Results: Pan American Games Men's Team Final, Individual Qualifications

Jul 11, 2015 by Becca Reed

The U.S. men claimed their first gold medal since 1995 tonight at the 2015 Pan American Games. The team consisted of Marvin Kimble, Steven Legendre, Samuel Mikulak, Paul Ruggeri, and Donnell Whittenburg.

Women's team finals and qualifications will be held tomorrow, July 12. Men's and women's all-around finals will take place on Monday, July 13 and men's and women's event finals will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, July 14 and 15.

See the list of individual finals qualifiers from today here.

Subdivision 1:

Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, United States

Only five countries had enough competitors to make a team, and the USA dominated the competition throughout, finishing with a 267.75 in front on Brazil’s 264.05 and Colombia’s 259.3.

USA had the lead throughout the entire competition except for after one rotation. They started strong on floor, an event that gave many other teams trouble. They posted a 44.65 lead by Sam Mikulak's 15.0. They moved to pommel horse, their weakest event of the day but they still posted a 44.05 bolstered by Marvin Kimble's impressive 15.05. After a minor slip-up from Kimble on rings, the team came back strong to post a 44.75. Donnell Whittenburg earned a huge 15.45 for a strong set. The team was consistent on vault to post a 44.4 lead by Whittenburg and Paul Ruggeri who both scored 14.9s. The team scored a 44.95 their last two events, parallel bars and high bar. On the final event of high bar, the team showed resiliency once more after coming back strong following a fall from Whittenburg and Ruggeri posted a big 15.4.

Brazil was chasing the U.S. the entire meet but wasn't able to surpass them in the end. Lead by Caio Souza and Lucas Bitencourt, Brazil was solid throughout the competition but many minor errors added up and they ended up in second. Their best events of the night came on rings and vault where they posted the team highs for those events. Arthur Zanetti, the reigning Olympic still rings champion posted an amazing 15.8 on rings and Souza posted a strong 15.2 on vault.

Colombia also had multiple errors that added up to hurt their overall score. They particularly had trouble on floor with a couple falls and numerous steps out of bounds. However, they were extremely strong on parallel bars where they posted a 45.55. Jossimar Calvo lead the team and was solid on every event to score an 88.75 all-around.

In the preliminary all-around rankings, Mikulak leads with an 89.85, followed by Calvo with an 88.75 and Whittenburg with an 87.7. Individual all-around finals will be held on Monday, followed by event finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Even with his top finish, Mikulak saw areas for improvement. "I could've had better routines but today is all about the team and I'm just stoked that we're able to come together. I've had an awesome experience so far and I think it's only going to get better.”

Full results below via Pan Am Games Official Website:

Subdivision 2:

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay & Venezuela

Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela had enough competitors for the team competition.

Cuba started it off strong on the high bar with a 44.550 to take the lead after rotation 1. Rafael Rosendi started with a solid routine, capped off by a stuck full twisting double layout for a 14.6. Manrique Larduet also put up a great set for a 15.050.

Cuba moved to the floor and started rough with Alberto Leyva beginning his routine before the green light and taking a 0.00. Larduet showed up big with a 15.150 to keep Cuba in the running. Mexico went to the parallel bars and counted three solid scores for a total of 43.00 and took the lead after rotation 2.

Cuba had some trouble on the pommel horse, while Mexico was solid on high bar. Kevin Cerda Gastelum of Mexico showed huge releases and a stuck layed out double double dismount for a 14.650 to bolster the event and keep Mexico in the lead. Jose Fuentes of Venezuela had a solid 14.200 performance on the pommel horse.

Mexico moved to the floor and struggled a bit with landings. Meanwhile Cuba’s Randy Leru put up a 14.300 on the rings and Larduet tallied a strong 15.400. Mexico was still able to keep the lead.

On vault, Cuba displayed great height and power. Leyva led the team with a huge Dragulescu for a 15.250. Cuba had their highest event score of the night with a 45.250 and took the lead, while Mexico had several falls on the pommel horse and only came out with a 39.950 on the event.

In the final rotation, Cuba put up solid routines on the parallel bars to keep their lead and win subdivision two.

This concluded the all-around qualification, and Cuba's Manrique Larduet holds the top spot with a 90.25. Sam Mikulak ended in second with a 89.85. Coming in third is Jossimar Calvo Moreno with a 88.75.

Team results for subdivision 2:

All-around results: