Sam Mikulak wins fourth straight U.S. title; Orozco, Leyva in Olympic danger

By Nick ZaccardiJun 5, 2016, 8:10 PM EDT

Sam Mikulak won his fourth straight P&G Championships all-around title and took another step toward his second Olympic team on Sunday.

John Orozco and Danell Leyva, the top two U.S. gymnasts in 2012, finished 10th and 16th after two days of competition in Hartford, Conn., this weekend. They have serious work ahead to make the five-man team for Rio.

The Olympic men’s gymnastics selection competition is at the halfway point after the P&G Championships. The Olympic team will be announced after the Olympic Trials in St. Louis in three weeks. At least three of the five members, perhaps all five, will be chosen by a committee based primarily off results at those two meets.

A gymnast can clinch an Olympic berth by finishing in the top two in the all-around and the top three in three of the six events in combined standings after four days of competition at the P&G Championships and Olympic Trials. Nobody currently meets that criteria.

Mikulak totaled 181.5 points in Hartford, winning by 1.65 points over Chris Brooks, a 2012 Olympic alternate making his last push for a first Olympics.

Mikulak is the first man to win four straight U.S. all-around titles since Blaine Wilson in 2000 and the fifth overall.

Mikulak, coming back from a partially torn Achilles that kept him out of 2015 Worlds, overtook first-day leader Donnell Whittenburg and Brooks, who led after four of six rotations Sunday.

“It’s a great accomplishment, I’m very happy to still be winning,” Mikulak told media in Hartford. “I want to do better routines. … I want to unleash those awesome routines that I’ve been doing in training and trust my training a little bit more.”

Jacob Dalton, another 2012 Olympian, was third, 2.5 points back. Full scores are here.

John Orozco, who won this meet four years ago en route to his first Olympics, was 4.5 points behind. Orozco said he struggled with cramps and being “drained physically” this weekend.

Orozco considered himself fortunate to even compete on all events in Hartford, given a doctor told him it wouldn’t be possible after he tore his right Achilles for the second time last June 15.

“I honestly don’t feel any pressure at all [about my Olympic team chances],” Orozco said after bettering a Friday performance where he fell off the pommel horse. “I finally feel like I’m getting there. I’m still not there, which is OK, because at trials is where I want to peak. … I’m glad that I didn’t do my absolute best yet. Hopefully I’m saving a little for trials.”

Leyva, who won the 2012 Olympic Trials and all-around bronze at the London Games, echoed Orozco’s attitude after dropping from 12th to 16th on Sunday. In two days, Leyva fell off the high bar, went out of bounds on floor exercise and mangled a pommel horse dismount, among several errors.

“I don’t mind being the underdog,” said Leyva, who added that dog bites from one month ago covered by a full-left-leg wrap didn’t affect him in Hartford. “I wasn’t trying to be perfect here. You’ve got to be perfect in Rio.”

If Orozco and Leyva repeat their P&G routines at Olympic Trials, there may be no Rio.

The formation of the Olympic team is much like a puzzle. The top all-around gymnast(s) — Mikulak, for sure — are surrounded by a supporting cast that can plug in the holes.

Orozco and Leyva excel on similar events, high bar and parallel bars. Orozco placed third on high bar and sixth on parallel bars this weekend. Leyva was sixth on high bar and fourth on parallel bars.

Mikulak, Brooks and Whittenburg are also strong on one or both of those events, complicating matters since a nation uses three athletes per apparatus in the Olympic team final.

The U.S.’ biggest need is on pommel horse, where neither Orozco nor Leyva excels. That could favor the likes of Alex Naddour, a four-time U.S. champion on the event who is also usable on still rings and floor exercise.

Naddour, who got a London 2012 tattoo on his right bicep after being an Olympic alternate, flubbed his pommel horse dismount Friday but came back Sunday with the highest score on the apparatus of all gymnasts on both days.

“The U.S. team really wants to change that idea of horse is a weak event for us,” Mikulak said. “Every team has its strengths and weaknesses. All we can do is minimize our weaknesses as much as possible.”

