Sooners, Team USA Rank Fourth after Qualifications

NORMAN — After the qualification rounds at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Sooners Yul Moldauer, Colin Van Wicklen and the Team USA men’s squad rank fourth.

The U.S. Team earned a total of 250.362 points to finish fourth in the qualification ranks, sitting behind Russia (258.402), China (257.836) and Japan (253.312). Moldauer holds 19^th in the all-around standings after posting an 80.365.

“Yul struggled today with some uncharacteristic mistakes,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “He missed high bar and pommel horse and his hand slipped on still rings.

“The team finished about where we expected. China, Russia and Japan have traditionally been very strong. It is going to take some great performances in the team finals to move up to the podium.”

The top eight teams from the qualification rounds compete in the team finals Monday, Oct. 29. The top 24 all-arounders from qualifications advance to the all-around finals on Wednesday, Oct. 31, while the top eight on each event from the qualification round move on to the individual apparatus finals on Nov. 2-3. As Moldauer finished 19th in the all-around preliminaries, he advances to the all-around final on Wednesday, along with advancing to the floor exercise final with his sixth-overall spot in the event. 

The three countries that medal in the team finals advance to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Team USA will begin the finals on Monday at 8 a.m. CT, starting on pommel horse. The men’s team final, all-around finals and individual event finals will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma men’s gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook.