TOKYO, Oct. 14, 2011 – John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, finished fifth in the men’s all-around finals at the 2011 World Championships at the Tokyo (Japan) Metropolitan Gymnasium. Kohei Uchimura won his third straight World all-around title, making him the first gymnast to accomplish that feat. The World Championships continue on Oct. 15 with the first of two days of individual event finals, when five U.S. gymnasts will compete for titles (Start List | Live Results | Watch Live).

Competing in his first World Championships all-around finals, Orozco bounded back from a shaky start and pushed his way through to fifth place.

"It was amazing (competing in the finals)," said Orozco. "It was a great feeling being out there among the top athletes in the world. That in itself is a great honor. I know I could have done better on a few events, but I can’t complain – I got fifth place. I can take back a lot from this. It was a big learning experience for me. It’s all smiles for me."

Germany’s Phillipp Boy was second, followed by Japan’s Koji Yamamuro. Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics), had an unfortunate mishap on the horizontal bar, which dropped him in the standings.

Leyva, talking about his night, said, "The beginning was good, up until vault. I sat my vault down, but picked it back up on (parallel) bars.. I guess on high bar, it was a freak thing. I let go too early. I’m alright – my pride hurts more than anything."

Both Orozco and Leyva began the competition on floor. Leyva started his routine with a layout double-twisting, double back and finished with an impressive double layout, earning a 14.833. Orozco’s first pass included a front handspring, double-twisting front and his last pass was a two and a half twist. He scored a 14.400.

On pommel horse, Leyva’s set featured single pommel circles into a single pommel Russian, Magyar, Sivado, Tong Fei and a handstand pirouette dismount, scoring a 14.433. Orozco was next. Although he struggled on his dismount, his routine looked good with a single pommel three-quarter Russian, Tong Fei, Magyar and Sivado, posting a 14.366.

Leyva was first up on still rings. He performed a whip-it to L cross, pike, tuck and layout Yamawakis, and full-twisting double layout dismount, tallying a 14.341. Orozco followed Leyva in the rotation and had strong holds with a small hiccup on a tucked Yamawaki, but stuck his double pike front for a 14.300.

Orozco was the lead gymnast on vault. He earned a 15.866 for his handspring front double full. Leyva was last up and had a short landing on Kasumatsu one-and-a-half, scoring a 14.800. Heading into the last two events, Orozco posted a four-event total of 58.932 for 11th place, and Leyva’s total of 58.407 had him in 14th place.

On parallel bars, both U.S. men had solid routines. Leyva was next to last in the rotation. He executed a good routine, featuring a peach Diamidov, peach full, a giant Diamidov, and stuck his double pike dismount, scoring a 15.333. Orzoco’s routine included a Morisue, giant Suarez, front one-and-a-quarter, Tippelt, back toss, Stutz and a stuck double-pike dismount and earned a 15.366. Orozco’s 74.298 total moved him into seventh place, and Leyva’s 73.740 pulled him into ninth.

On the last event, Orozco performed an excellent routine that included a Yamawaki, layout Tkatchev, Quast and a stuck full-twisting double-layout dismount and brought a big smile to his face. He scored a 15.366, the fourth highest for the event, and pulled into fifth place with his 89.664. Leyva started off well, executing a full Takamoto, Yamawaki and layout Kovacs before clipping his chin on a Liukin. He was unable to finish his routine, which dropped him to 24th place.

"My mindset (after the first three events) was to do everything I can to get back to my score in prelims," said Orozco. "That was my goal after still rings. I thought this isn’t as good as my first day, but I want to try and beat that score at least and see what happens. I can’t be mad about anything. This is my first Worlds, and I am really happy with how our team did."

The U.S. gymnasts competing on Oct. 15 are: women’s vault — McKayla Maroney of Laguna Niguel, Calif./All Olympia AOGC; uneven bars — Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, and Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA; men’s floor exercise – Steven Legendre of Port Jefferson, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Oklahoma); still rings – Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Academy);

The gymnasts competing in the individual event finals on Oct. 16 are: balance beam and women’s floor exercise – Wieber and Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics; parallel bars –Leyva; and horizontal bar – Orozco.

Fans can follow the action at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships via the web, cable TV and network television. Universal Sports will carry a live webcast of the finals, as well as same-day coverage on its cable network. In addition, usagym.org will have photos and updates from Tokyo, with expanded coverage of "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T." NBC Sports will broadcast coverage of the World Championships on Oct. 15-16.

Here’s a quick overview of the various ways to watch and follow the U.S. Team’s performances at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo.

  • Live webcast. UniversalSports.com will have a live webcast of the team, all-around and individual event finals from Tokyo for $19.99. For U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings time, the live webcasts are scheduled for: Oct. 15 – individual event finals, 12:30 a.m.; and Oct. 16 – individual event finals, 1 a.m. (NOTE: Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York City; when it is midnight in Tokyo, it is 11 a.m. in New York.)

  • Cable TV. Universal Sports will show all of the finals on its cable network during prime time. At 8 p.m. ET each day, Universal Sports will show the individual event finals on Oct. 15-16. The women’s team final will air at 11 p.m. on Oct. 15, and the women’s all-around final, with men’s highlights, will air at 11 p.m. on Oct. 16.

  • NBC. NBC Sports’ coverage of the World Championships will broadcast the women’s team final at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, and the women’s all-around final at 2 p.m. on Oct. 16.

  • "Behind the Team." "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T" will provide expanded coverage from the World Championships, including John Macready’s take on the championships and Tokyo, interviews, and more. To enjoy this added coverage, you can go to att.net/teamusa or access it from usagym.org.

  • Usagym.org will provide enhanced coverage from Tokyo that will include results and exclusive photos from the competition, as well as daily video interviews. USA Gymnastics will also post event updates on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Men’s All-Around Final Results
1. Kohei Uchimura, JPN – 93.631
2. Philipp Boy, GER – 90.530
3. Koji Yamamuro, JPN – 90.255
4. Daniel Purvis, GBR – 89.932
5. John Orozco, USA – 89.664
6. David Belyavskiy, RUS – 89.274
7. Mykola Kuksenkov, UKR – 89.132
8. Marcel Nguyen, GER – 88.831
24. Danell Leyva, USA – 80.206

U.S. Individual Scores

Floor Exercise
Danell Leyva – 14.833
John Orozco – 14.400

Pommel Horse
Danell Leyva – 14.433
John Orozco – 14.366

Still Rings
Danell Leyva – 14.341
John Orozco – 14.300

Vault
John Orozco – 15.866
Danell Leyva – 14.800

Parallel Bars
John Orozco – 15.366
Danell Leyva – 15.333

High Bar
John Orozco – 15.366
Danell Leyva – 6.466 (fell and did not complete routine)