Men's Olympic Gymnastics 2012: What to Expect from USA Top Stars in Team Finals

When the first day of qualifying ended, the U.S. stood atop the standings, a place that no one but the team themselves, expected them to be. In qualifying first overall for the team finals,  the U.S. completed the first step in backing up their belief that they are in fact gold medal contenders.

Now unfortunately for the U.S., qualifying scores stopped mattering after the eight final teams were announced. They will not only have to duplicate their day one magic, but they will also have to hope that China and Japan duplicate their day one showings, which right now would have them off of the medal podium entirely.

Although both China and Japan made mental and uncharacteristic mistakes, America was also far from perfect. There are several areas they can clean up and going into the medal finals, they will have a second chance to show the world they are for real.

There are several things the U.S. will need in order to win the gold, not the least of these being teamwork. After the first day, it was teamwork that helped to pick each other up after the falls and teamwork that helped each member know they were a part of something greater than themselves.

In addition to the teamwork, each of the five members of Team USA will need to bring their best on what has now been chosen as their best apparatuses. From Jake Dalton on floor to Danell Leyva on the bars, the Americans will have to come up big on the biggest stage and in the biggest moment of their lives.

For the U.S. to win gold, here is what each member of Team USA needs to do in the finals.

Jake Dalton: Continued Consistency in All Events

While Danell Leyva and John Orozco performed solidly on all six apparatuses, earning them a trip to the all-around finals, and while Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton dazzled on vault and high bar respectively, earning them a trip to the event finals, Jake Dalton quietly put down three hit routines on floor, still rings and vault.

Liking to stay in the background, Dalton came up big just when the Americans needed him to. He was the last one chosen to make the team, but one of the deciding factors that put him over the top of others like Steve Legendre was his consistency.

So far, Dalton has shown this consistency and has excelled on his best event, floor exercise. His score was good enough to qualify him for the finals in this event and he could be a dark horse to get a medal in a few days.

Until that final happens however, Dalton will be after a different medal. If he continues to perform consistently, then the 20-year-old who likes to stay in the background won't be able to stay away from the spotlight much longer. If the U.S. gets performances out of him, all scores above 15.000, like they did in qualifying, then it will be very hard for them not to win the surprise gold medal.

Sam Mikulak: Monster Vaulting and Solid Work on the Pommel Horse

Sam Mikulak, the 20-year-old junior from Michigan, almost didn't make the Olympic team. He suffered a bad ankle injury at the U.S. Trials and it looked as if he would not be selected for the team. In a bold move, Mikulak opted to perform on just one apparatus and one only, the pommel horse.

With a healed ankle and renewed confidence, Mikulak will be looked to for a solid performance on pommel horse, the event that got him on the team in the first place and the event the team as a whole is weakest in. Mikulak had a solid pommel horse performance on the first day of qualifying, only taking a few deductions. Of all of Team USA, he is one of the strongest on this apparatus.

In addition to pommel horse, Mikulak will be performing for the team on floor exercise, parallel bars and his bread and butter, the vault.

It was a monster and perfectly executed vault on day one that helped put the U.S. at the top of qualifying and that put Mikulak in the vault finals. It will take another perfectly executed vault, something Mikulak is more than capable of, to help keep the U.S. on top and keep their gold medal hopes alive.

Jonathan Horton: Stick All Routines and Provide Leadership

At 26 years old, Jonathan Horton is the elder statesman of this team, sometimes even referred to as "grandpa" by his teammates. Like a grandpa, Horton has been imparting his wisdom to his young teammates as he is the only one with Olympic experience and with an Olympic team medal.

Horton knows what it is like to stand on the podium with your teammates. In fact in 2008, it was his consistency and his strong performances that helped get Team USA the surprise bronze medal. In London, he will need to be that Jonathan Horton again if the U.S. wants to win the gold.

In a pretty erratic first day, Horton had two falls, one on pommel horse and the other on the floor exercise. Because of the format of qualifications, the U.S. did not have to take these falls. In the finals however it is three up and three down where every score counts.

Luckily for Horton, he did not have to compete in these two events. He will be representing the U.S. in his two strongest events, the still rings and the high bar, an event he won silver in Beijing and qualified for the event final in London.

In addition to the U.S. needing Horton to absolutely hit on his two best apparatuses, they will need him to continue to be a team leader. Before events he is the loudest cheering and after events, he is heard giving his teammates accolades or condolences. He also was seen at the end of the first day being completely serious with his teammates, telling them that it was only day one and that medals aren't awarded after day one.

He was tasked with keeping everyone calm and levelheaded as the group of teenagers and 20-year-olds were clearly excited as rookies can be. Horton was caught telling the boys to save their excitement for after they win the gold, sound advice as anything can happen between the start of team finals to the awarding of the medals. 

John Orozco: Clean Up the Little Mistakes

It is really hard to criticize John Orozco's performance from the first day of the gymnastics qualifying. He put together six solid scores on the apparatuses and put himself in the top eight of the all-around final. Orozco was very consistent and did exactly what Team USA asked him to do.

The good news for Orozco is that despite getting good scores and getting into the all-around finals, he was not his best. There were a lot of little areas, a lot of tenth of a point deductions that Orozco can easily clean up.

One of these small mistakes came on the parallel bars, one of John's best events. When making a transfer he moved his hands just a slight margin. The same was the case on the pommel horse as he needed to make a quick hand check and slid ever so slightly off of the bar and had to make the correction, costing him a few tenths. Orozco also had a few bobbles in some of his dismounts. All of these are little fixes and for Orozco, who leads the team by participating in five of the six events, every tenth of a point counts.

All of these were just little mistakes and despite them he still had a good day. No one can expect Orozco to be perfect, but in cleaning up the little things he will help Team USA's chance for gold and his own chance for an individual all-around medal.

He has been a fighter all of his life and he has come into the Olympics fighting. If he continues to fight and to show up like he did on day one, like the National Champion, the U.S. should stand a great shot at getting the gold.

Danell Leyva: Complete Mistake Free Runs on the Two Bar Events

Danell Leyva came into the Olympics as the best U.S. gymnast. With a strong score to win the U.S. Trials, Leyva also asserted himself as a legitimate medal contender in the all-around final. For Team USA, he is a key piece to the team and if the team hopes to win the gold medal, they will need Leyva to stick his two best routines: high bar and parallel bars.

Leyva was a little disappointed not to make the finals in the parallel bars, the event in which he was the defending world champion. Overall, he had a solid routine but a few uncharacteristic mistakes here and there ultimately cost him a spot in the final. Still, Leyva put together a good enough score to keep the U.S. at the head of the pack.

Even though these mistakes were only tenth of a point deductions, they added up. They were just a few mistakes but for Leyva, who is dominant in this event, any mistake is shocking. If he cleans up his routine and performs the way he did at the world championships, Leyva could end up putting up one of the best scores on this apparatus of the finals. It could also go a long way to helping the U.S. secure the gold.

In addition to the parallel bars, floor exercise and pommel horse, Leyva will have the opportunity to dazzle on the high bar.

At the end of qualifying, Leyva topped all qualifiers and will go into the high bar final as an outside favorite to take home a medal. Like he normally does, Leyva was near perfect on the bar. He flew high and amazed the judged by the precision and flare he adds to his routine. Leyva's degree of difficulty is among the top of those in the finals and he has the opportunity to really do something amazing on Monday.

If Leyva hits on these two routines, like he is expected to, the U.S. will certainly be in a great position to win their first team gold since 1984.