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Kensley Behel and Lauren Hopkins sit down to preview the Men's competition at the World Gymnastics Championships. Article by: Kensley Behel

The Basics Qualifications Breakdown When? Saturday, September 30th Team: When? Sunday, October 1 Team Finals When?: Tuesday, October 3 Japan and the USA are Starting on Floor. Great Britian and Canada are starting on pommel horse. Germany and Italy will start on still rings, and Switzerland and China will start on Vault. *Note: Some countries will be broadcasting the competition. For example, NBC will be broadcasting the competition live on Peacock. Those in the U.S. may need a VPN to watch via the link above. All-Around Finals When? Thursday, October 5 *Note: Some countries will be broadcasting the competition. For example, NBC will be broadcasting the competition live on Peacock. Those in the U.S. may need a VPN to watch via the link above. Group 1: Starting on Floor Fred Richard (USA) James Hall (GBR) Jake Jarman (GBR) Hashimoto Daiki (JPN) Chiba Kenta (JPN) Milad Karimi (KAZ) Group 2: Starting on Pommel Horse Noe Seifert (SUI) Yumin Abbadini (ITA) Khabibullo Ergashev (UZB) Thierno Diallo (ESP) Asher Hong (USA) Lukas Dauser (GER) Group 3: Starting on Still Rings Krisztofer Meszaros (HUN) Rene Cournoyer (CAN) Luka van den Keybus (BEL) Mario Macchiati (ITA) Sun Wei (CHN) Illia Kovtun (UKR) Group 4: Starting on Vault Ahmet Onder (TUR) Ilia Liubimov (ISR) Lee Junho (KOR) Casimir Schmidt (NED) Florian Langenegger (SUI) Diogo Soares (BRA) Event Finals When? Saturday, October 7 TBD When? Sunday, October, 8 TBD YouTube Interviews and Podium Training Videos Want more updates? Head to our YouTube page for podium training and interviews! Article by: Kensley Behel Love men's gymnastics coverage? So do we! And we need your help! Covering the World Gymnastics Championships cost $1,679.80. A full breakdown can be found here. A big thank you to those who have donated! We are still looking for $1,309.41 to help cover our expenses! Would you consider donating even $10 to help us bring you live coverage from the World Championships? It would mean so much!

Men's podium training, and in truth men's qualifications, are not always indicative of how an athlete is going to perform in finals. Regardless, there are still some trends that can be helpful! The Good News! Videos for Qualifying are happening! Turkey looks poised to earn their first Team birth to the Olympic Games. They were one of the most composed teams in podium training. Korea looked strong on Pommel Horse Max Whitlock and Rhys McClenaghan both performed cleanly in podium training. Carlos Yulo (PHI) looked VERY good. Expect him to challenge for a spot on the all-around podium. Italy looked strong. Nicola Bartolini's floor was a piece of art. Liu Yang (CHN) looked 100% ready to become world still rings champion. China was overall fairly laissez faire about the entire training. Nicola Bartolini was stunning on floor and his corner transitions are like none other. Similarly, Lukas Dauser is the only person who should be allowed to do Makuts. His parallel bars are stunning and well-executed. Ray Zapata (ESP) has been struggling on floor all year, but he stuck 5/7 passes in PT. The U.S. had three athletes show two vaults in podium training! Asher Hong (6.0/5.2), Khoi Young (5.6/5.4), and Paul Juda (5.6/5.2) Teams 7 - 16 are likely to be VERY close based on what we saw and make for a very exciting qualifications day. The Struggle Jet lag, new equipment, and the big stage are sure to bring inconsistencies and unexpectedness. This competition is no different. Japan came in as one of the favorites for the gold medal, but their best athlete, Hashimoto Daiki struggled through podium training (PT) and fell on every event. They also had an injury in PT and will lose important scores, especially on Vault. Asher Hong really struggled on still rings, vault, and parallel bars. The 19-year old also had a rough training in Liverpool and will be looking to make a similar recovery here in Antwerp. France landed few if any vaults. Many were not close to fully rotated. In fact, several teams had a rough go of it on vault. Krisztian Balazs had to run past the vault several times after balking, Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) didn't hit one vault. Several athletes missed podium training due to competing at both the Asian Games and the World Championships. It will be interesting to see if Asian Games champion, Lee Chih-Kai (TPE) will be able to push through the jet lag to put on a strong performance here and earn an Olympic birth. Changes to Lineups Several countries like Belgium and Canada have opted not to use some of their best all-around athletes in the all-around during qualifications as they are trying to maximize their team score. This can pay off big and allow them more spots at the Olympics. It could also backfire and mean that a gymnast who could have qualified via the all-around is now going to have a much harder route to Paris. Several athletes' health problems before and during podium training have necessitated line-up changes. Germany's Andy Toba has withdrawn due to a knee injury on floor. Japan's Miwa Teppei also injured his shoulder in training; He will be replaced by Sugimoto. Brazil's Arthur Zanetti is unable to compete due to the flu, meaning Brazil will be competing with a fairly depleted team. Full Podcast Preview! Need more men's gymnastics in your life? We have a one-hour preview show of everything to expect during qualifications and finals! YouTube Interviews and Podium Training Videos Want more updates? Head to our YouTube page for podium training and interviews! Article by: Kensley Behel Love men's gymnastics coverage? So do we! And we need your help! Covering the World Gymnastics Championships cost $1,679.80. A full breakdown can be found here. A big thank you to those who have donated! We are still looking for $1,334.41 to help cover our expenses! Would you consider donating even $10 to help us bring you live coverage from the World Championships? It would mean so much!

2023 World Gymnastics Championships Podcast How to Qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics Team: Three teams have already qualified (Japan, China, and Great Britain) 21 teams will compete for nine more spots. Qualifications determine which teams advance to the Olympics USA, Italy, and Ukraine are likely locks for the team final in addition to Japan, China, and Great Britain. The final spots for team finals and the final spots for the Olympics are going to be very competitive and it will depend on how each team hits on the day. Individuals Teams ranked 13 - 15 will be able to send a minimum of one National Olympic Committee (NOC) athlete to represent their country. However, should they have athletes qualify through multiple event finals at the World Championships, they will be limited to a maximum of three athletes. Top 8 all-arounders from non-qualified teams such as Carlos Yulo The top individual on each of the six events from a non-qualified team will earn a nominative spot at the 2024 Olympic Games Should France not have an athlete qualify through any means, they will still earn a minimum of one (1) quota spot as the host country Non-Worlds Should an athlete be unable to qualify whether that's injury, country ban, or poor performance, there will be options in 2024 to qualify through continental championships and the World Cup series. An additional spot will be awarded based on the Tripartite Olympic Commission. A full explanation of the qualifying procedures can be found here. Qualifying for Their First Olympic Games as a Team Turkey's first Olympian was Ferhat Arican at the Rio Olympic Games. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, four athletes (Ferhat Arican, Adem Asil, Ahmet Onder, and Ibrahim Colak) represented Turkey Only two athletes have represented Kazakhstan at the Olympics since the end of the Soviet Union, Stepan Gorbachev in 2012 and Milad Karimi in 2020. Medals Team USA has not been on the podium since 2014. Great Britain has never medaled as a team at two consecutive World Championships. A medal here would change that. Ukraine has not been on the podium since 2001 Italy has not been on the podium since 1913 All - Around Only two athletes per country are allowed to make the all-around final. Due to team composition some very strong and competitive all-arounds, specifically Japanese all-arounders, will be unable to have the chance to compete in qualifications to make room for event specialists. Hashimoto Daiki will be the favorite to repeat all the all-around champion, especially with Zhang Boheng (CHN) competing at the Asian Games Japanese athletes hold three of the top five AA scores this year (Hashimoto Daiki - 88.698; Chiba Kenta - 86.565; Miwa Teppei - 86.132). Kaya Kazuma sits in 10th with an 85.499. Only three of these athletes will do all-around in qualifications Others with a strong chance at the podium include: Shi Cong (CHN), Carlos Yulo (PHI), and Illia Kovtun (UKR) The U.S. will likely have at least one athlete rotating with the top group. However, they have a very difficult decision to make on who gets to compete all-around in qualifications. Paul Juda is the most likely to not compete all-around. However choosing between Yul Moldauer, Asher Hong, Fred Richard, and Khoi Young will be a challenge. Others with a shot at rotating with the top group and an outside chance at a medal include Jake Jarman (GBR), Noe Seifert (SUI), and Milad Karimi (KAZ). Events Floor is wide open! Expect a mix of messier daredevils and cleaner athletes with better form! Who will win out? Only time will tell! Three of the 2022 Aparattus World Champions are not competing at the 2023 World Championships (Giarnni Regini-Moran -FX; Zou Jingyuan - PB; Brody Malone - HB). The battle for the pommel horse title is going to be tight and very exciting! Two of the favorites are Max Whitlock and Rhys McClenaghan, but expect stiff competition from Ahmad Abu Al Soud (JOR), Lee Chi-Kai (TPE), and Nariman Kurbinov (KAZ) One of the Chinese athletes (Liu Yang and You Hao) are certainly the favorites for still rings, but there are several specialists competing for non-team countries who will make the final very interesting as we see who will get an automatic birth to the Olympics and who will have to brave the World Cup Series next year! As one of the only returning world champions, will Artur Davtyan (ARM) win again with is near perfect execution or will a new vault king be crowned? The past several years, there has been little question about who would win parallel bars. However, this year, China's superstar, Zou Jingyuan, will not be at the World Championships. Compatriot, You Hao, has been exceptionally strong on the event but it not as dominant as Zou. Olympic silver Medalist, Lukas Dauser, will certainly be a favorite as well as Illia Kovtun (UKR), Carlos Yulo (PHI), and Ferhat Arican (TUR) Hashimoto Daiki is certainly the favorite for the high bar title as one of the only in the field who can go 15+. But it's high bar. Anything can happen! Who last competed at the World Championships in Antwerp in 2013: Twenty-four male athletes who competed 10 years ago at the 2013 Antwerp World Championships will return to compete in 2023. Ali Zahran (EGY) Andrei Muntean (ROU) Andy Toba (GER) Arthur Nory (BRA) Arthur Zanetti (BRA) Audrys Nin Reyes (DOM) Bart Deurloo (NED) Casimir Schmidt (NED) Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) Ferhat Arican (TUR) Filip Ude (CRO) Harutyun Merdinyan (ARM) Igor Radivilov (UKR) Joel Alvarez (CHI) Liu Yang (CHN) Matvei Petrov (RUS - ALB) Max Whitlock (GBR) Nestor Abad (ESP) Nikolaos Iliopoulos (GRE) Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) Oskar Kirmes (FIN) Rober Tvorogal (LTU) Yordan Alexandrov (BUL) You Hao (CHN) Article by: Kensley Behel

The Turkish men's team is close to earning their first team birth to the Olympic Games. The only thing standing in their way is a top-12 finish in qualifications at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. History of Turkish Men's Gymnastics At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Republic of Turkey, as it is now known did not exist. However, the record books note Aleko Mulos, a gymnast representing the Ottoman Empire, as the first male Turkish Olympic gymnast. It would be 108 years til another gymnast from Turkey would compete in the world's most prestigious sporting event. At the center of the rise of the Turkish Men's Gymnastics Program is none other than Olympic medalist, Ferhat Arican. Arican made his international debut at the 2010 Inaugural Youth Olympic Games where he placed second on vault. Later that year, he also made his senior debut at the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Over the next six years, Arican made regular appearances in major gymnastics events including his home World Cup in Mersin, Turkey. There, he and his teammates helped lead Turkey to its best-ever World Cup performance bringing home five of the six available gold medals. Three months later Ferhat Arican became the first gymnast to represent the Republic of Turkey at the Rio Olympic Games. In 2018, the Turkish men qualified for their first team world championships. Many believed that based on their potential in 2018, they would qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games through the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships – a goal the Turkish team also set for