Brody Malone, after major injury, claims U.S. gymnastics championship

July 07, 2024

FORT WORTH — Brody Malone admitted that, for a moment during the first day of the U.S. gymnastics championships, he wasn’t his typical self. It wasn’t his performance that changed; his fantastic outing was reminiscent of years past. But as soon as he stuck his high bar dismount, he let out a roar. And for the introverted, even-keeled and usually stoic competitor, that was rare.

He couldn’t help it. Malone waited more than a year to return to an all-around competition, and that very dismount was the skill that went awry in March 2023. Three surgeries and a grueling recovery process later, Malone is back. By Saturday night, when he planted his feet into the mat on that dismount again, there was no grand celebration — just a single clap that produced a puff of chalk, a methodical acknowledgment of yet another successful routine on his way to a third national all-around title.

Over two nights of competition, the 24-year-old hit all 12 routines without any major mistakes, tallying a 172.300 total and proving that, as the Paris Olympics approach, he has returned to his pre-injury form. Malone finished more than two points ahead of runner-up Fred Richard (170.250), who won all-around bronze at the 2023 world championships.

What Malone did here — not even winning but just performing on all six events — didn’t seem possible until about three weeks ago, he said. Yet he cruised through the meet, a bulky knee brace the only visible reminder of an injury that threatened to derail his career. He had a 1.6-point lead after Thursday’s session, and his advantage grew larger with another strong outing Saturday. The Olympic trials are at the end of this month, and he will be a favorite to make the five-member team.

“I don’t like to lose,” Malone said. “It drives me. It makes me work hard. I didn’t come here to just show up and compete. I wanted to win.”

Malone won this competition in 2021 and 2022, solidifying himself as the country’s top male gymnast, but his promising trajectory unraveled in an instant. At an international competition in Germany, his hands slipped from the high bar, and he flew awkwardly through the air, trying to salvage his dismount before crashing into the mat. His right leg smashed into the ground at an unfortunate angle. The impact wrecked his knee, causing pain so intense and immediate that he didn’t need a diagnosis to see a daunting road ahead.

Malone’s signature event had betrayed him. As he grabbed his leg and winced, he began thinking of his future in the most basic terms. Malone remembers thinking, “All right, the next step is to get on the stretcher.” Once there, he focused on making it to the ambulance and then to the hospital. He needed to call his family. Only after he settled in at the hospital did he begin to contemplate what this injury might mean. He wondered whether he would compete again.

Malone dislocated his knee, fractured his tibia and tore multiple ligaments. He had his first surgery in Germany and flew home with an external fixation device keeping his leg stable. Malone headed straight from the airport to the hospital at Stanford for another operation. He had his final surgery last June — less than a year before he competed here, a remarkable turnaround that he said hasn’t sunk in.

“With everything I’ve gone through, [to] be able to come back and make a comeback like I have and be competitive enough to be on the top again, it feels amazing,” Malone said.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Malone placed 10th in the all-around with much of his career still ahead. He won a bronze medal on high bar at the world championships a few months later. In 2022, he became the world champion on the same apparatus and finished fourth in the all-around. Each accomplishment stoked optimism heading into Paris.

And then Malone suddenly had to relearn how to walk.

This is somebody who describes himself as a “busybody” and thinks crutches are “the worst.” But he couldn’t plow through the recovery process any quicker than his body allowed.

By last fall, Malone returned to flying over the high bar. When he caught his first release element since the ill-fated routine, he hopped off the apparatus, landing carefully on his back to protect the knee wrapped with a brace, and beamed with a smile. Teammate and close friend Curran Phillips tackled him in celebration.

Around the same time, Malone watched from afar as the U.S. men’s team competed at the world championships in Belgium. The Americans won bronze in the team competition, their first at worlds since 2014. In addition to Richard’s all-around bronze, Khoi Young earned silver medals on pommel horse and vault. The men had a breakthrough performance, and they did it without Malone.

“It motivated me a lot,” Malone said, “because I want to be a part of the team that does it in Paris.”

He had confidence then that he would be competitive with the country’s top gymnasts in at least four events — pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar. At the national championships, he finished in the top five on each of those apparatuses, winning the gold medal on high bar after scoring a 14.900 on Thursday and a 14.600 on Saturday.

Malone wasn’t sure how far he would progress on floor and vault, which require the most pounding on his legs. He said he initially wanted to prove he could be a “backup” option in those events — he knew that would help his chances of making the Olympic team. But over the past two days of competition, he showed he’s capable of more.

Malone began Thursday’s meet with a floor routine that had a difficulty score not too far off what he notched before the injury. Malone said that competitive performance was only his “third or fourth” time working through the full routine. He made it through again Saturday despite one landing that was out of bounds.

He stayed composed until the end, clinching the title with a solid pommel horse set. He performed like his previous self, unflappable under pressure and unemotional amid the milestones. But now there’s no doubt: His injury is in the past, and a trip to Paris is just ahead.

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