Men's Gymnastics 2012: US Team Shouldn't Relax After Strong Start

Qualification for the United States men's gymnastics team went about as well as could have been expected, but the job is far from finished.

On Day 1 in London, the Americans dominated competition.

The 20-year-old Danell Leyva finished first in the all-around with a superb 91.265. Fellow countryman John Orozco came in fourth with a score of 90.597. 

Sam Mikulak, Jonathan Horton and Jacob Dalton all added in the necessary efforts, propelling USA to first in the team all-around. 

If things continue down that path, the men will bring multiple gold medals back to the States.

Having said that, making too much of qualifying would be a mistake.

As impressive as the Americans were, the sloppiness and disappointment of the favorites coming into London was just as shocking.

Let's start with Kohei Uchimura and Japan. 

The 23-year-old Uchimura, who took home gold at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo just nine months ago, was far from his usual self.

Arguably the best gymnast of his generation, Uchimura fell multiple times, including on the pommel horse. He received just 12.466 points and dropped to 60th in that event.

Overall, he finished a disappointing ninth in qualifying.

Teammate Koji Yamamuro, who grabbed bronze in Tokyo, also put forth a subpar effort. Yamamuro finished just 18th in the individual all-around. 

Of course, while Uchimura and Yamamuro—the individual powerhouses—struggled, the heavy favorite in the team competition also struggled. 

China, the defending Olympic champions and winner of the last five team world titles, was far from China-like. The team fell—literally on a number of occasions—to sixth overall in the team competition. 

Therefore, on the same day, both the best individual in the world and the best team in the world had quite possibly the worst day of their career. 

If the USA relies on that happening again, it might just leave London empty handed. 

Fortunately, the young, first-time Olympians have someone to remind them of that (via USA Today):

"

The U.S. gymnasts said they were aware of China's struggles in the first session and Japan's stumbles during their competition but weren't focused on those results. 'It's prelims. Everyone starts over. They're a great team; no one is discounting them,' U.S. assistant coach Tom Meadows said.

"

The Americans can only control their own actions. They can't make the best gymnast in the world continue to fall. They can only go out there and repeat Saturday's performance.

If they do that, they will grace the top of the podium as a team for the first time since 1984. Just don't expect it to be as easy as it was during qualifying. 

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