themselves. However, the 2019 World Championships were fraught with both extreme highs and lows for the Turkish team. As is the case for so many athletes, pommel horse ended their dreams after a disastrous rotation that cost them over four points. In the days following the disappointment of team qualifications, Ibrahim Çolak entered the Still Rings Final ranked first. It was a final stacked with multiple Olympic Champions, yet he delivered under pressure and brought home Turkey's first world championships medal in gymnastics, gold. The following day, compatriot, Ahmet Önder, added to their medal haul with a silver on the parallel bars. Though they did not qualify as a team, the two medalists and Frehat Arican qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games through the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships. In 2021, Adem Asil earned a birth to the Tokyo Olympic Games by qualifying via the all-around competition at the European Championships. Though they had enough gymnasts to technically field a team, the regulations would not allow them to compete together. Instead, they would compete as individuals. At the Games, Arican brought home Turkey's first Olympic medal in gymnastics, a bronze on parallel bars. The 2024 Olympic Cycle The Turkish team has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in Europe over the past three years. With three medal finishes in the last three European Team Championships, including their first-ever European team medal in 2020, they are poised to reach their goal of qualifying a team for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The main challenge standing in Turkey's way is their own consistency. When they show up, they are brilliant but it's getting them to show up consistently at a world-class level that has kept them from reaching their full potential. The Turkish delegation has named the six athletes who will comprise the team of five competing athletes plus an alternate. Come September 30th Ferhat Arican, Adem Asil, Emre Dodanli, Mehmet Ayberk Kosak, Ahmet Önder, Kerem Sener will have the opportunity to make history for their country. Article by: Kensley Behel

Using scores from different national and international competitions this year, we've compiled potential team scores for teams competing at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. See how your favorite teams stack up! Photo: Emily Chan The race for each of the podium places should be very interesting, and you may be shocked at who is in second place! The 2023 World Gymnastics Championships will also serve as the final team qualifications for the Paris Olympic Games. There are 21 teams competing for only nine spots. This post will be updated as more teams are finalized; several teams have named six athletes but have not designated an alternate. The parentheses indicate where scores were drawn from. 1. China - 264.581 ((Chinese Nationals/Universiade/Asian Champs/World Trials Day 2)* *According to this post, You Hao scored a 15.4 on day 1 of Chinese World Trials. That score is not publicly available, so was not included in our data. However, that change would put China at 264.681. 2. Japan - 263.162 ( NHK/All Japan/ Universiade/ Asian Champs) 3. USA - 262.05 (Classic w/o bonus/ Nationals w/o bonus, DTB, Universiade) 4. Great Britain - 257.432 (British World Trials/ Euros/ Paris World Cup) 5. Ukraine - 256.33 (Szombethely, Euros, Domestic) 6. Italy - 254.116 (Nationals and Euros) 7. Spain - 252.733 (Euros, Lenzburg Friendly, Spanish Nationals) 8. Switzerland - 252.216 (Lenzburg Friendly, Nationals, Euros) 9. Türkiye - 252.18 (Euros, Turkish Nationals, Doha) 10. Kazakhstan - 249.964 (Asian Championships, Doha World Cup, Universiade) The top six teams listed here: China, Japan, USA, Great Britain, Ukraine, and Italy should make the team final. The last two spots for the team final are going to be incredibly competitive and dependent on the day. The same is true of those fighting for the last team spots for the Olympic Games. Article by: Kensley Behel NOTE: Previous versions of this article listed Japan as #1; USA as #2; and China as number 3. More information came to light and the data was updated September 21, 2023. Love men's gymnastics coverage? So do we! And we need your help! We are looking for $1,400 dollars in donations to cover the rest of our World Championships expenses (flight, hotel, food). Would you consider donating even $10 to help us bring you live coverage from the World Championships? It would mean so much!

