Malone was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, on January 7, 2000, to John and Tracy Malone. He has two brothers and one sister.[1] Malone's parents enrolled him in gymnastics at age three because he was a very active child.[2] Malone's mother died of cancer in 2012,[3] and his step-mother died in 2019 after suffering a brain aneurysm.[2] Throughout middle school and high school Malone competed in rodeo events such as team roping and jackpots,[4] similar to his father, who competed in rodeo at Georgia Southern University.[2]
Malone competed at the Junior Olympic level. At the 2015 National Championships, he placed seventh.[6] At the 2016 National Championships he placed second behind Vitaliy Guimaraes. Additionally, Malone won silver on vault and parallel bars and bronze on rings.[7]
In 2016, Malone competed at his first elite National Championships. He placed 15th in the all-around but won bronze on the horizontal bar in the 15–16 age division.[8]
2017–18
Malone competed at the 2017 Junior Olympic National Championships where he won silver in the all-around behind Bennet Huang.[9] He next competed at the 2017 U.S. National Championships. After two days of competition, Malone won the all-around competition. He also won gold on floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar.[10] Malone was later selected to represent the US at the International Junior Gymnastics Competition in Japan.[11] While there he placed fourth in the all-around but won silver on horizontal bar.[12]
In January 2018, Malone competed at the RD761 International Junior Team Cup where he helped the U.S. finish third in the team competition. Individually he finished sixth in the all-around and won silver on horizontal bar and third on rings.[13]
2019
Malone began competing for the Stanford Cardinal gymnastics team in 2019. At the NCAA National Championships Malone helped Stanford win the team title and individually won the all-around, floor exercise, and horizontal bar titles.[14] Malone was selected to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games where he helped the U.S. finish second as a team behind Brazil.[15]
2020–21
In early 2020, Malone competed at the Winter Cup and finished third in the all-around.[16] The NCAA season was cut short due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[17]
Malone returned to competition at the 2021 NCAA Championships, where he helped Stanford defend their team title. He defended his all-around and horizontal bar titles and won silver on rings.[18] At the 2021 U.S. National Championships, he won his first senior all-around title, defeating six-time national champion Sam Mikulak.[19][20] As a result, he qualified to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials.[21] Malone clinched his spot on the Olympic team by finishing first in the all-around at the Olympic Trials.[22] Malone was joined by Yul Moldauer, Sam Mikulak, and Shane Wiskus to form the United States men's Olympic gymnastics team.[23]
2020 Summer Olympic Games
During qualification at the Olympic Games, Malone qualified for the all-around final in 11th place and additionally qualified for the horizontal bar final in fourth.[24] During the team final, Malone helped the United States place fifth.[25] During the all-around final, Malone finished tenth; however he successfully competed his new skill on the parallel bars, a shoot up to handstand and fall back to support with ¾ turn mount, which now bears his name in the code of points.[26][27]
In October, Malone competed at the 2021 World Championships where he only competed on the horizontal bar. He qualified for the event final in fourth place. During the event final he scored 14.966 and finished third behind Hu Xuwei and Daiki Hashimoto.[28]
Malone was awarded the Nissen Emery Award, the highest honor in college men's gymnastics.[31] At the NCAA Championship, Malone helped Stanford defend their national title. Additionally, he defended his horizontal bar title, co-won gold on the pommel horse, won bronze on floor exercise, and placed second in the all-around behind Paul Juda after a subpar routine on parallel bars.[32]
In June, Malone was selected to represent the United States at the Pan American Championships alongside Riley Loos, Yul Moldauer, Colt Walker, and Shane Wiskus.[33] On the first day of competition, Malone competed on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar to help qualify the United States in first place to the team final. Individually, he won gold on the horizontal bar and recorded the third-highest parallel bars score but did not medal due to two-per-country limitations and teammates Moldauer and Walker scoring higher.[34] During the team final, Malone competed on pommel horse, rings, vault, and horizontal bar to help the U.S. win gold ahead of the reigning team champion Brazil.[35]
In late July, Malone competed at the U.S. Classic where he won the all-around title with a score of 88.558 (86.000 without bonus). Additionally, he posted the top horizontal bar score, second-highest rings score, and third-highest pommel horse and parallel bars score.[36] In August, Malone competed at the U.S. National Championships where he won his second consecutive national all-around title. As a result, he and second-place finisher Donnell Whittenburg were selected to represent the United States at the World Championships. Additionally, Malone placed first on floor exercise and horizontal bar, second on pommel horse, seventh on rings, eighth on vault, and fifth on parallel bars.[37]
In September, Malone competed at the Paris World Challenge Cup. He qualified for the rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar event finals. Although he withdrew from the rings final, he won gold on the horizontal bar and silver on parallel bars behind Caio Souza.[38]
At the 2022 World Championships, Malone qualified for the all-around and horizontal bar finals. During the team final he contributed scores on all apparatuses towards the U.S.'s fifth-place finish.[39] During the all-around final, Malone finished in fourth place, three-tenths of a point behind third-place finisher Wataru Tanigawa.[40] During the horizontal bar final, Malone beat Daiki Hashimoto by 0.1 point, and became the second American to win a world gold on the apparatus after Kurt Thomas did so in 1979.[41]
