LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – Area 3 had themselves an evening on the 2024 Elite Crew Cup, returning to the highest of the rostrum for the primary time since 2021 with a 314.869.
Area 8 was second with a 310.689, and Area 1, the 2022 and 2023 champions, rounded out the highest 3 with a 310.640.
Area 3 consisted of Jun Iwai, Jesse Hanny, Kiran Mandava, Kiefer Hong, Davide Comparin, and Xander Hong.
If a few of these names sound acquainted, it’s as a result of Mandava and the Hong brothers are legacies of kinds; Kiran’s older brother, Vishal, was on the Area 3 staff that received in 2021, as was Kiefer and Xander’s brother, Asher, who it’s possible you’ll know now because the reigning U.S. males’s all-around champion, reigning NCAA vault champion, and 2023 world staff bronze medalist.
Iwai additionally received the 2024 Winter Cup junior males’s all-around title, edging reigning U.S. males’s 16 all-around champion Nathan Roman by two hundredths – 80.186 to 80.166 – regardless of an early fall on excessive bar. Mandava was shut behind in third with an 80.141.
“I’m tremendous pleased with how the area did, and we had been capable of win,” Iwai stated after the meet. “I really feel like that’s extra necessary than my particular person outcomes.”
Area 3 rode prime scores on rings and parallel bars to the title. Additionally they had the second finest staff scores on pommel horse, vault, and excessive bar, in addition to the third finest rating on ground.
The staff overcame adversity on vault, the place Comparin bought injured partway by way of and so they needed to make a final minute adjustment.
“Lineups modified, however that didn’t shake us. We stayed focus and had been capable of get the win,” Iwai mirrored.
Iwai certified first to vault and ground finals with huge scores of 14.676 and 15.055, respectively. His scores on these occasions had been bolstered by 1.431 factors in bonus throughout the 2. (The junior males proceed to make the most of a home bonus system for issue regardless of the senior males not using it this 12 months forward of the Olympics.)
Whereas Iwai graduates highschool this 12 months, he’s not following the well-traveled path to NCAA gymnastics. As a substitute, he’s going “professional” and shifting to coach at EVO Gymnastics, the place Olympians and Olympic contenders like Brody Malone, Shane Wiskus, Stephen Nedoroscik, Curran Phillips, and Alex Diab at the moment prepare.
The nonprofit MAG Basis USA is housed at EVO and funds choose athletes like these beforehand talked about with a purpose of serving to the U.S. return to the Olympic podium in 2024 and to the highest of the rostrum in 2028.
As a funded athlete, Iwai can have a small wage, housing stipend, and the chance to earn efficiency bonuses, along with a nationwide staff stipend if he makes the staff sooner or later. His dad is his coach, and he’s been employed by EVO, so that they’re taking the pair.
“[It’s] not solely that. My dream has at all times been to grow to be Olympic all-around champion, and I believe that path, going to EVO, makes that extra attainable than if I went to NCAA,” Iwai stated of his choice.
He’s not fully axing school although; Iwai plans to attend a small school within the space to perhaps main in enterprise or one thing else. He doesn’t know but, however at 17, he’s bought time to determine that out and a few desires to realize earlier than then.
Outcomes – 2024 Elite Crew Cup
Prime 3 groups at 2024 Elite Crew Cup:
- Area 3 – 314.869
- Area 8 – 310.689
- Area 1 – 310.640
Junior males’s all-around prime 3 at 2024 Winter Cup:
- Jun Iwai (Area 3) – 80.186
- Nathan Roman (Area 1) – 80.166
- Kiran Mandava (Area 3) – 80.141
Full outcomes from the 2024 Elite Crew Cup right here. Full outcomes from the junior males’s all-around competitors right here.
Together with Iwai on ground and vault, Area 8’s Alex Karadzhov led the best way on pommel horse with a 13.867, Area 7’s Michael Scheiner on parallel bars with a 14.502, Area 1’s Justin Park on rings with a 13.619, and Area 8’s Danila Leykin on excessive bar with a 14.026.
Junior males’s competitors on the 2024 Winter Cup continues Sunday when the highest seven athletes on every equipment will compete in occasion finals alongside the senior males throughout Day 2 of males’s competitors, beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. Extra data on how one can watch will be discovered right here. We’ll even be live-blogging the meet.
