U.S. earns shocking medal in men's team gymnastics final

The United States men's gymnastics team earned a surprise bronze medal Monday in the team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, beating out Great Britain, Ukraine and more for the final spot on the podium. It's just the fifth team medal in the history of U. S. men's gymnastics.

The U. S. men qualified for the event in fifth place and weren't expected to seriously contend for a medal. But against the odds, each of the five athletes — Brody Malone, Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Frederick Richard and Stephen Nedoroscik — bettered their qualification scores and shot up the rankings.

Nedoroscik, a pommel horse specialist, delivered the decisive routine of the night. He waited the full length of the meet, nearly three hours, before putting his nerves aside and executing a 14.800 performance in the final routine of the meet.

The U. S. men finished behind Japan, whose legendary leader Daiki Hashimoto bounced back from a poor qualifying performance to deliver Japan its eighth team all-around gold medal. It also finished behind China, which bounced back from a rough high bar rotation to clinch the silver by a small margin.

The U. S. men will return to competition in the individual events later this week. Juda and Richard will compete in the all-around on Wednesday, July 31 while Nedoroscik will compete in the pommel horse final on Saturday, Aug. 3.