2024 Paris Olympics: Top USA gymnast Brody Malone out of all-around race after struggling in qualifications

Top men’s gymnast Brody Malone, the reigning U.S. men’s all-around champion, is out of the individual competition after struggling during qualifications.

Malone fell three times — twice on horizontal bar, once on pommel horse — during preliminaries on Saturday to finish with a 79.598. He is now 11th in the first subdivision; the top 24 gymnasts from across three subdivisions advance to the finals.

Only two gymnasts from each Olympic committee can advance to the all-around finals. Given that Malone finished well behind teammates Frederick Richard and Paul Juda, who finished third and fourth, respectively, he will not advance.

Malone underwent multiple surgeries for a gruesome knee injury sustained last year, but recovered in time to win his third national all-around title in June. Malone performed incredibly well at Team USA trials, finishing second, just behind Richard.

He struggled on Saturday, receiving a 0.3 deduction on vault and earning just a 6.033 on horizontal bar, his best event and his highest difficulty. Malone finished fourth overall in the high bar at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but is now unlikely to make the finals for the event.

Malone’s only hope for the finals is to advance on an individual apparatus. He competed well on parallel bars, earning 14.533 points and finishing fourth in the subdivision. However, only the top eight from all three subdivisions will advance, meaning that an appearance at the finals is not guaranteed.

Richard and Juda, meanwhile, will move on to the next round. The former Michigan teammates competed well on Saturday, with Richard finishing with 83.498 points and Juda finishing with 82.865. With the first of three subdivisions complete, Team USA is currently second in the team result with 253.229. Great Britain is in first with a score of 256.561.