“USA” chants rang across the crowd on Monday as Team USA men’s gymnastics finished on the Olympic podium for the first time since 2008, winning a bronze medal in men’s artistic gymnastics.
The Americans scored 257.793 in an event that included the floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. They finished behind Japan and China for the top spots in these Olympic games.
Team USA proved itself by competing with both teams for the gold medal, finishing less than two points behind Japan for the top spot while also having just over a two-point lead from fourth place Great Britain.
This medal follows a 16-year drought for USA men’s gymnastics in team events.
Team USA reached the podium for the first time since securing a bronze medal during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong, and Brody Malone competed in at least four separate portions of the event. Stephen Nedoroscik only took part in the pommel horse but scored a jaw-dropping 14.866 points.
Juda put together an impressive performance during the event and said the chants from the crowd were “invigorating.” He added that hearing his home crowd helped him fight off nerves as the competition grew more intense.
“The first ‘U-S-A’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is awesome.’ I thought maybe it would fade, but it kept growing and growing and growing. As we went deeper into the competition, the crowd got exponentially louder. When you hear that…you get goosebumps,” Juda said, per Team USA.
High-performance director Brett McClure, who won a gold medal with Team USA in 2004, was emotional after the event and expressed how proud he was of the team for the way everyone competed during the events.
“I can’t even describe it. Every single routine kept getting better and better. Everyone did their job. They absolutely earned it tonight,” he said, according to ESPN.
McClure said the team will continue to improve and that it is “trending in the right direction,” noting that even more work will be required if Team USA wants to finish even higher on the podium in the future.
“Japan and China are still in another category. If we want to get better and push for first place in LA [in 2028], this is going to be extremely motivating,” he explained, as reported by ESPN.
Regardless, Richard said he and the team are focused on celebrating their accomplishment and will address the future later, adding that this experience has been a “surreal” feeling.
“We’re going to be written in history, all of us,” Richard stated, per Team USA.
