Preview
Olympic medalist, Frederick Richard, leads the field at the 2025 Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the only member of the Olympic team who has chosen to compete at Winter Cup this year, largely motivated by the debut of his new leotard/kit. His new design as garnered some controversy but he explained his motivation for the design as twofold: 1. due to being bullied as a child, and 2. he finds the uniform uncomfortable. Glimses of his new design were seen on his instagram page Friday morning.
His new uniform design is not in line with current FIG requirements and will thus garner a -0.3 deduction for each day that he chooses to wear his innovative design. Richard will aim to compete in the all-around, and while the favorite for the title, he will need to overcome up to a -0.6 deduction.
If Frederick isn’t having his best day, Taylor Burkhart is looking to challenge for that all-around title. He leads the nation with the highest all-around score to date with a 83.900. This Winter Cup, there will be a heavy emphasis placed on individual event specialists, as this year’s world championships does not feature a team competition. With pommel horse star, Stephen Nedoroscik already taking one of the guaranteed spots on the Senior National Team, there is likely only one additional spot for a pommel horse specialist this year [NOTE: Nedoroscik is not competing at Winter Cup due to commitments with Dancing With The Stars].
There are four superb pommel horse specialists likely competing for one spot on the senior national team incluing Patrick Hoopes, Ignacio Yockers, Parker Thackston, and Brandon Dang. Hoopes and Yockers will have the edge in difficulty, and are the two most likely to fight for that national team spot. Kameron Nelson has an excellent shot at making the national team with his unmatched difficulty on floor and ability to perform two different vaults. Other favorites for the discretionary spots include Taylor Christopulos (high bar), Kelton Christiansen (high bar), Colt Walker (parallel bars), Brandon Nguyen (parallel bars), and Alex Diab (still rings).
Schedule
Friday, February 21: 6:00pm ET/ 3:00 pm PT (Senior Men)
Saturday, February 22:1:00 pm ET/ 10:00 pm PT (Elite Team Cup)
Sunday, February 23: 4:30 pm ET/ 1:30 pm PT (Junior and Senior Men
How to Follow
Watch Senior Men Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl7bHCwD5hc
Watch Elite Team Cup:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYWfPnaphSs
Watch Senior Men Day 2 (and juniors): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3zC57L3R4I
Live Scores: https://myusagym.com/meets/live/91424/
National Team Selection
Full selection procedures here.
There are a total of twenty spots on the U.S. Senior National team (which includes the senior development team). Eleven of those spots are already claimed from the following:
- All Five Olympic Team Members (Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong, Brody Malone, and Stephen Nedoroscik)
- Two travelling Olympic Alternates (Shane Wiskus and Khoi Young)
- Four Senior Development Team Members (Josh Karnes, Kiran Mandava, Tate Costa, and Kai Uemura)
There is one automatic spot up for grabs. The athlete must win the all-around, and have a D score among the top three D scores.
There are three spots available to be earned from the 10-point program.
Any remaining spots will be decided by discretionary criteria with a focus on event specialists.
Article by: Kensley Behel
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