A. Paris World Cup The Paris World Cup took place September 16 - 17. It was the last World Cup competition before the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. Jake Jarman added a new skill to the code of points with a 3.5 twisting double layout! Italy's Salvatore Maresca, proposed to his girlfriend! Results The floor final was riveting with Hiramatsu Koga from Japan beat home athlete, Benjamin Osberger by .05. Osberger and Britain's Luke Whitehouse tied, but Osberger won the tie break for having a higher E score. Jake Jarman was the lead gymnast after qualifications but an error in the final dropped his difficulty score and he finished in fourth. Great Britain came away with half of the gold medals. Max Whitlock resumed his normal spot atop the pommel horse podium in his first international competition since the Tokyo Olympics and Harry Hepworth took gold on vault. Photo: Paris World Cup stream. Courtney Tulloch tied for gold with Italy's Salvatore Maresca. Germany's Lukas Dauser, and Taiwan's Tang Chia-Hung took the parallel bar and high bar golds respectively. Full results can be found here. B. Yul Moldauer Interview We sat down with Yul Moldauer before he heads to the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships! He shared what happened at the National Championships and his plans for the future! C. Hungarian National Championships Hungary held their Team and All-around competition on September 16th. AA. Results Krisztofer Meszaros - 84.900 Benedek Tomcsanyi - 81.900 Botond Molnar - 80.400 Full results can be found here. D. Norway/Türkiye/Romania/Swiss Friendly Norway, Türkiye, Romania, and Switzerland competed in a friendly team competition in Magglingen, Switzerland on September 16th. Switzerland sent a very competitive team and won the competition with a 248.100. Full results can be found here. E. Olympic Champion, Arthur Dalaloyan says Russian Athletes "Do not pose a threat." According to Gymnovosti, "Artur Dalaloyan believes that banning Russian flag and anthem at international competitions is excessive because, he claims, “we’re not a threat to the other [athletes]” Link to full article here. Article by: Kensley Behel Love men's gymnastics coverage? So do we! And we need your help! We are looking for $1,400 dollars in donations to cover the rest of our World Championships expenses (flight, hotel, food). Would you consider donating even $10 to help us bring you live coverage from the World Championships? It would mean so much!

It is the last few days before flying to a training camp in the Netherlands ahead of the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. European Champion and owner of 5280 Gymnastics, Vladimir Artemev calls for the gym to be quiet, and his protégé jokes that maybe it's better if it isn't quiet. As he prepares to mount the parallel bars to complete his third of six competitive routines for the day, a little kid in the back yells, "Let's go, Yul." Under the watchful eye of one of the world's best judges, Yul Moldauer mounts the parallel bars and quickly begins his packed routine. Most of his routine is stellar; there's just a small bend of the arms while in handstand before he sticks his trademark double front half out dismount. The gym erupts in applause. In between his routines, Yul sets his video recording equipment next to the still rings. His phone is quickly commandeered by a small gymnast-in-training, the daughter of his coach and Olympic bronze medalist, Sasha Artemev. Within minutes, the curious toddler has added no less than 100 selfies to his library of world-caliber video recordings. He takes a few minutes to look through the photos with her and then it's back to business. His high bar routine is comprised of a much-improved Takemoto full and unsurprisingly, at the end of the routine, he sticks the dismount. Yul seems to have an uncanny ability to spot and stick the landing. Only one question remained after his routine: to Yamawaki or not to Yamawaki (a release move over the high bar). The Yamawaki wasn't present in his full routine but he completed a couple afterwards to help him decide on the final routine composition. Moldauer then moves to floor, where he is a world bronze medalist, and ends the day on pommel horse. Following a day of one-on-six (where he performs one routine on six events) Moldauer sits down to talk about his performance at the U.S. National Championships, the upcoming World Championships, and how much longer he'd like to be competing. "Things Like That Happen" On August 26th, it seemed as though the stars might align. It was Yul's 27th birthday, and three-quarters of the way through the competition, he was in the lead. But a second national title wasn't to be, as he made several mistakes on high bar and floor exercise. In his words: "I'll be honest; I choked." In a matter of minutes, he went from thinking he could be the national all-around champion to