The American men’s gymnastics team for the Paris Olympics led by Fred Richard

The men’s gymnasts for the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics have been selected.

After two days of qualifying at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, the five team members were announced Saturday, June 29: Fred Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik.

The two traveling substitutes were Shane Wiskus and Khoi Young.

Richard, a 20-year-old student, led throughout the men’s qualifying round, edging out Malone, the reigning national champion and a member of the men’s team at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

Wiskus, who surged through the trials, often receiving enthusiastic responses from a home crowd in Minneapolis, also competed in Tokyo.

After Richard in first and Malone, 24, in second, Wiskus, 25, came in third in the trials, Juda, 22, fourth and Hong, 20, fifth.

“It (being chosen for the American team) was simply the best moment of my life,” an elated Nedoroscik told reporters afterward.

He is considered a specialist in the pommel horse event while Young, an alternate, came first in the vault.

Richard, for his part, has practically promised his team a podium once in Paris.

“I knew that whatever team we picked was going to be tough, and I can say that now that I see it, this medal, it’s like we shouldn’t just be going for a medal. We should be going for gold,” he said. “And we’re going to land on something. That’s how I feel.”

If that happens, it would end a period of relative drought for the U.S. men’s team since 2008, the last time the team stood on the podium in gymnastics. Only three Americans won an individual medal during or after 2008; and none did so during the last Tokyo Games, in 2021.

What has changed? In short, U.S. gymnastics officials are encouraging their athletes, through bonus points, to increase the difficulty of their routines in order, over time, to improve their scores on the world stage, where they have been outperformed by China, Japan and others.

“That’s been the main goal for the last three years, since Tokyo. I honestly didn’t think we could do it, I thought maybe that would be the path to change in Los Angeles (in 2028) in terms of increasing the difficulty and things like that,” Brett McClure, a senior USA Gymnastics official, told reporters.

“And they made it in time for Paris,” he said, “and now here we are ready to go there with a great team.” »

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The Tokyo 2020 Olympic men’s gymnastics team consisted of Malone, Sam Mikulak, Yul Moldauer, Wiskus and Alec Yoder, with the United States placing fifth in the all-around.

After qualifying for the final Olympic trials, Malone then expressed Mikulak’s gratitude to the U.S. team.

“Sam was really, really grateful to us,” Malone said. “He said he had never been on a team like this, that he had the best time of his life on the field and that it was great to have a team like this- there. »

The U.S. team won back-to-back men’s team medals in 2004 and 2008, but hasn’t come closer than fifth in recent years — though this year’s team hopes to change that.

“We’re going to bring home a team medal,” Hong said Saturday after the trials concluded. ” That’s the point. … from the beginning.

For more on all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.com and head to people.com for ongoing coverage. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.