LONDON, July 30, 2012 – The United States men’s team finished fifth with a score of 269.952 at the 2012 Olympic Games at the North Greenwich Arena. China earned gold with a 275.997, Japan took silver with a 271.952 and the Great Britain earned bronze with a 271.711. The Ukraine was fourth with a 271.526.
The U.S. Men’s Team includes Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Academy); Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics); Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./University of Michigan; and John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center).
Men’s Olympic Team coach Kevin Mazeika said, "We saw what they were capable of in the team prelims, but team finals is a new competition and that’s why we have the competition. The guys fought really hard from start to finish."
The USA men started off on floor exercise. Leyva led off with his layout double-twisting double-back mount and a double layout dismount to score 15.200. Mikulak mounted with a double-twisting double tuck and dismounted with a triple full but put his hands down to score a 14.600. Dalton anchored the team on this event with his routine that included an Arabian double layout mount and a triple twist dismount, which scored a 15.466.
On pommel horse, Leyva scored a 13.400 due to a problem in the middle of his routine. Mikulak hit a nice routine, which included a single pommel Russian Tong Fei and triple Russian, to score a 14.500. Orozco had some trouble with his pommel horse routine and scored a 12.733.
Dalton was the lead gymnast on still rings showing a pike and tuck Yamawaki and double twisting, double back dismount, which scored a 15.033. Horton added a 15.266 to the team total with his routine, which included an Azarian Maltese and a back uprise Maltese, bounce cross. He dismounted with a tucked double twisting, double back. Orozco finished on the event, showing an Azarian L cross and a tuck Yamawaki, back uprise straddle planche and dismounting with a one-and-a-half twisting double back for a 14.958.
On vault, Orozco sat down on his front handspring double full twist and scored a 14.600.
Mikulak and Dalton, both with a 7.0 start value vaults, showed an impressive Kasamatsu double twist (which is actually three twists), scoring a 15.966 and 16.066, respectively.
Mikulak’s parallel bars routine included a front uprise Suarez, Tippelt and a double pike dismount to score a 15.266. Orozco’s routine was solid with a front one-and-a-quarter and a stuck double pike dismount, which scored a 15.133. 2011 parallel bars World Champion Leyva performed with ease, showing a peach Diamodov, a giant Diamodov half and a double pike dismount to score a 15.366.
On the last event, horizontal bar, the USA men hit three for three routines. Orozco led off with his Liukin, layout Tkatchev and full twisting double layout dismount. Orozco scored a 15.333. 2008 Olympic high bar silver medalist Horton performed a Zou Li Min, a Cassina, a layout Kovacs and dismounted with a full twisting double layout to score a 15.200. Leyva performed his usual breathtaking routine, which included a Liukin, layout Kovacs, layout Tkatchev and a layout double twisting double back, which scored a 15.866.
Horton said, "I’m just really proud of the guys. We struggled, but we continued to show what this team is about. We have this never stop fighting attitude and that’s exactly what we did. We never stopped fighting in this competition. Deep down in my heart I believe we are a great team."
Leyva and Orozco compete in the all-around final Aug. 1, and individual event finals are Aug. 5-7. Team USA individual event finalists are: Dalton, floor exercise; Mikulak, vault; Horton, horizontal bar; and Leyva, horizontal bar.
The women’s team final is July 31 at 4:30 p.m. BST/11:30 a.m. EST.
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.