wondering if he had botched his chance at making the World Championships team. Before the last event, he told himself that he had to hit pommel horse, and he did. It's that ability to come back strong that he's most proud of. Moldauer was named to the World Championships team. He's by far the veteran of the group, with five world championships and an Olympic Games under his belt. There are three new faces joining him and Asher Hong at the World Championships this fall. After the team was named, they created a group chat that Yul describes as "full of encouragement." When asked what advice he will share with those less experienced he said, "When we get there, I'm just going to tell them that It's just like an NCAA meet. At the end of the day, it's a team event. We shouldn't be thinking about individual medals. We are here as a team. Don't get scared that it's worlds…Own the moment. It's a privilege to feel pressure." That last quote, "It's a privilege to feel pressure," is a lesson that he learned from former teammate Colin van Wicklen, and it's one that has carried Moldauer through many successful competitions. He's hopeful that Antwerp will be successful for the team, believing that success there would give them the opportunity to change the face of men's gymnastics in the United States. You might ask what a perfect World Championship would look like for Yul. He'd tell you his answer without question: "To stand on the podium alongside Asher Hong, Khoi Young, Paul Juda, Fred Richard, and Colt Walker." The individual success? He said that will follow if they just do their job. What is the Future for Yul Moldauer? Practice is coming to an end and we have time for one last question: What are Yul's plans after the World Championships? He laughs and says, "I knew this question was coming." Moldauer is known for not taking much time off after major competitions and this year will be no different. He has put his name in the hat for the Swiss Cup – a fun and lucrative gymnastics competition. He's also competing in the German Bundesliga and the French top-12 league later this fall. He'll rest after he returns home in mid-December. But the rest won't last for long. Before you know it, he says, the 2024 Olympics are going to be here, and he plans to do everything possible to be in Paris competing for Team USA at the Olympics once more. His dreams don't stop there. Competing on home turf at the L.A. 2028 Olympics is the ultimate goal. Till then, he's working towards a team medal an ocean away in Antwerp, Belgium. Article by: Kensley Behel Love men's gymnastics coverage? So do we! And we need your help! We are looking for $1,400 dollars in donations to cover the rest of our World Championships expenses (flight, hotel, food). Would you consider donating even $10 to help us bring you live coverage from the World Championships? It would mean so much!

Photo: Steve Cooper/GymCastic 2023 World Gymnastics Championships Budget and Donation Options It is always my goal to be transparent about what traveling to live events costs. If you have the financial means to do so, I would appreciate any support you are able to provide! Thank you so much for supporting men’s gymnastics coverage. Any donation can be made via PayPal or click the link below. Sincerely, Kensley

A. Szombathely World Cup The second-to-last World Cup before the World Championships took place in Hungary this past weekend. Lauren Hopkins at the Gymternet did overtime in live-blogging multiple events this weekend. Her day 1 live blog can be found here; day 2 can be found here. Event Winners: FX - Krisztofer Meszaros (HUN) - 14.666 PH - Matvei Petrov (ABL) - 14.733 SR - Vinzenz Höck (AUT) - 14.300 VT - Nazar Chepurnyi (UKR) - 14.666 PB - Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) - 14.966 HB - Ilias Georgiou (CYP) - 14.433 Note: Olympic Champion, Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), qualified in first with a 15.300 but did not compete in the finals. No reason has been given for his withdrawal. Eddie Penev (BUL) had qualified in fourth for the vault final; however, during the final, his coach placed the wrong vault and he was not able to compete his intended vault. He luckily walked away without an injury. B. Colt Walker Interview Kensley sat down with National Team member, Colt Walker to learn about the injury that almost ended his career and how he overcame to regain his place as one of the top gymnasts in the United States. Click the link below to read the full article! C. World Championships Update Germany named their team for the World Gymnastics Championships including: Andy Toba, Nils Dunkel, Pascal Brendel, Lukas Dauser, and Lucas Kochan. Switzerland replaced Benjamin Gischard with Florian Langenegger. A full list of qualifiers can be found here. D. Database of Top Team Scores Throughout 2023 Kensley compiled a list of the International Team scores in 2023. While not a