Deja vu for Americans; 5th in team gymnastics again
Ponca City Now - August 9, 2016 10:01 am
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – It was 2012 all over again for the Americans on Monday in the Rio Games.
Just as in London, they followed a great performance in the preliminaries of the team competition with a terrible start to the finals and finished fifth.
Coach Mark Williams of Oklahoma says the team performed better than he felt they did in London and says they didn't give up. The team features three former Sooners in Chris Brooks, Jake Dalton and Alex Naddour.
Yesterday, it was the floor exercise that put the team in a big hole early with both Naddour and Sam Mikulak stepping out of bounds during their routines.
The Americans did put in solid performances on the rings, vault and parallel bars to get back to within striking distance of a medal. Only the uneven bars were left and Danell Leyva knew he had to be aggressive to give the team a chance.
But instead of sticking his routine, he missed a connection, leaving the team in fifth place.
