© Filippo Tomasi

JESOLO, Italy, April 2, 2017 – Team USA brought home 12 medals during the apparatus finals of the Jesolo (Italy) Trophy today. In the senior competition, the U.S. won four medals including golds on the balance beam and floor exercise from Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J./MG Elite, and Abby Paulson of Coon Rapids, Minn./Twin City Twisters, respectively. In the junior competition, the U.S. won eight medals, with event title wins from Gabby Perea of Geneva, Ill./Legacy Elite, vault and uneven bars, and Emma Malabuyo, Flower Mound, Texas/Texas Dreams, floor exercise.

The U.S. won the silver and bronze medals in the senior uneven bars final with McCusker and Ashton Locklear of Hamlet, N.C./Everest Gymnastics, finishing two-three, respectively. McCusker opened with a stalder full pirouette, Maloney, Tkatchev sequence to score 14.600. Locklear, an alternate the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, stuck her full-twisting double back for a 14.550 and the bronze.

Next, McCusker won the balance beam title with a 14.200 score. Her routine opened with consecutive wolf turns followed by a back handspring, layout, layout series. She dismounted with a double back. Brazil’s Flavia Saraiva and Frace’s Marine Boyer shared the silver with matching 14.100s. The USA’s Victoria Nguyen of West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics, also competed in the final.

Paulson, who won the all-around bronze medal yesterday, tied 2016 Olympian Saraiva for the floor title with a 13.900. She opened her routine with a piked full-twisting double and close with a one-and-a-half to front full. Russia’s Angelina Melnikova was third, scoring 13.800.

In the junior competition, Perea and Maile O’Keefe of Las Vegas/Salcianu, claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively, on the balance beam. Perea opened with a double wolf turn and followed it up with a solid standing full. She dismounted with a two-and-a-half twist for a 14.150. O’Keefe performed a side aerial to layout stepout and a double pike dismount for a 14.050. Ana Padurariu of Canada won the gold with a 14.250.

On floor, Malabuyo grabbed the gold medal with a 14.100 after tumbling a full-in, a front double full to punch front and a double pike. O’Keefe tied for the silver medal, scoring 13.450 with Carolann Heduit of France.

Both American women vaulted Yurchenko double twists and Yurchenko full twists as Perea took the gold (14.325) and Malabuyo the silver (14.275). Padurariu took the bronze, averaging 13.975.

The U.S. juniors collected two more medals on the uneven bars with Perea sharing the gold with Italy’s Elisa Iorio. She scored 14.650 after executing an in bar full pirouette, toe-on Shaposhnikova, stalder Tkatchev opening. O’Keefe took the bronze with a 14.600, dismounting with a stalder full pirouette to Fontaine combination.

Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its 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 www.usagym.org.