Olympic Gymnastics Standings 2012: Young USA Men's Team Will Rebound from London

The U.S. men's gymnastics team flopped in Monday's Olympics team competition, but don't let that outcome fool you, brighter days are ahead for this young and talented team. 

This team entered the London Games with completely legitimate gold-medal hopes, and they backed that up by ending qualifying with the best score. 

Then in the bright lights of the Olympics team competition, the Americans choked. In a performance marred by falls and blunders, the U.S. finished in fifth place. Check out the results.

Final Men's Team Standings 

1. China, 275.997
2. Japan, 271.952
3. Great Britain, 271.711
4. Ukraine, 271.526
5. United States, 269.952
6. Russia, 269.603
7. Germany, 268.019
8. France, 265.441

It is hard to come to any conclusion other than the fact that the U.S. underperformed, as they succumbed to the immense pressure of the moment. And it is completely understandable.

This is a young team. Check out the ages of the five men who competed on Monday: Jonathan Horton, 26, Jacob Dalton, 20, Danell Leyva, 20, Sam Mikulak, 19 and John Orozco, 19.

Horton is the only member of this team with any previous Olympics experience, and the only one that can legally buy a beer in America. The young men he is surrounded by are still developing, and that includes the ability of handling pressure. 

These talented youngsters will learn from this experience and be better because of it. 

It is impossible to forecast who will be on this team by the time the next Olympics roll around, but with an amazingly solid core of gymnasts who will be no older than 24, it is safe to say that the team will be loaded. 

So while Monday was a rough day for Team USA, it will end up being just a precursor of the greatness this team will achieve in the 2016 Olympics.