© Grace Chiu

TORONTO, Ont., Canada, July 15, 2015 – Team USA won five medals today on the final day of artistic gymnastics competition at the 2015 Pan American Games. Rhythmic gymnastics at the Pan Am Games gets underway at the Toronto (Ont.) Coliseum Friday with the first of two days of qualification competition.

Amelia Hundley of Fairfield, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics, was the silver medalist on the floor. Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), added a silver in the men’s vault final, and Megan Skaggs of Marietta, Ga./Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta, took home the silver on beam. Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), parallel bars, and Paul Ruggeri of Manlius, N.Y./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), horizontal bar, won bronze medals.

In the men’s vault final, Whittenburg controlled his huge power on his handspring double front half out and Kasamatsu one-and-a-half for a 14.962 and the silver medal. Cuba’s Manrique Larduet took the title with a 15.125 average. The U.S. had not won a medal in men’s vault at the Pan Am Games of any color since 1987 when Scott Johnson took the silver. Ruggeri vaulted a Yurchenko half on to front double full off and a clean Yurchenko two-and-a-half for a 14.712 average and fifth.

Skaggs earned a 14.050 and the silver medal in the beam final. She worked well through a front aerial to sissone and flip flop, layout step out series to open. She dismounted with a double pike. Canada’s Ellie Black won the gold with a 15.050. Rachel Gowey of Urbandale, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics, finished eighth in the final with an 11.625.

On the parallel bars, Mikulak drew cheers from the crowd on his giant Suarez, straddled front to Moy combination. He ended with a double front and scored 15.450 for the bronze. Whittenburg delivered a hit set once again on the parallel bars, earning a 15.350 for his routine that ended with a double front half out. He finished in fifth. Colombia’s Jossimar Calvo Moreno won the gold with a 15.700.

Hundley got the floor final started off with a dynamic routine. She tumbled a double layout to split jump, a piked full-in, a whip to double tuck and a double pike. She scored 14.200 and won the silver. Madison Desch of Lenexa, Kan./GAGE, incurred a .100 penalty for going out of the area on her opening tumbling pass, a whip to Arabian double. She scored a 13.975 to finish in fourth. Black claimed her second gold of the day with a 14.400.

Mikulak and Ruggeri closed their Pan Am Games on the horizontal bar where Ruggeri began with a Zou Li Mon and then caught his Cassina release. He swung well through a full Takamoto to layout Tkatchev to Tkatchev-half. He finished with a layout double-double for a 15.450 and the bronze. Mikulak nailed his Cassina and Kolman releases to start his routine strong but came off mid-routine. He scored a 14.575 for sixth. Calvo Moreno won the gold, posting a 15.700. Ruggeri was the reigning Pan Am Games high bar champion.

Trampoline follows on the heels of artistic gymnastics, with men’s and women’s qualifications and finals on July 18-19. The U.S. squad features: men – Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics, and Steven Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J./Elite Trampoline Academy; and women – Charlotte Drury of Laguna Niguel, Calif./World Elite Gymnastics, and Clare Johnson of Huntsville, Ala./The Matrix.

For rhythmic gymnastics, Jazzy Kerber of Highland Park, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, and Laura Zeng of Libertyville, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, are competing, along with the senior rhythmic group. The members of the rhythmic gymnastics group, who train at North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, are: Kiana Eide of Northbrook, Ill.; Alisa Kano of Glencoe, Ill.; Natalie McGiffert of Northbrook, Ill.; Monica Rokhman of Northbrook, Ill.; Jennifer Rokhman of Northbrook, Ill.; and Kristen Shaldybin of Chicago. Rhythmic qualifications are July 17-18, with finals on July 19-20.

For more information visit the official website, Toronto2015.org.

ESPN and ESPN2 will present live 66 hours. ESPN’s telecasts will kick off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m. – marking the first English-language live presentation of the ceremony in 30 years – and wrap up with a five-hour live window on July 26 for the closing day of the Games, starting at 1:00 p.m. Between July 11- 25, ESPN2 will present two to six hours of daily live coverage focused on men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, diving, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, track and field, and soccer. The network will also present daily highlights of all medal winners and the action across every venue.

ESPN3 will carry 580 hours of Pan American Games programming, with live access to almost every competition in more than 15 different disciplines, including basketball, gymnastics, swimming, diving, soccer, volleyball, karate, taekwondo, track and field, and many others. Every Pan American coverage option on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Longhorn Network, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes+ will also be available through WatchESPN, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360, and Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.