ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct. 3, 2013 – Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./University of Michigan, finished in sixth place in the men’s all-around finals at the at the 2013 World Gymnastics Championships at the Antwerp (Belgium) Sports Palace today. 2013 U.S. all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/Bannon’s Gymnastix, Inc., and 2012 Olympic team gold-medalist Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max, will compete tomorrow, Oct. 4, in the women’s all-around finals at 8 p.m.
Japan’s Kohei Uchimura won the men’s all-around title for a record fourth consecutive time, with his teammate Ryohei Kato second, and Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen was third.
Mikulak began on the floor, controlling his landings with ease as he performed a back one-and-a-half to double front and front double full to Rudi. He dismounted with a triple full to score 15.366. On pommel horse, he began with the skill named in his honor, a double scissor forward. Then, he swung smoothly through a triple Russian on the end, a Magyar to Sivado combination, and dismounted with a handstand pirouette, posting a 14.608.
In rotation three, Mikulak earned a 14.775 on the still rings after executing a back uprise Maltese, kip to Maltese and a nearly stuck double-twisting, double back. He was solid again on the vault where his Kasamatsu one-and-a-half scored a 14.833. On the parallel bars, Mikulak performed two variations of a Suarez and capped off his routine with a back toss to Stutz to double pike for a 15.200 and third place going into the final event, the horizontal bar.
In the final rotation, Mikulak began with a flourish, catching the bar smoothly on two full-twisting Kovacs release moves but suffered a break on his full Takamoto. He scored a 13.766, earning an 88.548 for sixth.
"People probably expect me to be upset, but I am actually pretty happy," said Mikulak. "I gained a lot of experience at my first World Championships. I had a cool, calm ‘head’ during this meet. It was a good experience for me, but not the outcome I wanted."
The U.S. men who will compete in the event finals are: Mikulak, horizontal bar; Brandon Wynn of Voorhees, N.J./Team Hilton HHonors (Ohio State University), still rings and parallel bars; Steven Legendre of Port Jefferson, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Oklahoma), floor exercise and vault; Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Oklahoma), floor exercise; and John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center), parallel bars.
The U.S. women competing in the finals are: vault – 2012 Olympic team gold-medalist McKayla Maroney of Long Beach, Calif./All Olympia Gymnastics Center, and Biles; uneven bars – Ross and Biles; balance beam – Ross and Biles; floor exercise – Biles and Ross; and all-around – Biles and Ross. Biles is the first U.S. female gymnast since Shannon Miller in 1991 to qualify for the all-around and all four event finals at a World Championships.
The remaining competition schedule for the World Championships is: Oct. 4 – women’s all-around finals, 8 p.m.; Oct. 5 – event finals, men’s floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings and women’s vault and uneven bars, 2:30 p.m.; and Oct. 6 – event finals, men’s vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars, and women’s balance beam and floor exercise, 2:30 p.m. The times listed above are for Antwerp, Belgium.
Here’s a quick overview of the various ways to watch and follow the U.S. Team’s performances at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. For more information on the World Championships, please go to usagymworlds.com.
- Live webcast. UniversalSports.com will have a live webcast of the all-around and individual event finals from Antwerp, which will also be available at usagymworlds.com. For U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings time, the live webcasts are scheduled for: Oct. 3 –men’s all-around final, 2 p.m.; Oct. 4 – women’s all-around final, 2 p.m.; Oct. 5-6 – individual event finals, 8:30 a.m. (NOTE: Antwerp is 6 hours ahead of New York City; when it is noon in Antwerp, it is 6 a.m. in New York.) A live webstream of the qualification round is also available at USAGymWorlds.com.
- Cable TV. Universal Sports will show all of the finals live on its cable network: Oct. 3 –men’s all-around final, 2 p.m.; Oct. 4 – women’s all-around final, 2 p.m.; Oct. 5-6 – individual event finals, 8:30 a.m. All times are Eastern. Universal Sports will also carry encore presentations of its World telecasts. Calling the action throughout the competition will be a team comprised of play-by-play announcer Steve Schlanger alongside analysts 1984 Olympic gold medalist Bart Connor, 1996 Olympic gold-medalist Amanda Borden, and Olympian Kip Simons. Be sure to check your local listings for times. Universal Sports Network is now available on Time Warner Cable, Cox, satellite providers DIRECTV and DISH and numerous regional cable and IPTV operators in markets across the country. To find Universal Sports Network in your area, go to http://universalsports.com/tv-listings/channel-finder/.
- NBC. NBC will broadcast coverage of the World Championships from 2-4 p.m. ET on Oct. 12-13. The commentators are Al Trautwig, 1984 Olympic gold-medalist Tim Daggett and 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Nastia Liukin.
- usagymworlds.com. USA Gymnastics will provide enhanced coverage from Belgium that will include results and photos from the competition, as well as interviews and the webcast. Fans can also follow the action on Facebook, facebook.com/USAGymnastics, and Twitter, @usagym or #FIG2013Antwerp.
- Live scoring. The International Gymnastics Federation provides live scoring from its World Championships. For more information and access, go to antwerp2013.fig-gymnastics.com.