The U.S. Men’s Gymnastics team kept viewers on the edge of their seats on the way to the team’s historic bronze medal finish in the team finals at the Olympics.
Asher Hong (Tomball, Texas), Paul Juda (Deerfield, Illinois), Brody Malone (Aragon, Georgia), Stephen Nedoroscik (Worcester, Massachusetts), and Frederick Richard (Stoughton, Massachusetts) made history by taking home the first U.S. men’s team Olympic medal since 2008.
The team jumped out to the lead after two rotations on rings and vault. The U.S. continued to hit set after set to score 257.793 and earn their place on the medal podium. Meanwhile, Japan collected the gold medal with a 259.594, just edging out China, who finished in the silver-medal position with a 259.062.
“Going into our last rotations, pommel horse, we kind of knew we were in a good spot, but we didn’t know for sure,” Malone told Fox13 News. “We kind of made a deal beforehand that we weren’t going to watch the scores. We were just going to kind of stay in our bubble.”
Brody and Nedoroscik, who went viral for his clutch performance on the pommel horse to cinch the bronze medal for Team USA, both train at EVO Gymnastics in Sarasota. Malone shouted out the gym and the rest of his support system for helping him get here.
@nbcolympics Pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik CRUSHES the final routine that clinched Team USA’s first Olympic men’s gymnastics team medal since 2008. #ParisOlympics #usagymnastics #teamusa ♬ original sound – NBC Olympics & Paralympics
Growing up in Aragon, Georgia, Malone developed a passion for hunting, fishing, and rodeo. Malone and his brothers Cooper, Tyler, and Briley, learned to rope from their dad, J.D. Malone, who could be caught briefly during the competition in the stands, cowboy hat on display.
Brody Malone competed in roping jackpots and junior rodeos throughout Georgia, as well as at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo, all while playing baseball and competing in gymnastics.
“I can remember leaving a junior rodeo with him jumping off a steer he was riding and running to the minivan to get to a gymnastics meet,” recalled J.D. Malone in an interview with The Team Roping Journal. “We almost missed regionals twice.”
But all the hustle was worth it. Brody Malone broke his foot once when a bucking bull stepped on him, after which his dad made him stick to roping. His dad attributes rodeo to his son’s focus and competitive drive, while the balance and strength his son earned from gymnastics conversely helped with roping.
View this post on Instagram
While competing for Stanford University, Malone was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Gymnast of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), Athlete of the Year, and Sportsperson of the Year in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics by USA Gymnastics (2022), and he won the Nissen-Emery award for best collegiate gymnast in the USA (2022).
After traveling to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, Malone sustained a leg injury in 2023. Malone shared on Instagram, “As soon as my injury happened, I was flooded with a lot of different emotions. Pain, regret, confusion. When I was laying on the stretcher I remember saying to God, ‘I don’t know why you did this, but I guess it’s part of Your plan.’ I immediately felt at peace about it and knew that He was going to use my injury somehow to display His glory. That peace kept me from being upset it happened and allowed me to focus on what good would come from it.”
»Related: Vermont dairy farmer, Elle St. Pierre, chases gold at 2024 Olympics
