Jake Jarman, Harry Hepworth, Max Whitlock, Luke Whitehouse, and Joe Fraser

The start lists for the men’s qualifications at the 2024 Olympic Games have been released, and we’re going to talk through each team and notable individuals based on what we’re expecting to see in each subdivision, including any surprises and who will have the best opportunities for finals.

TEAM NOTES

The top team in the first subdivision is the U.S. program, which will see Brody Malone, Fred Richard, and Paul Juda competing in the all-around, while Stephen Nedoroscik will anchor pommel horse and Asher Hong will fill out the rosters on the remaining five events.

Nothing here is surprising, with Malone and Richard always favorites for all-around spots, while Juda was the best option for a third spot given that pommel horse is a strength for him and a weakness for Hong. Coming off of a bronze medal at world championships last year, the U.S. team is certainly one of the favorites for the podium. In the past, they’ve tended to do their best work in qualifications only to flop in the final, but with the Russians banned, this is their time to take advantage of one less high-difficulty team to worry about and hopefully they will save their best work for when it counts.

Their biggest competition this quad has been Great Britain, which won the bronze in 2022 and finished fourth in Tokyo as well as at worlds last year. The team this year hasn’t been quite as solid, losing gold to Ukraine at Euros and absolutely bombing floor and pommels at a friendly meet in France last month, where we saw the Olympic squad plus alternate James Hall competing.

If all goes according to plan in Paris, all-arounders Jake Jarman, Luke Whitehouse, and Joe Fraser – only recently back from injury – plus Harry Hepworth on floor, rings, and vault and Max Whitlock on pommels, parallel bars, and high bar should present a fairly solid challenge, but I do think despite some massive standout individual performances, they may be a bit too far behind as a whole on some apparatuses – like rings and high bar – to dig themselves out of a hole, and based on what I’ve seen and what I expect to see, I’d give the U.S. men the edge.

Both Canada and Germany were kind of surprises for last year’s team final, with Canada qualifying in a shocking fourth place to qualify a full team to the Olympics for the first time since 2008 while Germany made it in an equally impressive fifth place.

Canada will see Félix Dolci, René Cournoyer, and Samuel Zakutney, while Zachary Clay will specialize on pommels and parallel bars, and William Émard will round out the rest. At worlds last year, part of the team’s success came from having two pommels specialists to maximize their score on that apparatus, but while this team is a bit weaker there now, I think Zakutney – who did not compete in Antwerp – will be an even bigger help on parallel bars and high bar than we could have gotten out of a second pommels specialists, and his own pommels set – if hit – should be passable enough to get them through.

The German team has had a few injuries this year, including to 2023 worlds competitors Lucas Kochan and Nick Klessing, and also to national champion Lukas Dauser, who hurt his shoulder on rings at the Olympic trials and will only compete floor and parallel bars in Paris. Timo Eder has really proven himself as a top all-arounder this season, so we’ll see him, Pascal Brendel, and Nils Dunkel on all six events in qualifications here, while Andreas Toba rounds out the team on pommels, rings, vault, and high bar.

I do think the Canadians have great potential to earn a spot in the team final, though some of the teams that missed out last year – like Ukraine and Türkiye – are coming in stronger this time around and will make things difficult. While Germany is often a team that surprises in qualifications to sneak into finals – something they did last year and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo – I think this year they could potentially be a bit too far behind to make that magic happen, though I never count them out.

ALL-AROUND NOTES

Both Malone and Richard of the U.S. could be legitimate medal contenders in the all-around competition, though have Juda waiting in the wings for a finals spot if either of them can’t make it, while Jarman, Fraser, and Dolci should also do fairly well to land among the higher-ranked contenders for the final.

Outside of the teams, the only two all-arounders we’ll see are Diogo Soares of Brazil and Krisztofer Meszaros of Hungary, but both are fantastic and should be in contention to make the final.

FLOOR NOTES

The top floor worker in this subdivision is Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, the reigning Olympic and world champion who is likely to make it happen again here, though he was bested at Euros this year by a fab routine from Whitehouse, and he could face some additional competition in the final, so nothing is set in stone.

