Chattooga County native Brody Malone is competing at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships for the first time in four years, and for the first time ever in the senior division.
He’s in the lead after the first of two nights of competition, a step toward potentially making the team for Tokyo after the Olympic Trials in three weeks.
Malone, the two-time NCAA all-around champion for Stanford, stayed upright while the nation’s most decorated men — six-time U.S. champion Sam Mikulak (seventh place) and 2017 U.S. champ Yul Moldauer (tied for second) — each fell once in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday night.
Malone totaled 86.25 points. He leads Moldauer and Stanford teammate Brandon Briones by a significant 2.65 points going into the last night of competition last Saturday.
Malone, 21, last competed at nationals in 2017, winning a junior crown.
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