The USA men's gymnastics team's Olympic medal route is simple yet hard
RIO DE JANEIRO – The plan is maddeningly simple even if doing it can sometimes be monumentally difficult.
Just hit routines. That’s all the American men feel they have to do to get on the podium here at the Rio Olympics. They advanced to the final in a less-than-perfect round that still put them second in qualifying.
With the U.S. men seeking their first Olympic team medal since 2008 on Monday, the path to the podium is basic in principle if challenging in execution.
“If we hit 100% - which I fully believe we are capable of – I think we have enough to be in that top three,” said veteran Chris Brooks, team captain after making his first Olympics at 29. “If we get the ball rolling and we get some of those spectacular sets I was talking about – like Sam and Jake’s floor and Leyva’s p-bars – I think we can do something a little special.”
That would be Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva, whose routines on those events were bright spots in qualifying.
To be sure, the Americans are capable of such excellence.
They have team bronze medals from the 2011 and 2014 world championships. Their nine worlds medals this quadrennium are the most in a quad since the 1970s.
But behind that simple idea of just hitting routines lies a tougher ask – perform 150 skills and three vaults without significant error. The gymnasts have 10 in each routine, and all three gymnasts who go up on an event in the finals will have their scores count.
“If we go out and hit sets, I think we’ll be on the podium,” said Dalton. “It might take a pretty fantastic day to be number one, but that’s what we’re shooting for.”
That goal is lofty given the competition.
Japan won the world championship last year to finally unseat China, which had won a string of six consecutive worlds titles and two Olympic titles with the Japanese often in second.
Russia and Britain are expected to contend for a medal as well. Host country Brazil could be in the mix in its first ever Olympic team final.
The Chinese qualified first on Saturday, while the Russians were third, Japan fourth and Britain fifth.
“I feel like we did exactly what we need to do,” said Mark Williams, head coach of the U.S. team, after qualifying. “We still have some room to improve on Monday, but it’s going to be definitely a battle with Japan, China, Russia and Great Britain will be better on Monday too.”
Rather than focusing on what those teams will do, the Americans need to focus on their own individual gymnastics, Leyva said. Even within the team, they can’t control the overall results. Leyva can only control how he performs in his events, and he has trust in his teammates’ abilities to perform in their own.
“USA is in essence arrogant within itself just because of the fact that we tell ourselves that we can win because if we don’t believe it, who’s going to believe it,” Leyva said.
To be sure, they are not issuing a warning shot. This isn’t 2012 when the core of this team went to London and talked big but fell short.
The competition is steep, and they know that. But if they can just do their jobs, they hope to be in the hunt for a medal.
“There’s no defense in gymnastics, so we control what we do, hit routines, go for some stuck landings,” said Brooks, “and at the end of the day, hopefully that will be enough.”