2014 Nanning World Championships

Team USA Finishes 3rd in Qualifications- China & Japan Lead

Team USA Finishes 3rd in Qualifications- China & Japan Lead

Oct 4, 2014 by Kati Breazeal
Team USA Finishes 3rd in Qualifications- China & Japan Lead


Pommel Horse 
 
Danell Leyva takes the lead off position for the US on pommel. Executes a solid routine with really smooth rhythm the entire way through. 14.566.
Donnell Whittenburg up second for the USA in his first World Championship. Begins with a pair of well executed scissors to handstands, nice pommel sequence in combination with a Russian across the horse. Great power all the way through the set. Scored a  14.466. 
John Orozco up third and completed another very solid set for the US. Opens the routine with a smooth Magyar to Sivado. His press to handstand piro down to scissors got the routine off to a nice start, and he finished with a stuck dismount. Scored a 14.40.
Sam Mikulak showcased incredibly elegant lines on the pommel. Has great hip extension throughout the set and a high degree of difficulty. Like the others before him, a stuck dismount followed by a fist pump will conclude the routine. Looks very happy with that set. 14.933. 
Alex Naddour to anchor the event for Team USA. Love to see him complex composition and flawless execution the entire way through the routine. Completed excellent one pommel work with a high stuck dismount to finish! Put up a massive 15.633 for the team. He’s ranked second on the event behind Berki. 
 
The USA scored a 59.598 on the pommel horse- the highest team total so far in the competition. 

Still Rings 
 
Jake Dalton will start the US men off on the rings. His strength work is just incredible. Executes a nice piked Yama to tuck Yama to Maltese combination and makes it look effortless. Double double suck dismount to end the routine, has a small hop backwards. Great first set for the US men. 15.400 in the lead off position. 
Orozco with a nice tucked Yamawaki to backup rise, Maltese combination. Ends with a 1.5 twisting double back, small hop on the landing. 15.133.
Mikulak up third on the event. Starts with a backup rise to Maltese followed by a kip to Maltese. Looks in control throughout the routine. Tucked double double dismount! Scored a 14.966.
Naddour continues the momentum with another solid routine. Completes his strength holds with great form to earn a 15.233. 
Whittenberg in the anchor position. He shows an incredible amount of strength on this event. Dominates his laid out double double dismount to end an impressive rotation for the US team. 15.50. 
 
Vault
 
Leyva leads on vault for the US with a big Kas 1.5. Only one step on the landing for a 14.70. 
Mikulak up second and executes a great Kas double full Takes a hop forward as he lands. Scored a 15.10. 
Naddour with the first fall of the competition for Team USA. Front handspring double full that seemed to be slightly under rotated. Put his right hand down on the mat as he stands back up and salutes. Scored a 13.633. 
Jake Dalton delivers after Naddour’s miss! Absolutely massive Kas double that scored a 15.133. Will be doing a second vault in an attempt to make event finals. Front handspring Randi with exceptional height off the horse and one step backwards as he lands. A few fist pumps before the salute show he’s happy with that one. 15.233 for the second vault, averaging at 15.183 to capture a 6th place rank so far. 
Whittenberg blows everyone away on this event with his power. A huge Dragulescu that stuns the crowd. 15.20 on the first vault. Second vault of a full twisting double Tsuk. Has too much power and rolls backward out of it. Scored a 14.166 for an average of 14.683. 

The US scored a 60.133 on vault, placing them fourth of all teams, and second overall. 
 
Parallel Bars
 
Orozco in the lead off position on P Bars, one of his strongest events. Nice front uprise to double back, swing to double pike combination. Double piked dismount with a small hop on the landing for a 15.400. 
Mikulak begins with a front to support, peach half was off and he lowered down onto one of the bars, casted back up into handstand, and finished up in a strong manner. Scored a 14.133 after a small hop on his double piked dismount. 
Dalton proves once again why he’s the team captain of this World Championship team- Nails his routine after a mistake from Mikulak. Beautiful healy, peach half, peach, to Dimitrenko combination. A very clean routine for the US men, 15.266.
Whittenberg puts up another hit routine in the fourth lineup position. Great routine that showcases all his strength- lots of double flipping skills between the bars. 15.533  to continue his competition. 
Leyva puts up a huge set for the US! Smooth rhythm throughout the routine with tons of intricate giant and peach combinations. Double front dismount with a STUCK landing and fist pump! Scored a 15.9, putting him in first place!

After four events, Team USA is first in the rankings with 243.096.
 
High Bar
 
Dalton takes the lead off position on high bar. Starts with a big Endo full to mixed, Tak half to layout Tkatchev to Geinger- great height on releases throughout the routine. 14.300 to begin the event. 
Whittenberg stuns the crowd with sky high releases and hits another routine for the US. His laid out double twisting double dismount was absolutely explosive and he took the smallest of hops on the landing. Scored a 13.666, which seems low for such a solid routine. 
Mikulak has such long, elegant lines that make him absolutely stunning on high bar. Complex routine including a huge Cassina caught on his fingertips, Kolman, Rybalko to mixed, his Tak has a slight form break and his legs become separated, but he continues and moves past the mistake. Scored a 13.633. 
Leyva takes the fourth position and suffers the US’ first fall on the event. Tak full to Yama was too far from the bar and he couldn’t grab it. Re-mounts the bar and finishes a breathtaking routine layout Kovacs. Performs the arguably the biggest releases of the competition so far. 13.600. 
Orozco delivers a solid routine after Leyva’s fall. Liukin to Rybalko to mixed, layout Tkatchev half with great amplitude. Great rhythm throughout the routine with only a small hop on the dismount. Finished with a 14.700. 
 
Team USA is in third place heading into the last event. 
The team needs more than a 63.303 to pass China, or better than a 62.214 to surpass Japan. 

Floor

Naddour up first on the final event for the US. Starts his routine with a huge full twisting double layout, stuck cold. Double full to Rudi, with another stuck landing. Very stylish floor routine, nearly perfectly executed the entire way through. 15.366 to start the men on floor. 
Whittenburg second on floor. Steps out of bounds at the beginning of the routine, but closes with a powerful piked arabian double half out, small hop on the landing. Puts up a 15.266. 
Mikulak with a 1.5 to double full first pass. Full to double front, stuck! Not even a flicker of movement on that landing. 2.5 to Rudi, another stuck landing. Has trouble on his wide arm press, comes out of the handstand prematurely. Backwards triple twist last pass, stuck cold. He was on fire with landings. 14.900. 
Orozco with a 2.5 to front tuck full for his first pass. Huge double double, a little too much power causes him to hop backwards on the landing. Comes back with a piked double Arabian, fights for the stick. 14.866. 
Dalton steps out of bound on this first pass- Arabian double layout first pass. Triple full dismount to end the routine, stuck landing! 15.466 to finish the qualifications. 

Team USA finishes the qualifications competition with a total of 360.393 points, placing them third behind China and Japan. 

 

Related Content