Once an alternate, now a star: U.S. gymnast Danell Leyva has two-medal day
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There are eight athletes at the Olympics event finals for both men’s and women’s gymnastics, and the order in which they compete is determined by random draw.
So going first can be both a blessing and a curse: a competitor can throw down the gauntlet and set the standard the remaining seven must meet, but it also means you have a long wait to see if anyone matches or exceeds your performance.
Such was the case for American Danell Leyva on Tuesday for the parallel bars final.
Leyva, a 24-year-old who was the bronze medalist in the all-around at the 2012 London Games and 2011 world champion on parallel bars, went first on the apparatus and gave a near-flawless routine, sticking his double-front dismount. It earned him a 15.900, a score that held up well.
China’s You Hao had a fantastic routine, with two incredibly difficult double-flip elements, and looked on track to overtake Leyva – but he couldn’t stick his dismount, landing on his bottom and then slumping onto his back.
It was Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev who would overtake Leyva, posting a 16.041; Verniaiev’s start value was higher than Leyva’s, which played a role in his final score being higher.
Just a short time later, in the high bar, the final event of the gymnastics competition at the Games, Leyva went last, so he knew exactly what he had to do to get on the podium.
And once again he delivered. In a high-stakes game of “anything you can do, I can do better,” with gymnasts flying and twisting over the bar, a little more than 9 feet off the floor, Leyva gave a fantastic routine, finishing with just the slightest of hops on his dismount.
German Fabian Hambuchen was the leader when Leyva began, with a score of 15.766. And while Leyva remained the leader, claiming gold, Leyva’s 15.500 was enough for his second silver medal of the afternoon.
Amazingly, Leyva initially was not supposed to be a member of the U.S. squad; he was an alternate, but replaced John Orozco, who tore his ACL in pre-Olympics training.
Leyva’s two medals gave the U.S. men three for the Games; Alex Naddour won bronze on the pommel horse on Sunday. But his two combined with the gold and silver won by Simone Biles and Ali Raisman in the women’s floor exercise, gave the United States 12 total gymnastics medals, the most ever for the country.
