Skinner Steps in for Biles and Wins Silver in Vault; Lee Holds on for Bronze in Uneven Bars

USA’s Yoder Finishes Sixth as Great Britain Takes Gold in Men’s Pommel Horse

Early mistakes for the United States’ Alec Yoder proved costly in the men’s pommel horse final.

Following a handstand break at the start of his routine, the 24-year-old Yoder scored an 8.166 on execution and 6.400 on difficulty for a combined score of 14.566, failing to medal as he finished in sixth.

Great Britain’s Max Whitlock opened the event strong, scoring a 8.583 on execution and 7.000 on difficulty for a 15.583, which held as the top score for the gold medal. It was his sixth Olympic medal, including his second straight gold on pommel horse.

Chih Kai Lee took silver with a 15.400 for the first Olympic medal in gymnastics for Chinese Tapei. Kazuma Kaya of Japan finished third with a 14.900 to take bronze.

Israel Takes Gold for Country’s First Gymnastics Medal

Israel has its first medal in gymnastics, and it’s gold.

And it came on a tiebreaker.

Artem Dolgopyat took gold in the men’s floor exercise final on Sunday morning, earning a score of 14.933. Dolgopyat earned a difficulty score of 6.600, an execution score of 8.433 and a penalty of -0.1 to take home the country’s first medal.

Silver medal winner Rayderley Zapata of Spain finished with the same 14.933 score. The two also tied on the first tiebreaker, with an identical execution score of 8.433. It went to the second tiebreaker of difficulty score, where Dolgopyat edged Zapata, 6.600 to 6.500.

China’s Ruoteng Xiao took bronze with a score of 14.766.

The United States Yul Moldauer finished sixth with a score of 13.533.

Gymnastics Individual Event Finals Night 1 Preview

Gymnastics individual event finals begin Sunday, and the Americans will have several chances at medaling. Stream live here beginning at 4 a.m. ET Sunday:

Over the course of the next three days, eight of the top athletes in each event will compete for the chance at a medal. The first day of event finals will feature vault and uneven bars for the women and floor exercise and pommel horse for the men. Let’s look at who will represent the U.S. in each event and who has the best chance to medal:

Women’s Vault (4:45 a.m. ET)

Jade Carey qualified for vault finals during team qualification at the start of gymnastics competition. She earned a score of 15.166 to finish second among all competitors on the apparatus. Carey earned a 15.200 on vault during the all-around competition.

After Simone Biles decided to withdraw from the individual vault competition, McKayla Skinner will now compete in her place. Skinner scored a 14.866 on vault during team qualifications, the third highest vault score in competition. She is able to take Biles’ place because of her high score during qualifying.

Both Carey and Skinner have a great shot at medals in this event on Sunday. However, they will likely face stiff competition from Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who scored a 15.300 on vault in the all-around competition on her way to winning a silver medal.

Uneven Bars (6:37 a.m. ET)

Suni Lee is the lone American competing for a medal in uneven bars after Biles withdrew from the event and no other American scored high enough to take her place during qualifying.

However, Lee stands to add to her all-around gold and team final silver in the individual uneven bars competition Sunday. Lee posted the highest score on uneven bars in both the all-around competition and qualification round.

The biggest threat to gold on the uneven bars for Lee will come from Belgian Nina Derwael. In the all-around competition, Derwael’s 15.266 on bars was just 0.033 points shy of Lee. The showdown between the Belgian and the American will surely be one to watch on Sunday.

Men’s Floor Exercise (4 a.m. ET)

Yul Moldauer will represent the U.S. in the men’s individual floor exercise. He finished sixth on floor in qualifying with a score of 14.866.

Moldauer finished 0.334 points behind the first-place qualifier Artem Dolgopyat of Israel. Moldauer could crack the podium in this event, but with several other atheltes competing with more difficult routines, Moldauer will need an excellent performance and maybe a few mistakes from his competition.

Pommel Horse (5:44 a.m. ET)

Alec Yoder will look for a spot on the podium in pommel horse after finishing in fourth during qualifying competition.

Yoder finished with a score of 15.200, while Japan’s Kohei Kameyama, Ireland’s Rhy McClenaghan and Chinese Tapei’s Chih Kai Lee all finished with a 15.266.

The only one of the top four pommel horse competitors to also compete in the all-around, Lee struggled on pommel horse, only scoring a 12.666. A performance like this on Sunday could open the door for Yoder to medal.

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