U.S. men struggle in individual gymnastics competition

LONDON -- Three-time defending world champion Kohei Uchimura surged into the all-around lead Wednesday at the halfway point of the men’s Olympic gymnastics individual finals with a soaring vault that was scored as 16.266.

The U.S. men have historically struggled on the pommel horse and that apparatus might have quickly ended the all-around hopes of both John Orozco, the 19-year-old from the Bronx, and his teammate, 20-year-old Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla.

Orozco seemed to perform his entire routine as if he was climbing straight uphill and by the time he got to his dismount he had to rest his body on the horse to keep from falling. When his score of 12.566 was posted, Orozco hung his head.

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Leyva, 20, who had the highest qualifying score of the all-around finalists, did a little better. But near the end of his routine Leyva, too, lost momentum and came to almost a complete stop. His coach and stepfather, Yin Alvarez, leaped and clapped after the performance but the judges weren’t fooled. Leyva scored only 13.500 and left him with a very long climb up to medal position.

At the halfway point, Leyva was tied for 17th place and Orozco was in 23rd place, second-to-last. Orozco (15.433) and Leyva (15.366) had made it through their first rotation, floor exercise, without major mistakes but any momentum disappeared on the horse.

Japan’s Kazuhito Tanaka held the second spot behind his countryman, Uchimura.

If there was something to look forward for Leyva, it is that his three best events are still to come: vault, parallel bars and the horizontal bar.

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