Top U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Story of 2011
Posted on 31 December 2011 by admin
2011 was a watershed year for U.S.A. men’s gymnastics. So many notable achievements, and so little time as we close out the year. I have thought long and hard about the year’s top stories, and I finally came up with one that I believe will significantly help shape the U.S. program for many years. This was the year of the youth movement. There were three young gymnasts that really shook things up: Danell Leyva, John Orozco and Sam Mikulak.
Mikulak got things rolling with his remarkable performance winning the 2011 NCAA all-around title as a freshman. Though not achieved in the same calendar year, Mikulak won all-around titles at the 2010 JO Nationals (May), 2010 VISA U.S. Championships (August), and his NCAA title came in April 2011. This was an historic grand slam! All was going gangbusters for him, but a mishap on floor at last July’s Puerto Rico Cup resulted in two fractured ankles. This prevented him from taking a crack at a potential Senior Division all-around title at VISAs and a berth on the World Team. He is almost fully recovered, and will represent the U.S. at next month’s Olympic Test Event in London. Mikulak most assuredly has a legitimate shot at making the ’12 Olympic Team. ***1/1 Update*** Due to a “slight” wrist injury, Mikulak was forced to drop out of the Test Event.
After decisively winning his first VISA all-around title, Danell Leyva capped off his big break-out year with a World Championship on parallel bars. Leyva was also in the running for an all-around medal and placed in the top 10. Leyva is arguably the American men’s anchor, and is a shoo-in for a spot on the Olympic Team. He continues to improve on floor, pommel horse, rings and vault. Undoubtedly, Leyva is an Olympic medal contender on parallel bars and high bar.
After injuring his achilles tendon at the 2010 VISAs, John Orozco spent the rest of 2010 and most of 2011 rehabbing. A big part of his recovery was spent at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where he now trains, and this prepared him for his season debut at the Japan Cup in early July. What thrilled his fans was that he transformed himself into a world-class talent on pommel horse… He scored a 15.35! Though not fully recovered and competing only on four events, he put on quite a show and put up great numbers on those events, easily tracking 90+ if he had competed six. Then it was on to VISAs, where he dazzled by placing 3rd behind Leyva and Jonathan Horton. His second day score of 91.30 tied Leyva for the highest score for that day. He was thus rewarded with a spot on the World Team, where he overwhelmingly justified his selection by placing 5th in the world and earned a spot in the event finals on high bar. Orozco is yet another young gymnast virtually assured of an Olympic Team spot.
Featuring these three youngsters should by no means be perceived as a slight on any other of America’s fine young talent, nor any of our older veterans. There are too many to list here, but you all know who they are. But Mikulak (19), Leyva (20) and Orozco (19) probably best represent the emerging renaissance in U.S. men’s gymnastics. Our budding talent pipeline is swelling, which bodes very well for 2012. It’s a crying shame we’ll only be able to send five athletes to London. Yes, the U.S. men’s program is right on target. As for 2016, it’s looking downright scary!