NBC Olympics gymnastics producer Julia Fincher contributed to this report from Hartford.

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Iga Swiatek sweeps into French Open final, where she faces a surprise

By OlympicTalkJun 8, 2023, 5:30 PM EDT

Iga Swiatek marched into the French Open final without dropping a set in six matches. All that stands between her and a third Roland Garros title is an unseeded foe.

Swiatek, the top-ranked Pole, swept 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-2, 7-6 (7) in Thursday’s semifinal in her toughest test all tournament. Haddad Maia squandered three break points at 4-all in the second set.

Swiatek dropped just 23 games thus far, matching her total en route to her first French Open final in 2020 (which she won for her first WTA Tour title of any kind). After her semifinal, she signed a courtside camera with the hashtag #stepbystep.

“For sure I feel like I’m a better player,” than in 2020, she said. “Mentally, tactically, physically, just having the experience, everything. So, yeah, my whole life basically.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

In Saturday’s final, Swiatek gets 43rd-ranked Czech Karolina Muchova, who upset No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus to reach her first major final.

Muchova, a 26-year-old into the second week of the French Open for the first time, became the first player to take a set off the powerful Belarusian this tournament, then rallied from down 5-2 in the third set to prevail 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5.

Sabalenka, who overcame previous erratic serving to win the Australian Open in January, had back-to-back double faults in her last service game.

“Lost my rhythm,” she said. “I wasn’t there.”

Muchova broke up what many expected would be a Sabalenka-Swiatek final, which would have been the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 match at the French Open since Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in the 2013 final.

Muchova is unseeded, but was considered dangerous going into the tournament.

In 2021, she beat then-No. 1 Ash Barty to make the Australian Open semifinals, then reached a career-high ranking of 19. She dropped out of the top 200 last year while struggling through injuries.

“Some doctors told me maybe you’ll not do sport anymore,” Muchova said. “It’s up and downs in life all the time. Now I’m enjoying that I’m on the upper part now.”

Muchova has won all five of her matches against players ranked in the top three. She also beat Swiatek in their lone head-to-head, but that was back in 2019 when both players were unaccomplished young pros. They have since practiced together many times.

“I really like her game, honestly,” Swiatek said. “I really respect her, and she’s I feel like a player who can do anything. She has great touch. She can also speed up the game. She plays with that kind of freedom in her movements. And she has a great technique. So I watched her matches, and I feel like I know her game pretty well.”

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s defining race; Paris Diamond League TV, live stream info

By OlympicTalkJun 8, 2023, 4:01 PM EDT

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

For Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, what happens in her first outdoor race of 2023 on Friday could dictate the rest of her season. It may impact her 2024 Olympic plans, too.

McLaughlin-Levrone strays from the 400m hurdles — where she is the reigning Olympic and world champion and four times broke the world record — to race her first flat 400m in two years at a Diamond League meet in Paris.

Peacock streams it live from 3-5 p.m. ET. CNBC airs coverage Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

What we know is this: On Friday, McLaughlin-Levrone will race against the Olympic and world silver medalist in the 400m (Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic) and the 2019 World champion (Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain).

Next month, McLaughlin-Levrone will race the flat 400m at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the qualifying meet for August’s world championships. She is racing that flat 400m at USATF Outdoors at least in part because she already has a bye into the 400m hurdles at worlds as defending champion.

What we don’t know: which race McLaughlin-Levrone will enter at worlds. Her coach, Bobby Kersee, said last month that she will choose between the 400m and 400m hurdles for worlds, should she finish top three in the 400m at USATF Outdoors to qualify in that second event. She will not try a 400m-400m hurdles double at worlds.

McLaughlin-Levrone was asked Thursday which event she would pick if given the choice.

“Is it bad to say I don’t know?” she said in a press conference. “Honestly, ask me after tomorrow. I don’t know. I’ve got to run this one first and see how it feels.”

McLaughlin-Levrone also doesn’t know what she will try to race at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Next year, the 400m-400m hurdles double is more feasible given one could do both events without ever racing more than once per day.

