Malone fell on pommel horse in the opening rotation and struggled on high bar, his signature event, putting a spot in the all-around final out of reach. The top 24 athletes qualify for the final, but no more than two per country advance. Americans Frederick Richard (83.498) and Paul Juda (82.865) finished well ahead of Malone and will officially clinch their spots in the final once the other sessions of qualifying are complete.
Malone and Richard traded the top two positions on the all-around podium at nationals and the Olympic trials — Malone ahead of Richard at nationals, then the opposite at the trials. Those two gymnasts were expected to be the Americans in the all-around final here, but Juda had performed well and was in contention even before Malone fell twice on high bar. Malone, who also fell on floor in the final rotation, called his errors “silly mistakes.”
“What happened here today is done and over,” Malone said. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. Just do the best I can to be ready for team finals.”
Malone, the lone returning Olympian on this team, finished with a 79.598, far off the 86.350 he earned at nationals. After Saturday’s competition, he apologized to his teammates, according to Juda, who added: “He’s the captain of this ship. He’s going to right us for the next couple of days.”
The American men had a breakthrough showing at world championships last fall, winning bronze in the team competition, along with three individual medals. They have a chance to replicate that performance on a bigger stage here.
But Britain tallied a team score Saturday more than three points higher than the United States, and Japan and China are expected to top the field, leaving the Americans in fourth place or worse. Scores do not carry over, so Malone and the U.S. team have a chance to rebound.
In the qualifying round, teams drop one score per apparatus, so Malone’s low marks did not factor into its score of 253.229. But the Americans typically rely on his performances to be among the best on the team. In the first session, the Americans were outshone by the British men, who had the best team score (256.561) and the top all-arounders in Jake Jarman and Joe Fraser.
Malone, the high bar world champion in 2022, also lost his chance to contend for a medal on his best event. His low score on that apparatus (12.233) will be well short of the mark needed to advance. Now his best — and perhaps only — chance of winning a medal here will be in the team final, where the Americans badly need him to perform better.