Asher Hong, Hezly Rivera, Danila Leykin, Claire Pease, Yul Moldauer, and Charleigh Bullock

The American Cup, which debuted as an international all-around competition in 1976 and later became part of the FIG’s world cup series, was one of the last events the gymnastics world saw in 2020 before Covid shut everything down.

Most meets returned within a year or so of the global shutdown, but the FIG all-around world cup series disappeared, and the American Cup along with it. A small competition that generally saw fewer than 10 competitors, the series was expensive to produce, and it was difficult to attract top-performing athletes who didn’t want to travel – halfway around the world in many cases – for a one-day event. The all-around series as we knew it is still in limbo, but USA Gymnastics announced last year that the American Cup would return in honor of its 50th anniversary this year, and with a brand-new mixed team format to help nations prepare for the introduction of a mixed team competition at the Olympic Games in 2028.

There are already a bunch of mixed team competitions held around the world, with the most popular being the Swiss Cup, the Sokol Grand Prix, and the DTB Pokal Mixed Cup. At the higher level, the European Youth Olympic Festival introduced a mixed team competition a few years ago, and the event was also added to European Championships last year, also in an effort to help athletes prepare for a similar format in Los Angeles.

Most of these follow a similar format, with all teams competing in the earliest round and facing elimination for the semifinals and finals. There are some nuances across each series, however, and I think the American Cup format is closest to what we typically see at the DTB Pokal.

The Competitors

A total of eight nations will compete at the American Cup, with each team fielding two or three athletes to contribute to the total.

BRAZIL
Vitaliy Guimaraes Diogo Paes Diogo Soares	Gabriela Boucas Ana Luiza Lima Sophia Weisberg
CHINA
Li Hongyan Xie Chenyi Zhang Yangyu	Ke Qinqin Tian Zhuofan Zhang Qingying
GREAT BRITAIN
Oakley Banks Sam Mostowfi Sol Scott	Abigail Martin Emily Roper Ruby Stacey
JAPAN
Hashimoto Daiki Tsunogai Tomoharu	Kishi Rina Nakamura Haruka
MEXICO
Rodrigo Gomez Isaac Nuñez Mario Rojas	Natalia Escalera Mariangela Flores Paulina Guerra
PHILIPPINES
Evan Aliwalas Zachary Nunez	Chiara Andrew Llya Escoses Haylee Garcia
SPAIN
Nicolau Mir Joel Plata	Marina Escudero Alba Petisco
UNITED STATES
Asher Hong Danila Leykin Yul Moldauer	Charleigh Bullock Claire Pease Hezly Rivera

How Does It Work?

The American Cup will include three rounds of competition, with two teams eliminated from each round and team scores not carrying over between rounds. Teams are choose between three MAG apparatuses – floor, parallel bars, and high bar – and three WAG events – uneven bars, beam, and floor – in each round, and athletes aren’t allowed to repeat an event.

In the preliminary round, all eight teams will put up two MAG and two WAG athletes each for a combined score of four routines per team. For this round, the start list was determined by a random draw. At the conclusion of this round, the six teams with the highest combined scores then move on to the semifinals.

The semifinal round will look the same as the first, with all six teams that have advanced again putting up two MAG and two WAG athletes apiece for a combined score of four routines per team, with the only difference being that the rotation order will be determined by how teams were ranked in round one. At the end of the semifinals, the four teams with the highest combined scores then move on to the third and final round.

In the finals, also known as the medal round, the remaining four teams will again put up two MAG and two WAG athletes apiece for a combined score of four routines per team, with the rotation order again determined by the previous round’s rankings, and the best three teams based on this round’s scores will finish on the podium.

How to Follow

The event begins at 6 pm local time, with streaming on Peacock in the U.S. and an international stream on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel, as well as live scores available here.

We’ll also be reporting live from the arena and will have a live blog up and running. You can also follow us on Twitter!

Article by Lauren Hopkins