USA Gymnastics official website, is a great source for information about the sport: latest news, the schedule of its premier events, athlete biographies, videos, photo galleries, live scoring from major events and more. USA Gymnastics also has usagymclub.org, which is a resource center for parents of potential and existing gymnasts.
- TeamUSA.org, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s website will also be a good resource for information on the Team USA in London.
- Facebook – USA Gymnastics has an official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/USAGymnastics, which carries USA Gymnastics information and activities for fans. The USOC’s official Facebook page is www.facebook.com/USOlympicTeam
- Twitter – USA Gymnastics has an official Twitter feed — @usagym. The USOC’s Twitter feed is @usolympic.
- NBCOlympics.com – NBC is the broadcast and web source for coverage and news on the Olympic Games. NBCOlympics.com will carry live coverage of every gymnastics session as well as all sports, and maintain an archive for on-demand coverage. A special "Live Extra" app for smartphones and tablets is available as well. For gymnastics, viewing options will include a single "integrated" feed showing various competitors (akin to watching on TV), plus separate feeds for each apparatus.
Check your local listings for dates and times in your area here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv-listings/index.html. - YouTube – USA Gymnastics has an official YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/usagymnasticsorg, which features routines of the top gymnasts from various events, interviews, etc. The USOC’s YouTube Channel is www.youtube.com/TeamUSA.