Very excited for Asher Hong and Brody Malone, and happy/crushed for Khoi Young that he's an alternate. The mathematical selection criteria was established beforehand, so there was little wiggle room for human discretion, but just to share:
--On the starting Olympic team, they took Stephen Nedoroscik, who can be one of the top pommel horse men in the world. However, he ONLY does pommel horse.
--Left as an alternate is Khoi Young, who is the reigning World silver medalist on pommel horse and vault. Unfortunately, Khoi had a tough first day of Olympic trials which hurt him in the selection process.
Having a one-event specialist on your team is risky given the ever-present possibility of injury (and Malone destroyed his knee only a year ago). If there are 2 last-minute injuries on the team (you compete 3 of your 5 Olympians on each event), it's gonna be rough.
--On the starting Olympic team, they took Stephen Nedoroscik, who can be one of the top pommel horse men in the world. However, he ONLY does pommel horse.
--Left as an alternate is Khoi Young, who is the reigning World silver medalist on pommel horse and vault. Unfortunately, Khoi had a tough first day of Olympic trials which hurt him in the selection process.
Having a one-event specialist on your team is risky given the ever-present possibility of injury (and Malone destroyed his knee only a year ago). If there are 2 last-minute injuries on the team (you compete 3 of your 5 Olympians on each event), it's gonna be rough.