The competition gets serious now with the selection of the American team for the 2018 World Championships, taking place at the USA Gymnastics National Championships at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts (USA).
The defending gold medalists from the 2017 Nationals:
Men:
All-Around: Yul Moldauer
Floor Exercise: Yul Moldauer and Eddie Penev
Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour
Rings: Michael Wilner and Marvin Kimble
Vault: Eddie Penev and Donnell Whittenburg
Parallel Bars: Akash Modi
High Bar: Marvin Kimble
Women:
All-Around: Ragan Smith
Vault: Jade Carey
Uneven Bars: Riley McCusker
Balance Beam: Ragan Smith
Floor Exercise: Ragan Smith
The men’s field has Moldauer, Whittenburg and Modi back; Kimble withdrew due to an injury. Back in action after injury in 2017 is four-time U.S. All-around champion Sam Mikulak.
The women’s field is headlined by the incomparable Simone Biles, who return to competition at the U.S. Classic after being off since the Rio Games. She showed few signs of rust, winning the All-Around with a score of 58.700, ahead of Riley McCusker (57.500), 2017 World Champion Morgan Hurd (56.350) and Shilese Jones (54.900).
Smith was injured just prior to the World Championships All-Around in Montreal (CAN) in 2017, but competed in three events at the U.S. Classic. The women’s field also includes 2017 World Championships Vault and Floor Exercise silver medalist Jade Carey and 2017 All-Around runner-up Jordan Chiles.
NBC’s family of networks has coverage on Friday on the NBC Olympic Channel at 8 p.m. Eastern time, on Saturday 3:30 p.m. Eastern on the Olympic Channel and 4:30 p.m. on NBC and on Sunday, at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. There is additional Web coverage available, listed here.
Look for results here.
