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Illinois Men's Gymnastics at 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships |
| When |
Session I: Thursday, June 3 // 7 PM CT
Session II: Saturday, June 5 // 7 PM CT
|
| Where |
Dickies Arena // Fort Worth, Texas |
| Live Links |
Session I: NBCSN // Live Results
Session II: NBCSN // Live Results
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| U.S. Gymnastics Championships Information |
Website // Olympic Selection Process |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Current Illini senior Michael Fletcher and former Illini Alex Diab and Michael Paradise are set to compete this week at the USA Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. On Thursday, June 3 and Saturday, June 5. Each are competing to qualify for a spot at the Olympic Team Trials June 24-27 at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. The event also serves as qualification for the U.S. National Team and 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships set to take place in October.
Fletcher and Diab both competed earlier this year at the Winter Cup in Indianapolis, Ind., where Diab took the gold on still rings for the second year in a row and Fletcher finished 10th in the all-around and second on vault. Paradise is set to compete in his first meet since the Illini took on Michigan and Penn State on Mar. 7, 2020.
Both sessions of senior men's gymnastics competition will air at 7 PM CT on NBCSN on June 3 and 5, and live results will be provided via usgymchampionships.com.
Placement at U.S. Championships this weekend determines whether an athlete will move on to the Olympic Team Trials. Athletes who place in the top six in the all-around and the next four athletes in total event points will qualify for Olympic Team Trials later this month.
Qualification for the Olympic Team will be determined using results from the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and Olympic Team Trials. If an athlete provides a score that would have placed them in the top eight from 2019 World Championships, they earn an automatic spot on the National Team, and if that score would place them in the top three from 2019 World Championships, the athlete also earns a spot at the 2021 World Championships.
THE FLETCHER FILE
- 2021 Big Ten Vault Champion
- 2021 First Team All-Big Ten
- 2019 Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- 2019 First Team All-Big Ten
- 2019 Illinois Athletics Male Freshman of the Year Finalist
- Bronze all-around medalist at the 2019 Big Ten Championships
- 2x Academic All-Big Ten (2020, 2021)
THE DIAB FILE
- 2x Still Rings National Champion (2018, 2019)
- 6x NCAA All-American (2019: floor, rings | 2018: floor, rings | 2017: rings | 2016: high bar)
- Only 4x Big Ten Still Rings Champion (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) in program history
- Holds school record with 31 career still rings titles
- 3x First Team All-Big Ten (2016, 2017, 2018)
- 2018 CGA Second Team All-American Scholar-Athlete
- 3x Academic All-Big Ten (2017, 2018, 2019)
- Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree (2016)
- Won 44 career event titles
- 2x Big Ten Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 30, 2017, March 5, 2019)
- 2x Big Ten Freshman of the Week
- 2017 Team MVP
THE PARADISE FILE
- 3x NCAA Pommel Horse All-American (2018, 2019, 2020)
- 2x CGA First Team All-American Scholar-Athlete ('17, '18)
- 3x Academic All-Big Ten (2018, 2019, 2020)
- CGA Specialist of the Week (March 10, 2020)
- 2019-20 Big Ten Male Medal of Honor recipient
- Recipient of a 2020 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship
- 2019-20 Nissen Emery Finalist
- 12 career event titles
FOLLOW THE ILLINI
For the most up-to-date news and results from the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, including qualifications to National Team and World Championships, follow @IlliniMGym on Twitter and Instagram and like Fighting Illini Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.
