After placing 13th at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland last fall, many thought it was just a bad competition, and that they would easily qualify a team to the Olympics at the Test Event. However, that mission became a little more impossible when it was announced early last month that Larisa Iordache, the undisputed star of the Romanian Team and World All Around Bronze Medalist, injured her finger, and would miss 4-6 weeks due to surgery. The Romanian Team looked determined to still qualify despite the awful situation they were put in, but unfortunately missed a qualification spot by 4.5 points. It appears that qualifying would have been impossible even with a healthy Iordache. Romania, who has won a team medal in every Olympics since 1976, will only qualify one athlete to the Olympic Games this summer in Rio.
John Orozco Appears Healthy 9 Months After Achilles Tear
After tearing his Achilles Tendon for the second time in June 2015, it was unclear if John Orozco would be healthy enough to fight for a spot on his second Olympic Team this summer. The depth of the United States Mens National Team is starting to equal that of the Women, and with at least six months of rehab ahead of him, people wondered if he would be able to fight back to his previous level. This weekend at the Olympic Test Event, his second competition in as many weekends, Orozco proved he is very much in the hunt for the Olympic team. Orozco hit all 9 of his routines this weekend, while winning medals on Pommel Horse and high bar, while completeing a solid routine in parallel bar finals. Orozco will now take a break from competing, and prepare for the P&G National Championships from June 3-5 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Oklahoma Becomes First School to Win Men and Women's NCAA Titles
While Colombus, Ohio and Fort Worth, Texas might be 1,076 miles apart, they had something big in common; both became Sooner Country on Saturday April 16th. With the Oklahoma Sooner Men Gymnastics Team looking to win their 10th National Title on the Campus of Ohio State University, their women counterparts were looking to win the second title at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The Sooner women first won in 2014, a title they shared with the University of Florida. The men were already celebrating their latest win while the women finished up the competition. This is the first time in history a school has won both the Men's and Women's National Titles in the same year.
Bridget Sloan Wins All Around Title at NCAAs
After Bridget Sloan stood on the top of the podium holding the All Around National Champion trophy in her hand following a stellar freshman season, most people expected that this picture would be the one taken for the next four years. Sloan, the 2008 Olympian and 2009 World All Around Champion, also led her team, the University of Florida Gators, to their first National Championship in program history. Over the next two years however, mistakes kept Sloan from defending her title, all while coming back the next day and leading her team to two more National Championships. This year, in the final weekend of her storied career, Sloan lost the first Team Championship of her college career, all while reclaiming the All Around title. Sloan follows in the foot steps Florida Teammate Kytra Hunter, who also won the All Around title in her freshman and senior years.
