Men's gymnastics action at the 2012 Olympics continues August 6 with the men's vault final. Just a day after Team USA's McKayla Maroney took a devastating spill while landing her second routine during the women's final and had to settle for silver, can Sam Mikulak, the nation's sole event qualifier in the field of eight, pull out a win?
It's possible, but definitely not a given. Mikulak posted a solid 16.083 to qualify for the event final, but several other competitors in the mix--including Russia's Denis Ablyazin, the Republic of Korea's Hak Seon Yang and Chile's Enrique Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda--received higher marks. And it's not wise to discount the power of home-field advantage, so Great Britain's Kristian Thomas shouldn't be overlooked.
For his part, Mikulak planned to enter the competition with a good night's sleep under his belt. On the afternoon of August 5, he tweeted fans, "Time for bed to rest up for vault finals tomorrow, my season is almost to a close!#longyear #excited #teamUSA"
Also competing in the London Olympics vault final are Romania's Flavius Koczi, Spain's Isaac Botella Perez, and Ukraine's Igor Radivilov. The competition begins at 7:41 a.m. PT and can be viewed via livestream at NBCOlympics.com.
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