In addition to Whitehouse, we’ll be looking at both Jarman and Hepworth from the British team for spots in the final, while Richard and Juda could have the most potential for the U.S. team, and Canada could have Dolci and Émard as outside hopefuls, though I don’t see any of the Germans as having the potential to qualify.

Meszaros is definitely an individual to watch out for here, and I’m also hopeful for specialist Aurel Benovic of Croatia. Both have truly lovely work on this apparatus and if they do what they’re capable of in qualifications, we could see

POMMEL HORSE NOTES

The pommel horse field in Paris is incredible, and three of the biggest medal hopefuls in the field will compete in this subdivision, including Nedoroscik and Whitlock, both capable of massive difficulty and some of the best scores we’ve seen this quad.

We’ll also see specialist Ahmad Abu Al Soud of Jordan, the bronze medalist at worlds last year who went 15.5 at the Doha World Cup to secure his spot in Paris. Coming in as the first athlete to represent Jordan at the Olympic Games is history in itself, so making the final or medaling would be an incredible feat and he’s one of the athletes I’m most excited to keep an eye on here.

RINGS NOTES

Among those competing on teams, there could potentially be some chances for Malone or Whitehouse to make appearances in the final, but overall this field is so strong and experienced, I really don’t see any outside hopefuls or bubble athletes getting in. You never know!

The most notable athlete in this subdivision is obviously the legendary Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece, the 2016 Olympic champion and three-time world champion who has seen some competition from the Chinese men over the past few years, but I think should be strongly in position for the silver medal if he misses gold.

VAULT NOTES

Jarman and Hepworth should be two of the most exciting vaulters in this field, with Jarman’s sticks some of the most impressive gymnastics I’ve seen this quad. They’re both among the top athletes in terms of the level of difficulty they’re doing, while also showing a solid level of consistency to give them tons of potential for this final.

This is where Hong has a lot of potential for an individual final as well, especially if he is doing his best work, though his Ri Se Gwang can be hit or miss so it’ll come down to how he’s feeling in quals. Among the specialists, Benovic has a better shot here of sneaking into a final than he does on floor, and I’m also excited to see what we get from Mahdi Olfati of Iran and Audrys Nin Reyes of the Dominican Republic, both of whom should also be squarely in the mix depending on what they and others do in qualifications.

PARALLEL BARS NOTES

Top to watch from the team competitors will of course be Dauser, the reigning world champion. His injury may be a bit limiting, I suppose, but I think not competing on most of the other apparatuses should help him keep his body and mind in shape for his specialty apparatus.

Fraser tends to shine here so I’d keep him on my shortlist. The two best U.S. guys on this apparatus were left off of the team. Hong made the final at worlds last year, but while he’s capable of finals-worthy scores he doesn’t always make them happen. Don’t count him out, I suppose? And the same can probably be said for Dolci, though I think he’s much less likely to make it.

This event is interesting overall, since it’s where we tend to see more all-arounders stand out and most of the specialists who have qualified are good, but not necessarily medal or even final contenders. Both Robert Tvorogal of Lithuania and Andrei Muntean of Romania are expecting to compete in this subdivision, but I wouldn’t call either a real threat unless they have their absolute best performances in qualifications.

HIGH BAR NOTES

In somewhat recent history the U.S. has struggled on this apparatus, but Malone and Richard are absolute aces here and with their best work both are definitely eyeing the podium. I don’t see any of the Brits making the final happen, unless Fraser has one of his better sets in which case he’d be on the bubble, and again the same can probably be said for Germany and Canada, for whom Toba and Dolci would be most likely to surprise (though this is probably wishful thinking).

The specialists in this subdivision are all outstanding, with Tin Srbic of Croatia and Arthur Mariano of Brazil both standouts, while Tvorogal surprised for a medal at Euros this year and has the scores capable of making a bigger international final here. Nin Reyes is also making an appearance on this event in addition to vault, but both routines I’ve seen him do this year were rough, and I don’t think we’ll see him bring enough difficulty to get into an already stacked group.

All start lists are available via the FIG.

Article by Lauren Hopkins