The United States men’s gymnastics team lit it up on the first day of the 2012 Summer Olympics on July 28. Much of their success came thanks to two Oklahoma Sooners gymnasts, Jonathan Horton and Jake Dalton.
Horton, a letter winner for the Sooners from 2005-08, came into the Olympic Games as one of the more experienced members of Team USA. Horton was the 2012 U.S. still rings champion and the 2008 Olympics silver medal winner on the high bar and team bronze medal winner.
Dalton has had some big time recent success at Oklahoma, a senior who won the bronze medal at the 2011 Worlds in Tokyo. He was the 2012 U.S. floor and vault champion and has four individual NCAA titles.
On the first day of the 2012 Summer Olympics, they were back at it again.
Horton scored 56.565 in four events, earning the top U.S. score in the still rings and the second-highest score in the horizontal bar. Dalton scored 46.633 in three events, scoring the top score in the floor event and second-highest score in the still rings and vault events.
Other U.S. gymnasts also performed up to expectations. Mikulak competed in four events, scoring 75.348 while Danell Leyva and John Orozco competed in all six events, scoring 91.265 and 90.597, respectively.
As a result, Team USA came out of the first day of action in first place, with a score of 275.342. That is almost three points higher than Russia, over three points more than Great Britain and five points ahead of Japan, the team expected to win the entire event.
"I'm very pleased with Team USA' s performance today," OU head coach Mark Williams said. "Finishing first in the qualification round puts the team in a great position for the finals Monday night."
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