10/25/25 08:49:00
Printable Page
10/25 08:47 CDT American Brody Malone soars to gold on the high bar at world
gymnastics championships
American Brody Malone soars to gold on the high bar at world gymnastics
championships
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) --- Brody Malone capped an impressive meet by the U.S.
at the world gymnastics championships, earning the second gold medal on high
bar of his career during event finals on Saturday.
The 25-year-old American put together a thrilling set on the high-risk,
high-reward apparatus, throwing a series of releases that propelled him to a
14.933, just ahead of world all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan at
14.733. Joe Fraser of Britain was third at 14.700.
Malone's gold, which bookended the one he captured in the same event at worlds
in 2022, came a day after longtime U.S. teammate Donnell Whittenburg earned the
first gold of his career on Friday in still rings. Malone and Whittenburg train
together at EVO Gymnastics in Florida.
"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."
Malone's triumph in his signature event came 2 1/2 years after he shredded his
right knee during a fluke accident on the high bar in early 2023. He recovered
in time to win a third national all-around title in 2024 before helping the
American men claim a cathartic bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
The recently married Malone considered retirement in the aftermath but has
chosen to press on, at least for now. He was rewarded with a gold that finished
off a solid meet for the U.S. men's program. The Americans won three medals in
all during the meet, including a bronze for Patrick Hoopes on pommel horse.
Carlos Yulo of the Philippines added another gold on vault to go with the one
he captured on the same event at the 2024 Olympics, his score of 14.866 just
enough to top Artur Davtyan of Armenia at 14.833. Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine
earned bronze.
Zou Jingyuan of China continued his mastery of parallel bars, winning his
fourth gold on the event at worlds. Jingyuan, a two-time Olympic champion on
the apparatus that requires a combination of strength and precision, posted a
15.3, the highest score of the men's meet in any event outside of the 15.466 he
put up during qualifying. Tomoharu Tsunogai of Japan claimed silver, while
Daniel Marinov, a Russian competing as a neutral athlete, won the bronze.
Aiko Sugihara of Japan won a pair of medals on Saturday. The 26-year-old earned
gold in the women's floor exercise at 13.833. Ruby Evans and Abigail Martin,
both of Britain, took silver and bronze.
Sugihara also earned bronze on balance beam behind gold medalist Zhang Qingying
of China and silver medalist Kaylia Nemour of Algeria, who added another medal
to go with the gold on uneven bars she won on Friday.
The 2026 world championships will be held in the Netherlands next October.
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
|
