Former Ohio State gymnast Alec Yoder advances to men’s final in pommel horse

A little scarlet and gray will be going for a medal in men’s gymnastics after qualifying for the pommel horse finals.

If you are a fan of all things Ohio State, you are in luck watching the Olympics because a whopping 26 athletes are current or former Buckeyes.

One of those former OSU athletes is gymnast Alec Yoder who was selected to the men’s gymnastics squad to be a one-event specialist in the pommel horse. And while he has no shot at an all-around, he did get his turn to show what he could do on Saturday. That’s when the stars and stripes took to the gym to try and qualify for the finals in the team event and each individual event, including the all-around.

We are happy to report that Yoder did not disappoint. He put together one whale of a performance to qualify for the pommel horse finals, finishing with the fourth-best score overall with a 15.200, just .066 behind the top overall performance.

Yoder is a 2019 graduate of Ohio State and was a 10-time All-American during his Ohio State career, including four as a pommel horse All-American and three as an all-around All-American. Yoder won the national championship on the pommel horse as a senior in April 2019 and earned an All-American nod on the parallel bars. He helped the Buckeyes to back-to-back Big Ten team titles in 2016 and 2017.

You can watch Yoder’s attempt at getting on the medal stand on Sunday, August 1. It’ll air live at 4 a.m. EDT. The session also includes finals in men’s floor, and women’s vault and uneven bars. Fans can watch live on NBCOlympics.com while the session will be broadcast on a tape delay on NBC at noon EDT.

Former Ohio State gymnast Alec Yoder makes U.S. Olympic team

Add another former Buckeye to the U.S. Olympic contingent headed to Tokyo!

The Ohio State family has another Olympian that Buckeye Nation can watch in Tokyo. That’s because Ohio State gymnast Alec Yoder has been selected to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics squad as a pommel horse specialist.

Yoder earned his spot on Team U.S.A. as a specialist for the pommel horse with a 14.550 score Saturday afternoon after posting a 15.05 score that put him in the lead by 0.95 points.

Yoder was chosen by the selection committee and will join four others on the team in Tokyo: Brody Malone, who won the Olympic Trials all-around competition, Yul Moldauer, who was second in the all-around, and Shane Wiscus and Sam Mikulak, who were each named to the team by the selection committee.

Yoder will be going to his first Olympic games after missing out on a chance in 2016 because of injury. He was an eight-time All-American for Ohio State between 2016 and 2019, including a three-time all-around All-American. Yoder won a national championship on the pommel horse his senior season and earned All-American honors on the parallel bars.

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