TOKYO, Japan — Georgia native Brody Malone got the job done on Saturday morning as he began his quest for Olympic glory, qualifying for the men's gymnastics individual all-around final.
Malone competed with his USA men's gymnastics teammates as they sought to qualify for the team final. Their individual performances also counted toward qualifying for the all-around final and the various single apparatus finals.
The Chattooga County native struggled some, going out of bounds on his floor routine and registering the 39th-best score in that discipline. He also scored in the 13s (13.733) on the pommel horse, the 28th-best individual score.
But a dynamite showing on the horizontal bar (14.533, fourth-highest) and solid performances on the vault (14.533), rings (14.200) and parallel bars (14.633) lifted his total.
After his vault, which clinched his place in the all-around final, the NBC announcers marveled at how he looked "cool, calm and collected" he looked and said he was "just such an impressive athlete."
The top eight scores on each apparatus qualified for the final, meaning Malone will have a shot to go for a medal on the horizontal bar on Aug. 3.
His overall score of 85.298 was highest among his USA teammates, 11th overall for the morning, comfortably qualifying him among the top-24 to compete next Wednesday, July 28 in the men's all-around final.
The USA men as a team, meanwhile, compiled a total score of 256.761 to finish fourth in qualifying behind Japan, China and Russia (the Russians are technically competing under the designation of "Russian Olympic Committee" because of sanctions preventing them from officially playing under their country's name and flag.)
Only two members from each team are allowed to compete in the all-around final, so even though both Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus ranked within the to-24, only Malone's teammate Samuel Mikulak will be joining him in the all-around final.