perfect measure, this list can provide some insight into what to expect at the World Championships in Antwerp. The top scores are: 1. China - 262.594 2. Japan - 260.562 3. USA - 258.8 4. Italy - 249.526 5. Spain - 248.85 6. Türkiye - 248.262 7. South Korea - 247.827 8. Switzerland - 247.5 Note: Great Britain has not sent a full-strength team to any competition this year and their scores are not representative of what they are capable of at the World Championships. The full database can be found here. E. Italian Gymnastics Championships The 2023 Italian Gymnastics Championships took place in Padua, Italy from September 6 - September 10, 2023. Lauren at the Gymternet live-blogged the entire competition. Full live blog can be found here. All around results were: "1. Mario Macchiati 164.350 2. Yumin Abbadini 164.100 3. Lorenzo Casali 163.350 4. Lorenzo Bonicelli 162.650 5. Matteo Levantesi 162.250 6. Edoardo de Rosa 161.600 7. Lorenzo Galli 159.500 And the unofficial winner is Manrique Larduet [Cuba] with a 166.950! Amazing day for him today, upping his AA score to a massive 84.050!" ~Lauren Hopkins Article by: Kensley Behel

For an athlete who has never wished to be done with gymnastics, an injury last year almost made the decision for him. Almost. A seemingly miraculous recovery and an impressive result at the National Championships have him eager to push toward the Paris Olympics and even a home Games in Los Angeles. Photo: Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos Competing on the World Stage A year ago, Walker had the opportunity to compete on the year’s biggest stage alongside Brody Malone, Donnell Whittenburg, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Asher Hong. With Russia out of the competition, the U.S. men felt the weight of having their first real shot at the podium in a decade, and things did not go as planned. Walker described the majority of the team’s approach to the competition as “strangling the opportunity,” and for him specifically, he felt disconnected and wasn’t enjoying gymnastics at all. From his perspective, only Asher Hong was, “having a blast, and [as a result] did the best of anyone on the team.” He described Hong’s approach to competing as an enigma. “He’s very loud even when he’s up next, he’s screaming for his teammate.” Even though Walker is Asher Hong’s mentor at Stanford University, he said he had a lot to learn from his mentee on the world stage. While Walker still maintains that he doesn’t know how Hong can use so much energy to cheer for others right before he takes the stage, he has learned to have more fun during the competition. Photo: Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos An Injury, A Recovery, and a Return to International Competition After the 2022 World Championships, Walker took some time off. When he returned to doing basics on floor in December, a bulging disk in his back between L5 and S1 threatened to end his career. The effects of the bulging disk were so bad that on the morning of his MRI, he could not even feel his leg. In turn, he said his back injury became more of a leg injury. As he rehabbed, the thought crossed his mind that the last floor routine he might ever compete was the floor routine at the World Championships where he fell three times. That thought provided motivation that if he was able to compete floor again, he would seize the opportunity, shed his nervous mindset, and put on a show. And put on a show he did. Heading into the National Championships, he said he forgot who he was, and in some ways, that made Day 1 of the Championships less nerve-racking. But the positive results from Day 1 of the competition reminded him that he was able to keep up with the best athletes in the country and on day two, he began to feel the pressure. Walker would start day two of the National Championships on the high bar which he describes as “not his favorite event” but one where he feels he can help Team USA. A much better routine than night 1 and a significantly higher score would be indicative of his performances to come. As the competition began to wind down, Walker put in his best two performances of the night including a stuck vault and best-executed parallel bar routine of the entire competition. If you looked up at the scoreboard, you would see that Walker placed fourth in the all-around meaning he qualified an automatic National Team spot. What the scoreboard wouldn’t tell you is that he actually had the highest all-around score of the competition using FIG score. [Note: FIG scoring is what is used at all international competitions. The 2023 Xfinity National Championships employed a domestic bonus system, and under that system, Walker placed fourth in the all-around]. Looking forward to 2024 and Beyond There is no lasting bitterness or animosity from Walker towards the bonus system stating: “If you want to win the game, you have to play the game.” And for