Uemura runs away with Junior Men’s 17 title; Roman takes Junior 16 crown at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships

SAN JOSE, Calif. (August 26, 2023) – Kai Uemura (Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy) and Nathan Roman (Poway, Calif./Agility) won the first national titles of the weekend as they claimed junior all-around national titles Saturday at the 2023 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center. Final standings were determined by combining performances from Thursday’s Day 1 and Saturday’s Day 2.

Back-to-back for Uemura

After winning the 2022 Junior 16 all-around title, Uemura on Saturday returned to the top of the all-around podium in the Junior 17 in a big way. He posted a two-session total of 165.516 to claim all-around gold, almost seven full points ahead of second place, and took four of six apparatus titles: pommel horse (28.566), still rings (26.676), parallel bars (27.532) and horizontal bar (27.518).

Uemura also won floor exercise bronze with a 27.874 and scored a 27.350 on vault. Kiran Mandava (Cypress, Texas./Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) secured all-around silver by putting up a 158.836, and Xander Hong (Tomball, Texas./Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) was third with a 156.881. Emerge Academy’s Gage Kile (Des Moines, Iowa/Emerge Academy) won the floor (29.154) and vault (29.821) gold medals.

Roman conquers Junior 16

Roman clinched his first U.S. all-around gold medal in Junior 16 after earning a combined score of 157.978, also taking home gold on floor (27.372) and parallel bars (27.472). He was second on pommel horse (24.150) and rings (26.326), won bronze on high bar (25.358), and placed sixth on vault (27.300).

Danila Leykin (Bradenton Fla./EVO Gymnastics) took U.S. junior all-around silver with a score of 156.753 and won titles on pommel horse with a 25.134 and high bar with a 28.102. Ty Roderiques (Knoxville, Tenn./GymTek Academy) was the all-around bronze medalist (149.268) and U.S. junior vault champion (28.860).

The 2023-24 Junior Men’s National Team will be announced following the second day of senior men’s competition, which begins Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. PT.