US men's gymnastics team comes in 5th at Olympics

An American men's team has not medaled since 2008.

July 26, 2021, 8:58 AM

The U.S. men's gymnastics team came in fifth in the team competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

The athletes were up against powerful teams from Japan and China, as well as athletes from Russia competing under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). After going into the final rotation in fourth place, the U.S. dropped to fifth in the final scoring. Great Britain took fourth place.

It was a tight fight for the gold between the ROC team and Japan. The Russian athletes won in the end, with the last score determining who would come out on top. The difference between gold and silver was about two-tenths of a point.

China took home the bronze.

Members of the Russian men's gymnastics team celebrate winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, July 26, 2021, at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo.
Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Japan's team celebrates winning a silver medal in the Men's Team Final at the Tokyo Olympic Games, July 26, 2021, at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo.
Dylan Martinez/Reuters

The U.S. team consisted of Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, Shane Wiskus and Sam Mikulak, a 28-year-old veteran who returned for his third Olympics.

The group has become tight-knit and exuberantly supportive of each other as they sought success at these Games. After qualifying for the finals, Mikulak told his teammates in a huddle he had "never been on a team like this and he'd just had the time of his life out there," Malone told People magazine.

Their strong finish featured impressive performances especially from Moldauer on floor and Mikulak on parallel bars.

An American men's team has not medaled at the Olympics since 2008.

Although this was the final for the team competition, the men still have opportunities to medal in individual events.

Malone will compete in the all-around and horizontal bar event, Moldauer in floor, and Alec Yoder -- who was not part of the official team but is competing as an individual for the U.S. -- qualified for the pommel horse event final.

United States' Samuel Mikulak celebrates with Shane Wiskus and Brody Malone of the after competing on the pommel horse, July 26, 2021, at the Tokyo Olympics.
Mike Blake/Reuters

Of course, Mikulak is looking to bring home an elusive Olympic individual medal. He qualified for the finals in the individual all-around, taking place Wednesday, and in the parallel bars.

For more Olympics coverage, see: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Olympics

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