Walker, the game is the long game and the 2024 Olympics where no bonus system will be used. While winning the all-around title using FIG scoring didn’t earn him a spot on the World Championships Team this year, it does give him motivation for the future unequivocally stating, “I want to make it to the Olympics.” Heading into 2024, he will have at least two more opportunities to further his experience by competing on the world stage. He’s looking forward to sharing what he’s learned thus far with the three World Championships rookies – Fred Richard, Khoi Young, and Paul Juda – just as Yul Moldauer helped him last year. Photo: Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos Being an alternate for the World Championships also gives Walker the opportunity to compete at the Pan American Games in South America; he believes competing at a multi-sport Games will help prepare him for the Olympics should he be chosen for that team. These two incredible opportunities will happen back to back making for a very full fall quarter. Chock full of positives from the competitions to come he said of his situation, "there are only three negatives". One, trying to keep up with school; two, all the training on hard surfaces will require a lot of his body for an extended amount of time; and three, missing his girlfriend. When asked about plans for the future, he said, “It’s not that I don’t have a life plan, it’s that I have seven,” – indicative of the type of solution-focused mind that helps him to be successful at Stanford. While his exact future plan may not be set in stone, one thing is for sure, Walker plans to stick around for as long as his body allows him. And hopefully, that means competing in Los Angeles in 2028. Article by: Kensley Behel

A. Mersin World Cup Headlining the field in his return to international competition, Olympic Champion Oleg Verniaiev competed as though he had never left – winning gold on parallel bars and a silver on pommel horse. Compatriots, Nazar Chepyurni and Igor Radivilov also came home with two medals a piece. Chepyurni took gold on vault and silver on parallel bars while Radivilov took bronze on both vault and still rings. Jordan's Ahmad Abu Al Soud had a stunning performance in Türkiye on pommel horse. His 15.5 which is the highest score of the year at any international competition. Home athlete, Ahmet Önder, took gold on floor and high bar as well as a bronze on parallel bars. Azerbaijan's Nikita Simonov took gold on still rings with a 14.9. Full results can be found here. B. Withdrawals from the World Championships According to the Gymternet, "Akseli Karsikas (FIN) will replace the injured Aurel Benovic (CRO) on FX, and Sebastian Sponevik (NOR) is his VT replacement. Fabian de Luna (MEX) replaces Konstantinos Konstantinidis (GRE) on SR. Both Sponevik and de Luna were already qualified on PB." Benjamin Gischard has also withdrawn after sustaining a knee injury. The Swiss team has not yet named his replacement. C. Switzerland National Gymnastics Championships The Swiss held their National Gymnastics Championships from September 2nd - 3rd. Event final results can be seen below! D. RomGym Trophy The RomGym Trophy took place in Bucharest, Romania from September 1 - September 3, 2023. Spain took the team title ahead of Canada and Israel. Both Israel and Romania put up incredibly competitive scores with a 242.550 and 242.450 respectively. Should they be able to replicate those scores in Antwerp, they will be in contention for one of the final spots to compete as a team in Paris. Full results can be found here. RomGym Trophy Event Finals. E. Canada Announces World Championships Team Following a strong showing at the RomGym Trophy, Canada has announced their team for the World Championships. They have heavily stacked their pommel horse lineup, which has historically been a weakness for their team. As team announcements start rolling in, make sure to bookmark this page from the Gymternet. Lauren Hopkins is keeping track of all of the qualifiers and team announcements. F. Dutch MAG World Selection Meet Casimir Schmidt won the second World Championships trial with an 81.350 despite falling twice. Schmidt also won the first qualifier two weeks ago. Bart Deurloo missed the first world qualifier but performed well in the all-around to earn the bronze medal. He was especially strong on high bar where his 14.425 could contend for a spot in the high bar final in Antwerp. Jermain Grünberg, who placed second in the all-around, was top of the standing on parallel bars – an event he won a World Challenge Cup medal on earlier this year. G. GBR vs. USA: The Battle for Bronze It's no secret that Great Britain and USA are favorites for the bronze medal in Antwerp later this year. We break down D score, potential lineups, and other countries that may challenge for a spot on the podium. Click the link below to read the article! Article by: Kensley Behel