FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Yul Moldauer has been preparing for this moment since 2016 Olympic Trials. During that quad many in the gymnastics community felt he needed more time and experience. Fast forward 5 years, the 2017 USA National Champion, 3x American Cup All-Around titles, World medalist, and NCAA National Record Holder, Moldauer is exactly what Team USA will need to win a team medal at the Olympics Games which is less than six weeks away.
Saturday night Moldauer competed how many have come to expect from him, with consistency, artistry, and excitement. His only mistake of the evening was coming off on his pommel horse dismount. The evening did not finish without some clutch performances. In the fifth rotation, Yul stuck his Kas 1 1/2 twist vault and positioned himself to place in the top 2 in the All-Around with a hit on his last event parallel bars.
“On the last two events, I just told myself to keep fighting. I knew we were all close.”Said Moldauer “But this is what sports are about. Close battles. It felt good to feel high pressure again preparing for trials.”
Moldauer had the crowd behind him, which felt like a home competition for his last event. It’s not too far of a drive from Norman, Oklahoma where Yul broke numerous schools and NCAA records. Parallel Bars is one of Yul’s best events and it’s showed when he stuck his Double Front 1/2 dismount and posted the highest event score of both Day 1 & Day 2 with a 14.8.
With Olympic Trials only a few weeks away Moldauer’s second place all-around finish at US Championships keeps his name in the running to get one of the five Team USA Olympic spots.
“I’m looking forward to seeing who the team is. It’s a close year with everyone on the field and I think it’s going to be exciting.” Yul Says. “It’s gonna be wild. It’s gonna be close. It’s game time for everyone and we all want a spot so I know we all will battle our hearts out.”
The Olympic selection committee is relying strictly on the performance at the trials to determine the five-gymnasts selected to the Olympics. The 2-Day competition will feature the top 20 gymnasts in the country from the USA Sr. National Team. Four athletes from the Trials will compete for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics while 1 additional athlete will be selected to compete at the Olympics as a specialist to earn an Individual event medal for Team USA. The Olympic Trials will take place June 24th-June 27th in St. Louis, MO at The Dome at the America’s Center.
