Yul Moldauer Earns Best U.S. Men’s All-Around Finish At Worlds Since 2010

Yul Moldauer reacts after competing on pommel horse during the men's team final at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo.

Olympian Yul Moldauer will no doubt be disappointed to just miss the all-around podium at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, but can take heart that he had the best performance at worlds for any U.S. man in over a decade.
Moldauer’s fourth-place finish Friday in Kitakyushu, Japan, was the best for an American in men’s all-around since Olympic medalist Jonathan Horton won a bronze medal in 2010. Moldauer finished just .534 points back of winning his own bronze medal, which went to Illia Kovtun of Ukraine. Boheng Zhang of China placed first with 87.981 and Daiki Hashimoto of Japan was second with 87.964. Moldauer’s best apparatus was the pommel horse, on which he finished second. 
Besides Horton’s bronze medal in 2010, Moldauer’s finish is also the best in men’s all-around at a major senior meet for the U.S. since Danell Leyva won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games London 2012. Moldauer made his Olympic debut this summer in Tokyo and placed 19th in qualifying for the individual all-around and did not advance to the final. Moldauer helped the U.S. men to a fifth-place finish in the team competition and also made the final in floor exercise, placing sixth.
The 25-year-old from Arvada, Colorado, had a decorated career at the University of Oklahoma, where he won multiple national titles and the Nissen Emery Award in 2019 as the top male gymnast in the NCAA. The 2018 USA Gymnastics Male Athlete of the Year, Moldauer won gold medals in all-around and floor exercise at the 2017 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.