Uemura, Shamah golden as junior men’s champions are crowned at OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships

TAMPA, Fla. (August 20, 2022) – Kai Uemura (Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy of Artistic Gymnastics) and David Shamah (McKinney, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics) captured the U.S. junior men’s all-around titles in their respective divisions Saturday afternoon at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. Each also added gold medals on two of six apparatus.

Uemura outpaced runner-up Kiran Mandava (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) by more than three-and-a-half points (159.624-156.018) to claim the top all-around spot among 16-year-olds. He also successfully defended his 2021 horizontal bar title with a combined two-day score of 27.780 and led the way on parallel bars with a 27.688. Preston Ngai (Elk Grove, Calif./Elevate Gymnastics Academy) rounded out the all-around podium with a 155.095, earning the still rings title (26.838) along the way. Mandava’s 26.772 topped the field on pommel horse, while Cooper Kim (Grand Ledge, Mich./Capital City Flips Gymnastics) picked up gold on floor exercise (26.934) and vault (28.200).

In the 17-year-old division, Shamah finished atop the all-around (159.175), still rings (26.408) and parallel bars (27.653) standings. Alexandru Nitache (Knoxville, Tenn./GymTek Academy) notched all-around silver with a 156.867 and also snagged gold on vault with a 30.021. Chase Davenport-Mills (Johns Creek, Ga./Roswell Gymnastics) delivered a 156.703 to secure third in the all-around and was the horizontal bar champion with a 27.057. Kyle Walchuk (Howell, Mich./Infinity Gymnastics Academy) took top honors on pommel horse (27.780), while Solen Chiodi (St. Paul, Minn./Mini-Hops Gymnastics) was golden on floor exercise (27.872).

At the conclusion of competition, the U.S. Junior Men’s National Team was named. Members are listed alphabetically below. An additional 18-year-old gymnast will be added to the team following this evening’s senior men’s session.

  • Solen Chiodi, St. Paul, Minn./Mini-Hops Gymnastics
  • Chase Davenport-Mills, Johns Creek, Ga./Roswell Gymnastics
  • Alex Deubler, Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
  • Zach Green, San Jose, Calif./Stanford Boys’ Gymnastics
  • Cooper Kim, Grand Ledge, Mich./Capital City Flips Gymnastics
  • Kiran Mandava, Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
  • Preston Ngai, Elk Grove, Calif./Elevate Gymnastics Academy
  • Alexandru Nitache, Knoxville, Tenn./GymTek Academy
  • Maxwell Odden, Scottsdale, Ariz./North Valley Gymnastics
  • Vahe Petrosyan, Van Nuys, Calif./Gymnastics Olympica USA
  • David Shamah, McKinney, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
  • Jonah Soltz, Tacoma, Wash./Metropolitan Gymnastics
  • Kai Uemura, Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy of Artistic Gymnastics

Senior men’s national champions will be determined at 7 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena. The action will air live on CNBC and will stream simultaneously on Peacock.

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