U.S. all-around gymnastics champion Brody Malone will miss August’s national championships after injuring his right leg at a meet in Germany on March 18.
“Brody is currently undergoing treatment for his leg injury and doing everything he can to heal and get back to competing,” a representative for Malone said in an email. “As of now, there is no chance he will be competing in the U.S Championships in August. However, he is working very hard and is extremely hopeful that he will make it back in time for the Paris games.”
Malone was injured after inadvertently peeling off the high bar early for his dismount, landing backward and awkwardly twisting his right leg.
Malone won the U.S. all-around title in 2021 and 2022, succeeding the since-retired Sam Mikulak as the top American male gymnast.
At the 2022 Worlds, Malone won the high bar title and placed fourth in the all-around, matching the best all-around finish for an American man since Jonathan Horton‘s bronze in 2010.
After Malone, the top U.S. men last year were Asher Hong, who was sixth in the world all-around, becoming at 18 the second-youngest man from any nation to finish that high since 2001. And Donnell Whittenburg, a 2016 Olympic alternate, who was second to Malone at last year’s nationals.
The U.S. men’s team must finish in the top 12 at this fall’s world championships to qualify a full team for next year’s Olympics (assuming the already qualified China, Japan and Great Britain are also in the top 12).
Last year, the U.S. finished fifth at worlds with Malone, who was the lone U.S. gymnast to compete on all six apparatuses in the team final.
The U.S. has finished between third and fifth at every Olympics and worlds since 2007 and has competed in the Olympic men’s team event at every Games since World War I, save the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games.
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