| Updated: 7/30/2012 6:13 pm |
Published: 7/30/2012 6:09 pm
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LONDON -- The United States men’s gymnastics team, including Oklahoma letterwinner Jonathan Horton (2005-08) and senior Jake Dalton, finished fifth on Monday in the team finals at the 2012 Olympic Games with a score of 269.952 inside North Greenwich Arena.
China earned gold with a 275.997, Japan took silver with a 271.952 and Great Britain earned bronze with a 271.711. The Ukraine was fourth with a 271.526.
“I’m just really proud of the guys. We struggled, but we continued to show what this team is about," Horton said. "We have this never-stop-fighting attitude and that’s exactly what we did. We never stopped fighting in this competition. Deep down in my heart I believe we are a great team.”
Dalton posted the event's fifth-highest score on the floor exercise with a 15.466, while his vault (16.066) and still rings (15.033) scores were seventh and 11th, respectively. Horton produced two top-10 scores, placing sixth in the still rings with a score of 15.266 and 10th in the high bars with a 15.200.
Dalton and Horton each have one more competition remaining at the Olympics, in the individual event finals. Dalton competes in the floor exercise on Aug. 5 at 8 a.m. CT, while Horton will defend his 2008 silver medal in the high bar on Aug. 7 at 9:40 a.m.
The USA men started off on floor exercise. Dalton anchored the team on this event with his routine that included an Arabian double layout mount and a triple twist dismount, which scored a 15.466. Dalton's floor score was the highest among his three United States teammates.
Dalton was the lead gymnast on still rings, showing a pike and tuck Yamawaki and double twisting, double back dismount, which scored a 15.033. Horton added a 15.266 to the team total with his routine, which included an Azarian Maltese and a back uprise Maltese, bounce cross. He dismounted with a tucked double twisting, double back. Horton earned the highest U.S. score in the event, followed by Dalton.
On vault, Dalton, with a 7.0 start value vault, showed an impressive Kasamatsu double twist, which is actually three twists, scoring a 16.066. Dalton's score was the highest U.S. score by just 0.1 on the vault.
On high bar, the USA men hit all three routines. Horton, a 2008 Olympic high bar silver medalist performed a Zou Li Min, a Cassina, a layout Kovacs and dismounted with a full twisting double layout to score a 15.200.
In addition to Dalton and Horton, the U.S. Men's Team includes Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics); Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./University of Michigan; and John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center).
Information and photos used in this release provided by USA Gymnastics.
Story courtesy of OU media relations.
