Danell Leyva: How the American Gymnast Can Contend for the Men's All-Around Gold

After the first day of qualifying, Danell Leyva has put himself in a great position to contend for a medal in the men's all-around final to be held on Monday. He performed strong on all of his apparatuses, especially the high bar, an event for which he has qualified for the finals.

Currently sitting at the top of the all-around standings, Leyva has also qualified to participate in this event. Despite the high marks, he will have to continue to perform up to the level that won him a National Championship if he wants a shot at the gold.

Three-time world champion in this event, Kohei Uchimura, did not have a strong day but he still has to be a favorite to win the gold in this event. British gymnast Kristian Thomas is also a medal favorite, and John Orozco could also manage to slip on to the podium.

When Monday comes the slate will be wiped clean, so Leyva will have to imitate and even improve upon his performance in his signature event of the p-bars, and will have to clean up a few mistakes he made on floor and the pommel horse.

He will also need to once again dominate the high bar.

Essentially, the road to the all-around gold will not be an easy one for Leyva, but he has the talent to get it done. Here is what Leyva needs to do on each event in order to win the all-around gold.

Nail the Vault

Danell Leyva's weakest event would definitely have to be the vault. Even at the Olympic Trials he struggled, finishing 14th out of 15 competitors.

While that was good enough for him to win the all-around at the trials, it certainly won't be good enough for him to win the all-around at the Olympics.

To put it into context, out of the top 15 scores from the all-around leaders from Day 1 on vault, Leyva's 15.500 was good enough for 12th. Although it was a good vault for him, ultimately, it might not be enough.

With a level of difficulty already less than most of his competitors, Leyva's best chance to make something of this event is to do what he did today and stick the vault. He needs to be near flawless in the air and can't afford to take a 10th or more in landing deductions.

Don't Fall off the Pommel Horse

The pommel horse is one of those events that most gymnasts just want to get over with it. it is the toughest of the six apparatuses, and the goal for non-pommel horse specialists is basically just to stay on.

On Day 1, Leyva had one of the best pommel horse scores of the all-around contenders. His 14.866 was good enough for fourth-best in the top 15, and he has the potential to improve on this and notch a 15.000.

Although I do not believe Leyva will need much better than a 15 on pommel horse, it can't hurt. if he cleans up his deductions by just a few 10ths here and there, it can only help his chase toward the gold. 

Execute the Floor Exercise

The floor exercise is one of those events that Leyva is not the best in the world in, but is an event in which he certainly holds his own. After the first day of qualifications, his 15.100 on the floor, put him right in the middle of the pack of the 15 top all-around contenders.

Although Leyva is not as gifted on the floor as Japanese sensation Kohei Uchimura, he does have a few different strength poses and tumbling passes that, if executed perfectly, can set him apart.

He is not expected to place in the top of the floor when the all-around is said and done, but if he wants to beat Uchimura, he will have to manage not to lose too much ground in this event.

The best way for Leyva to do this is to just execute his routine.

Although he was solid today, there were a few bobbles when coming out of tumbling passes and a few additional steps taken on landings that he can clean up. Ultimately, if he puts down a mistake-free routine he will put himself in a much better place going into two of his top events.

Salvage a Performance on the Still Rings

The rings are another event in which Leyva finished in the middle of the pack. He actually had a relatively good day on rings, but his score is likely not going to be good enough if he is going to win an all around.

Probably one of Leyva's weakest events, the best he can do for himself is to just put together a mistake free run. He needs to execute all of his elements, which he is very capable of doing, and again, needs a pretty solid dismount.

This is one of those events where Leyva should be okay if he just puts together a solid and mistake-free performance. The rings are not considered Uchimura's best event, and another all-around top contender, David Belyavskiy, has been known to falter on this event in the past.

Be the World Champion on the Parallel Bars

Hopefully for Leyva, the next two events bookend the competition for him, as the parallel bars and high bar are his best and highest scoring events.

Leyva was not at his best today, and part of that was because of his shaky routine on the p-bars. Unfortunately for Leyva, the mistakes he made kept him from getting to defend his world title in this event, as he did not qualify for the finals.

In the all-around, this event really is Leyva's bread and butter. He has a great difficulty score and can really execute flawless and exciting routines. What he can't afford to do is what he did today—make uncharacteristic mistakes.

Despite Leyva's mistakes on the p-bars, he still finished in the top four of the 15 gymnasts leading the all-around. His 15.333 was just two 10ths behind Uchimura, who actually executed his routine on the bars pretty well.

Leyva has the capability and difficulty to better that score, and if he can score around a 15.6, which was his gold medal winning score at the world championships, it should be enough to keep him in the medal conversation.

Repeat Day 1's Performance on the High Bar

It is unusual seeing Danell Leyva competing at the apparatuses without his stepfather right there with him, clapping him on and exciting the crowd as his son completes acrobatic routines. In the all-around final, Yin will not be able to be with Leyva on the mat, but in the high bar final, it will once again be father and son reunited as he goes for the gold.

In the all-around final, Leyva will have to replicate what he did on the high bar today.

He was simply amazing, nailing each of his release moves and adding his typical and unique flare in simple moves that no one else does. He flew high and wowed the crowd and the judges as he ended with the top score of a 15.866.

The best part about that score for Leyva is that he has room to improve. His difficulty and execution scores could easily net him a 16.000 or better if he does what he has done in the past.

Not only does Leyva have the capability to win the gold in this event, if he performs well enough, he will also be on track for a medal in the all around. If he performs well in the p-bars and floor, and holds his own in the the other events, he could even walk away with the gold.

All gold medal hopes, however, rest on this event, and it would benefit Leyva greatly if this was either his first or last event of the day.