- The U.S. women’s team won two medals, their fewest at a world championships or Olympics since 2001.
- The U.S. men’s team had a historic performance, winning two gold medals for the first time since 2003.
- Brody Malone became the first U.S. man since 1979 to be a two-time world champion by defending his high bar title.
The Americans are leaving the world gymnastics championships with a handful of medals and mixed results.
The U.S. women won two medals and extended their 24-year streak of having at least one gymnast on the all-around podium at the world championships and Olympics. But those two medals, Leanne Wong’s silver in the all-around and Joscelyn Roberson’s bronze on vault, are the fewest for the U.S women at a worlds or the Olympics since 2001.
The men, meanwhile, had a historic performance. Brody Malone’s high bar title Saturday was the Americans’ second gold medal, the first time since 2003 the U.S. men have won two golds at a major international event. Donnell Whittenburg’s title on still rings Friday was a first for an American man.
And by duplicating the high bar title he won in 2022, Malone became the first U.S. man to be a two-time world champion since Kurt Thomas in 1979.
‘Donnell is an awesome teammate,’ Malone told Olympics.com. ‘After I saw him yesterday, the first thing he said to me was, ‘It’s your turn tomorrow.’ That was really motivating.
‘It’s pretty cool that we get to go home to the same club gym with two gold medals.’
So what’s all this mean for the United States, which is hosting the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028? Maybe a lot. Maybe nothing.
Worlds not a crystal ball
The first world championships after an Olympics have not been a great predictor of future success for the U.S. women in recent years. Going back to 2009, Simone Biles (2013) and Jade Carey (2017) are the only gymnasts to be on a world team the year after an Olympics and then make the U.S. squad for the next Summer Games.
The Americans also were without Paris Olympian Hezly Rivera, who injured her foot between winning the U.S. title and the world team selection camp. The rest of the Paris team – Biles, Carey, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles – all opted not to compete this season.
Claire Pease, the 2024 U.S. junior champion who could be a factor in the run-up to Los Angeles, also was out with an injury.
But the U.S. women’s pipeline has been something of a concern for several years now, with Biles and other veterans carrying the U.S. squads at the past two Olympics. Which means the experience Dulcy Caylor and Roberson got at these worlds could wind up being invaluable.
Don’t discount experience
Caylor, 17, was the surprise winner of the all-around at the world team selection camp. But she proved it was no fluke by finishing fifth in qualifying, the best by the Americans, in her first major international event. She also qualified for the balance beam and floor exercise finals.
Caylor faltered in the all-around final, falling on both uneven bars and balance beam, and was not a factor in either the beam or floor final Saturday. But she now knows the cadence of a major international event, what the pressure and atmosphere is like.
‘I’ll be hard on myself because I know I can do a lot better, but I’m still grateful I got to get this experience,’ Caylor said after the all-around final.
Roberson has a team gold medal from the 2023 worlds and was an alternate for the Paris Olympics. But these worlds gave her a badly needed dose of confidence after those 2023 worlds were cut short by an ankle injury during warmups for the team final.
‘I got injured at the last worlds and then, when I got here, I just got really in my head about it and lost all my confidence,’ Roberson said after winning the bronze on vault.
So much so that Roberson said she and coach Chris Brooks briefly considered not competing. But the 19-year-old stuck it out. She even did a vault she hasn’t trained since the spring in the vault final – and did it so well she put herself in medal contention.
Now, whenever Roberson doubts herself, all she’ll have to do is think back to these worlds.
‘Finding that confidence again … I’m really proud of myself,’ she said.
Blakely is back
Skye Blakely, the other member of the U.S. women’s team, is no newcomer. She was on the U.S. teams that won gold at the 2022 and 2023 world championships, and she was a favorite to make the Paris team before she tore her Achilles at the Olympic trials.
Making it back to worlds, and coming up just 0.167 points shy of a medal, as Blakely did in the uneven bars final, should fuel her over these next few years.
‘In May, I didn’t think I was going to be ready to compete elite this year. To be able to turn that around from May to June, working on my path to be here today and even be in a bar final, I’m just proud of myself,’ Blakely said.
‘I feel like I still have more to give,’ she added. ‘I’m looking forward to not only being better on bars but being back on all the other events and improving there as well.’
Building on Paris
For the U.S. men, this is further proof after last year’s bronze medal in Paris that they are on the right track.
Yes, Malone and Whittenburg are veterans. Malone is a two-time Olympian while this was Whittenburg’s sixth appearance at the world championships. But the Americans also got strong performances from their next generation.
This was the first worlds for both Patrick Hoopes and Kameron Nelson, and Hoopes is coming home with a bronze medal on pommel horse while Nelson just missed a medal on floor exercise.
‘I definitely feel like I am one of them now. I feel that energy,’ Nelson said of competing alongside the world’s best gymnasts.
Now the challenge is to carry this momentum on.