Armour: What it will take for USA male Olympic gymnasts to become stars
RIO DE JANEIRO — While America is on a first-name basis with Gabby, Aly and Simone, the men’s team still needs name tags.
It’s not that the men aren’t talented. Quite the contrary, with the United States qualifying for Monday night’s team final ahead of reigning world champion Japan.
It’s not that the men are boring or unappealing, either. You have to be heartless not to be moved by Chris Brooks’ blue-collar success story, making his first Olympic team at 29, while Jake Dalton could be an American cousin of the Hemsworth brothers.
But the U.S. women are the equivalent of gymnastics royalty, with the crown jewels to prove it. They are heavy favorites to win their second consecutive Olympic title, and haven’t lost at the world championships since 2010.
They’ve had a lock on the Olympic all-around gold, with Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas winning the last three. Simone Biles is likely to continue that streak, the much-coveted prize one of four individual golds she’s expected to win.
The men, meanwhile, haven’t won gold since Bart Conner and Co. in 1984. In fact, they’ve won just two team medals at the Olympics since the Golden Gang, a silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008.
“They win gold medals,” four-time U.S. champ Sam Mikulak said, simply, when asked why the men aren’t as famous as the women. “That’s the only way to really change that, and I don’t think any less of it. They deserve as much attention as they can get and until we get that gold medal, then I’ll say we deserve it as well.”
It’s not that the men haven’t had their chances. Four years ago, they led after qualifying, only to have a total meltdown in the team final.
They swear they have learned from that, acknowledging that they looked too far ahead rather than staying in the moment. That won’t happen Monday, they promised.
Still, beating China and Japan in a three-up, three-count format will be difficult. Those teams have combined for every world and Olympic title since 2003, and they won’t give up the top spot on the podium without a nasty fight.
Mikulak was also one of the top individual qualifiers, but an all-around medal for the men doesn’t have quite the same cache as it does the women. Paul Hamm is still the only U.S. man to win the title at either the Olympics or world championships – he did both – and his fame only went as far as a Jeopardy question.
Danell Leyva won the bronze medal four years ago, and he could walk down the street without drawing a second look.
No, it’s a team gold or bust if the men are to achieve celebrity status.
“The men’s team is really good. It’s just that the women’s team is unbelievable,” Conner said. “So it’s hard for the men to surface because the women are just dominant.”
The interest in the men is there. When the team came to Brazil last winter and posted a photo of themselves on the beach, all swim briefs and abs, it went viral. They were featured on gossip websites, and entertainment magazines.
You know, the kind of publicity usually reserved for the women.
But the attention was fleeting, as is the case in this world of 24-hour news cycle and Internet sites that are updated by the minute not the hour. To make a lasting impact, you need to win, preferably in memorable fashion.
“They haven’t won,” said Tim Daggett, a member of the 1984 team who still gets recognized in public as much for his gold medal as his work as an NBC analyst. “A bronze medal or silver medal is great, but we have a lot of winners in American sports.
“And we love that.”
With the exception of Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn and a handful of others, Olympic athletes aren’t in this to get rich or famous.
But a little recognition for the years of hard work and sacrifice wouldn’t hurt.
“It was fun,” Daggett said of the rock-star status he and his teammates enjoyed.
Thirty-two years later, he’s ready for another team to enjoy the ride.
“Nothing would make me happier,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s a burden. But there have been guys that have been phenomenal. They just need to get it done.”