Nikita Nagornyy

The FIG announced the full roster of competitors for the 2020 American Cup, the first of four all-around world cups in a series that will act as a qualifier for three non-nominative spots at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Though Russia has often turned down invitations to compete at the American Cup – the last man to compete was Maxim Devyatovskiy, who won the title in 2010, and the last woman to compete was Aliya Mustafina, who finished second to Jordyn Wieber a year later – now that the competition is necessary for countries hoping to secure additional individual spots at the Olympics, Russia will return this year to contend for one of these spots in both MAG and WAG, with world champion Nikita Nagornyy and two-time world team silver medalist Lilia Akhaimova planning on attending.

The two join the previously announced Sam Mikulak and Morgan Hurd of the United States, both of whom are experienced American Cup competitors on top of tremendous international-level success, and today’s announcement also confirmed the United States’ two wild card competitors, with Yul Moldauer in for the men and first-year senior Kayla DiCello representing the women’s program.

A total of 13 spots are available in both the men’s and women’s fields, with priority for invitations going to the 12 teams that qualified for the Olympic Games, while the final spots are the additional wild card spots for the host country. Should a top team turn down an invitation, the team that placed next-best at the 2019 world championships is next in line to receive an invite, and so on until all 12 spots are filled.

In the women’s field, the Netherlands and Belgium turned down their invitations, opening up availability for Australia, which placed 13th in Stuttgart, and Ukraine, which placed 15th (Brazil, ranked 14th in Stuttgart, also turned down an invitation). For the men, only South Korea opted not to attend, and the final entry for the men’s field is still to be confirmed.

In addition to Russia and the United States, the women’s field will include Georgia Godwin of Australia, Brooklyn Moors of Canada, Zhang Jin of China, Claire Pontlevoy of France, Sarah Voss of Germany, Amelie Morgan of Great Britain, Giorgia Villa of Italy, Hitomi Hatakeda of Japan, Roxana Popa of Spain, and Diana Varinska of Ukraine, while the men’s field includes Diogo Soares of Brazil, Deng Shudi of China, Lee Chih-Kai of Chinese Taipei, Andreas Toba of Germany, James Hall of Great Britain, Daiki Hashimoto of Japan, Nestor Abad of Spain, Pablo Brägger of Switzerland, and Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine.

The rankings determined by each of the world cups in the four-part series will be assigned point values, and the three federations with the highest number of combined points at the conclusion of the series will determine the overall series winners, thus earning individual berths for Tokyo. Last year, the United States, Canada, and Japan topped the women’s rankings, while the United States, Russia, and China took the lead for the men.

Below, please find the full list of competitors, along with any changes that happen in the lead-up to the competition.

* Due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, there is a travel ban that could potentially affect Chinese competitors hoping to attend the American Cup and several other Olympic qualifiers

** As of February 5, Rene Cournoyer of Canada completes the list of MAG competitors.

*** As of February 6, Jennifer Gadirova has replaced Amelie Morgan for Great Britain.

**** As of February 8, Lorette Charpy has replaced Claire Pontlevoy for France after Pontlevoy suffered a ligament tear in her knee.

***** As of March 4, Lilia Akhaimova and Nikita Nagornyy have withdrawn from the competition. In addition, Ellie Black has replaced Brooklyn Moors for Canada, and Alba Petisco has replaced Roxana Popa for Spain.

Article by Lauren Hopkins