Brody Malone was already a household name in Northwest Georgia, and now we have added Asher, Paul, Frederick, and our friend Steve – the entire men’s gymnastics team.
Malone graduated from Trion High School in 2018, and Paris is his second Olympic games. The first night of qualifications did not go as planned for Malone, with some commentators calling his performance a disaster. Mistakes on the pommel horse, floor exercise, and, surprisingly, high bar left Malone out of individual gold medal contention.
Malone focused on what was remaining, the next performance, the one where he could help his team and country medal.
Monday night, he would have his redemption and show the rest of the world what his fans in Northwest Georgia already knew: Brody Malone is a world-class gymnast and outstanding teammate.
“The school on the hill shines a little brighter today, Trion City Schools could not be more proud of Brody Malone and everything he represents…his hard work, determination, and never give up attitude is truly special,” Trion Athletic Director, Jason Lanham said. “Brody Malone a Trion High School graduate is now an Olympic Medalist and we celebrate with him. Job Well Done Brody Malone!!!!”
The U.S. men’s artistic gymnastics team put on a show Monday evening at Bercy Arena, hitting every routine to win bronze at the Paris Olympic Games. Asher Hong (Tomball, Texas), Paul Juda (Deerfield, Ill.), Brody Malone (Aragon, Ga.), Stephen Nedoroscik (Worcester, Mass.) and Frederick Richard (Stoughton, Mass.) won the first U.S. men’s team Olympic medal since taking bronze in 2008.
Even as they excitedly celebrated their routines, the team remained calm under pressure after jumping out to the lead after two rotations on rings and vault. As powerhouses Japan and China rotated to their strongest apparatus and surged into the top two positions, the U.S. continued to hit set after set to score a 257.793 and earn their place on the medal podium. Japan collected the gold medal with a 259.594, just edging out China, who finished in the silver-medal position with a 259.062.
After placing fifth in qualifying on Saturday, the U.S. men scored higher on 14 of 18 routines Monday night and notched the second-highest team scores on vault (44.032) and still rings (42.732) and the third-highest score on horizontal bar (42.365). Top-scoring performers for the U.S. were Richard on floor (14.466), parallel bars (14.566) and horizontal bar (14.833), and Hong on rings (14.533) and vault (14.833). Nedoroscik sealed the bronze as the last athlete up on the final apparatus, posting a team-high 14.866 on the pommel horse.