PARIS — The U.S. men’s gymnastics won the bronze medal in the team event Monday, continuing Deerfield native Paul Juda’s expectation-shattering Olympic run.
Japan took first, finishing .532 points ahead of the second-place Chinese team. The United States was less than 1.2 points away from claiming silver.
The medal ends a 16-year drought for the U.S. team, which last made the podium in 2008. After securing the medal, Juda embraced his Michigan teammate Frederick Richard, who laid down some of the day’s biggest scores for the United States.
Juda, 23, played a key role in helping the American squad reach the finals, with a stellar performance in the preliminary round while some of his teammates faltered. He was equally steady in the finals, nailing his vault and improving on his horizontal bar score from the qualifying round.
He will compete for the final time in Paris on Wednesday, when he makes a longshot bid for an individual all-around medal.
A Stevenson High School graduate, Juda was the last gymnast to make the U.S. Olympic team and came with the modest goal of being a dependable lead-off man for teammates who had bigger tricks. Instead, he laid down a series of routines that pushed the United States into the team finals and qualified him for the individual all-around.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