“We’re still focused on 2023,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “One step at a time, literally. Obviously that’s something as the season comes to an end we’ll kind of start to look and figure out what our plan is for next year.”

Here are the Paris entry lists. Here’s the schedule of events (all times Eastern):

12:57 p.m. ET — Women’s Shot Put
1:35 — Women’s High Jump
2:15 — Women’s Discus
2:20 — Women’s Pole Vault
3:04 — Men’s 400m Hurdles
3:15 — Women’s 800m
3:19 — Men’s Long Jump
3:24 — Women’s 5000m
3:42 — Women’s Javelin
3:52 — Men’s 110m Hurdles
4:02 — Women’s 400m
4:12 — Men’s 100m
4:22 — Women’s 200m
4:32 — Men’s 3000m Steeplechase
4:51 — Men’s 800m

Here are six events to watch:

Women’s Pole Vault — 2:20 p.m. ET
Olympic and world champion Katie Moon won the first two Diamond League meets and again faces some of her biggest domestic and international challengers in Paris. That includes fellow American Sandi Morris, who won the first three Diamond League meets last year, then took silver behind Moon at worlds on count back. Plus 34-year-old Slovenian Tina Sutej, who ranks second in the world this season.

Women’s 5000m — 3:24 p.m. ET
Includes the world record holders at 1500m (Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in her first 5000m since 2015), 3000m steeplechase (Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech) and the 5000m and 10,000m (Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey). Plus new American 10,000m record holder Alicia Monson, who is third on the U.S. all-time 5000m list at 14:31.11. Shelby Houlihan has the American record of 14:23.92.

Men’s 110m Hurdles — 3:52 p.m. ET
The three members of the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo — Grant Holloway, Devon Allen and Daniel Roberts — could face off for the first time in nearly a year. Holloway, who has a bye into worlds as defending champion, overcame a rare defeat in the Diamond League opener in Rabat to win his last two races. He is the fastest man in the world this year at 13.01 seconds. Allen isn’t far behind at 13.12, while Roberts has yet to race the hurdles this outdoor season.

Women’s 400m — 4:02 p.m. ET
Could very well determine the favorite for worlds. Reigning Olympic and world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas is on maternity leave. Paulino is the only other woman to break 49 seconds since the start of the pandemic, and she’s done it each of the last two years. Naser is the only other active woman to have broken 49 seconds, doing so in winning the 2019 World title (before she was banned for two years, through the Tokyo Olympics, for missing drug tests). McLaughlin-Levrone’s personal best from 2018 is 50.07 seconds, but she was just 18 years old then and focusing on the hurdles. Still, that time would have won the 2022 U.S. title. Last month, University of Arkansas junior Britton Wilson ran the fastest time by an American since 2009 — 49.13 — but she might bypass the flat 400m to focus on the hurdles this summer.

Men’s 100m — 4:12 p.m. ET
Could be a meeting between the reigning Olympic men’s 100m champion (Marcell Jacobs of Italy) and world men’s 200m champion (American Noah Lyles), which hasn’t happened since the 2009 World Championships 100m final, where Usain Bolt lowered the world record to 9.58 seconds and American Tyson Gay was second in a then-American record 9.71. Later in that meet, Bolt won his first world 200m title, a crown he held concurrently with his Olympic 100m titles through his 2017 retirement. But Jacobs, citing nerve pain, scratched out of the last two Diamond League meets, which were to be showdowns with world 100m champion Fred Kerley. Jacobs did show up for Thursday’s press conference. Lyles has a bye onto the world team in the 200m, but also wants to make the four-man U.S. team in the 100m. He ranks fifth among Americans by best time this season — 9.95.

Men’s 800m — 4:51 p.m. ET
The top five from the world championships are entered, led by Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Korir of Kenya. This event was in an international doldrums for much of the time since Kenyan David Rudisha repeated as Olympic champion in 2016, then faded away from competition. But the emergence of 18-year-old Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi has injected excitement this season. Wanyonyi is the world’s fastest man this year. The second-fastest, Kenyan Wycliffe Kinyamal, is also in this field.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported the TV window for the meet broadcast. The CNBC broadcast begins at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, not 3.

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