RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, April 18, 2016 – The USA’s Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./Team Hilton (University of Oklahoma), and John Orozco of The Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton (U.S. Olympic Training Center), each won silver medals, with Orozco also picking up a bronze, in the event finals at the Aquece Rio Final Gymnastics Qualifier in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Held at the Rio Olympic Arena, the event is the final qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Competition continues tomorrow with the trampoline competition, where Charlotte Drury of Laguna Niguel/Elite World Gymnastics, Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif./Elite World Gymnastics, and Jeffrey Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J./Elite Trampoline Academey, are seeking Olympic berths for the USA. USA Gymnastics will have live coverage on YouTube. Live scoring is available at fig-gymnastics.com.

Dalton took the silver medal on vault, executing a clean Kasamatsu with two twists for a 15.066. He stuck his second vault, a front handspring Rudi, for a 14.641 and a 14.853 average. The Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev won the title at 15.333, with his teammate Igor Radivilov in third with 14.649.

In the pommel horse finals, Orozco posted a 15.066 for the silver medal, finishing behind China’s Sun Wei (15.566). Hungary’s Vid Hidvegi was third (14.700). Orozco’s pommel horse routine included intricate handstand work and concluded with a handstand dismount. Pleased with his routine, Orozco fist-pumped when he saluted.

Orozco earned a 15.366 on the horizontal bar, garnering the bronze medal. His routine included four difficult release moves, including a Cassina and a Liukin. The Netherlands’ Epke Zonderland posted a 15.733, followed by Germany’s Andreas Bretschneider’s 15.600.

Earlier on the parallel bars, Orozco performed a Peach to front uprise double back to open and stuck his double pike dismount for a 15.433 and fifth place. Verniaiev captured the gold at 16.133, followed by Turkey’s Ferhat Arican (15.733) and Uzbekistan’s Anton Fokin (15.700).

Verniaiev won the floor exercise final, with Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti taking the top spot for still rings. The women’s event champions were: vault – Dipa Karmakar, India; uneven bars – Elisabeth Seitz, Germany; balance beam – Sanne Wevers, the Netherlands; and floor exercise – Flavia Saraiva, Brazil.