Richard, Juda edge out Malone; Great Britain tops U.S. in first subdivision

Artistic gymnastics kicked off with the first of three subdivisions in the men’s qualification round.

Although medals are not awarded on the first two days of competition, the qualification rounds are arguably one of the most important days of the competition.

Eight teams will advance to the team final, the top 24 individual gymnasts (only two per country) will qualify for the all-around finals, and the top eight individual gymnasts (only two per country) will qualify for the event finals.

Details from each rotation of subdivision one are below.

One of the biggest storylines following the United States men’s gymnastics team into Paris is whether or not the team is capable of bringing home an Olympic medal, which hasn’t happened since the team won bronze in 2008. Japan and China are the heavy favorites to battle for gold, but there are a handful of teams who are capable of challenging for a spot on the medal podium alongside them.

The U.S. and Great Britain are two of those teams.

After the first subdivision of the qualification round, Great Britain (256.561) edged out the U.S. (253.229), with Canada finishing third (247.794) and Germany finishing fourth (245.395).

Jake Jarman of Great Britain leads the all-around (84.897), but perhaps the story of the day is 2023 World all-around bronze medalist Frederick Richard and 2022 NCAA all-around champion Paul Juda (82.865), advancing to the all-around final and knocking out three-time all-around national champion Brody Malone.

Malone fell on pommel horse in the first rotation and had two falls on high bar, ending his chances before the competition even concluded. As a result, Malone will also miss the high bar final, an event where he is the world champion from 2022.

Considering the way Malone had been performing in practice, high performance director Brett McClure said his performance today came as a surprise.

"He just didn't have a good day," McClure said. "Hopefully we can get him recovered and then refocus for team final."

Coming into the competition, Malone and Richard were favored to advance as the top all-around gymnasts. However, Juda was undeniable today. Showing confidence and precision on every single event to qualify to his first major all-around final in his Olympic debut.

Juda performed well under pressure and was the lead off performer for the U.S. throughout most of the competition.

"A couple of months ago or maybe even a couple of years ago, I don't think I would have been able to do that," Juda said following the competition. "I've been working super hard on the sport psychology side of the sport, my mental health, sports performance, etc. and those are the reps that really allowed me to do what I did today. In the last couple of weeks I had a feeling I might be going first on a couple of events and probably most likely pommel horse. As most gymnasts know it's one of the trickier events to go on but I knew if they put me first, that I earned that myself ... and I was ready for it."

Great Britain took the lead over the United States early on with a 44.299 on vault, thanks to a couple of huge vaults from Harry Hepworth and Jarman, the 2023 World vault champion. Both gymnasts performed two vaults, hoping to land a spot in the event final. Hepworth posted the highest average on vault with a 14.766, but Jarman wasn’t too far behind with a 14.699.

Meanwhile, the U.S. got off to a strong start (42.433) on the pommel horse – an event that historically has been one of the team's weaker events.

Juda started the competition, showing clean circles and setting the U.S. team off on the right foot. The routine was so good, Juda couldn’t help but let out a victorious scream after sticking his dismount; soaking in every moment of his first routine on the Olympic stage. Richard followed with a strong routine of his own, however the U.S. ran into a hiccup in the third spot when Malone fell off midway through his pommel horse routine, posting just a 12.100.

Following a long wait for Malone’s score, 2021 pommel horse world champion Stephen Nedoroscik rounded out the rotation with a superb set, doing exactly what he brought to Paris to do. Nedoroscik hasn’t always performed his highest level of difficulty in competition this year but performed a 6.4 difficulty routine to set the benchmark for event qualification with a massive 15.200.

Over on rings in the second rotation, Juda and Richard nailed their routines with Richard capping things off with a stuck double double. Malone rebounded well from his fall in the first rotation to put up a clean rings routine (14.233). Asher Hong posted the highest score of the rotation for Team USA (14.633) ad will be targeting a spot in the event finals with that score.

Great Britain maintained the lead after two rotations, led by Joe Fraser’s 14.933 on parallel bars.

In the third rotation, the U.S. was a little conservative on vault and wasn’t able to get any stuck landings. The highlight of the rotation was Hong’s incredibly difficult Ri Se-Gwang, which he landed with a step back for a 14.700.

In the fourth rotation, Juda kept his momentum rolling with a 14.033 on parallel bars. Meanwhile, Malone posted a 14.533 - his highest score of the day.

Great Britain went big on the floor, with Jarman (14.766), Luke Whitehouse (14.544) and Hepworth (14.166) posting some of the highest scores of the first subdivision to further cement the team's lead.

On high bar in the fifth rotation, Hong went the wrong way on his Tak full but recovered well for a 12.600. Next up, Malone fell on his Liukin and again on his Kolman – a devastating ending for his all-around and event final chances. His final score was 12.233. Richard rounded out the rotation with a stellar routine, good for a 14.166.

Over on pommel horse for Great Britain, two-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock delivered a huge routine. He posted a 15.166, which puts him behind Nedoroscik by just .034.

In the final rotation, Richard went out of bounds on his opening tumbling pass on floor, but his 13.833 was enough to lock in his spot in the all-around final for Team USA, along with Juda, who went 13.966 on floor. Hong posted the highest score for the Americans on floor with a 14.100.

Other notable performances from individuals competing in the first subdivision included Mahdi Olfati of Iran, who vaulted an impressive Yurchenko double pike just hours after serving as the flag bearer for his country. Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat posted a 14.466 on floor, the event where he is the reigning Olympic champion. 2016 rings Olympic champion Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece delivered with a 14.800 to lead the way on his signature event.

Ahmad Abu Al Soud of Jordan, who also was a flag bearer, fell on the pommel horse (12.466). Abu Al Soud, who is a world silver and bronze medalist on the event, will miss the event finals.