Malone returned to competition at the 2024 Winter Cup but only competed on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars.[44] He made his all-around return at the 2024 National Championships where he won his third all-around national title.[45]
In June, Malone competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he placed second all-around (170.30),[46] sixth on floor (28.10), fifth on pommel horse (27.40), fourth on rings (28.55), fifth on parallel bars (29.50), and fourth on horizontal bar (27.450).[47] On June 29, he was named to the U.S. Olympic Team to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games alongside Fred Richard, Asher Hong, Paul Juda, and Stephen Nedoroscik.[48]
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Malone was part of the team that earned a bronze medal in the team final. This was the first medal in the event since 2008, marking the end of a 16-year drought.[49] In the fall Malone participated in the Gold Over America Tour.[50]
Personal life
Malone calls Rockmart, Georgia his hometown.[51] On December 31, 2023, Malone announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend Serena Ortiz.[52]
Malone is a Christian and has said, “I just have to give all the glory to God. It’s all Him, and, yeah, it’s all God. So I just want to thank Him for this. … I’m just so grateful for everything that God’s done for me.”[53] He regularly posts Bible-related material on his social media accounts.
Eponymous skills
Malone has one named element on the parallel bars.[54][55]
Samuel Anthony Mikulak is an American gymnastics coach. A retired artistic gymnast, he was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He is a six-time U.S. national all-around champion, the 2018 World bronze medalist on the horizontal bar, and a three-time Olympian. He is also an eight-time NCAA champion, winning the team, individual all-around, and several individual event titles at the 2011, 2013, and 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championships. In 2023, he started serving as a gymnastics coach at EVO Gymnastics.
Alec Yoder is a retired American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and represented the United States at the 2020 Olympic Games, competing as an individual athlete. He is the 2014 Youth Olympic all-around bronze medalist and the 2019 NCAA champion on pommel horse.
Marios Georgiou is a Cypriot artistic gymnast. He is the 2024 European all-around champion, and the 2022 European horizontal bar champion and the first gymnast from Cyprus to win a European title, and a major all-around title. He is the 2019 European Championships all-around bronze medalist which made him the first gymnast from Cyprus to win a European medal. He is the 2019 European Games parallel bars silver medalist. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medals in the floor exercise and parallel bars and the bronze medal in the all-around, and he won four bronze medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He is the 2018 Mediterranean Games all-around and horizontal bar champion and the 2022 Mediterranean Games horizontal bar champion. He competed at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic Games.
Yul Kyung-Tae Moldauer is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2017 U.S. national all-around champion and the 2017 World bronze medalist on floor exercise. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2017 and represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships.
Félix Dolci is a Canadian male artistic gymnast. He represented Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the 2023 Pan American Games all-around and floor exercise champion and the 2019 Junior World Champion on rings. He has been a member of the Canadian national team since 2017.
Akash Modi is an American artistic gymnast. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and represented the United States at the 2018 and the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He was an alternate for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic teams.
Brandon Briones is an American artistic gymnast. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and is the 2018 Youth Olympic vault champion. Briones was an alternate for the 2020 Olympic men's gymnastics team.
Illia Yuriiovych Kovtun is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2023 World all-around silver medalist and 2021 World all-around bronze medalist. Kovtun also won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics on parallel bars. At the European Championships he is the 2023 European champion on parallel bars as well as a one-time silver medalist and a three-time bronze medalist. Additionally he is a two-time junior world championships medalist.
Stephen John Nedoroscik is an American artistic gymnast. A pommel horse specialist, he is a two-time Olympic medalist, the 2021 world champion—the first and only American to win the event—a two-time FIG World Cup champion, a four-time U.S. national champion, and a two-time NCAA national champion for the apparatus.
Shane Michael Wiskus is an American artistic gymnast who is a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was named as an alternative for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Additionally, he represented the United States at the 2019 World Championships and is a three-time NCAA Champion.
Paul Wojciech Juda is an American artistic gymnast. He is a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships and the bronze medal-winning team at the 2024 Olympic Games. He was also a two-time silver medalist at the 2021 Pan American Championships. In NCAA Gymnastics, he competes for the Michigan Wolverines, where he has won five Big Ten titles and three individual NCAA championships.
Riley Austin Loos is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the gold medal-winning team at both the 2018 and 2022 Pan American Championships. He is a member of the United States men's national gymnastics team and competed in collegiate gymnastics for Stanford.
Vitaliy Guimaraes is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2021 Pan American Championships. He was a member of the USA national team and competed for the University of Oklahoma in collegiate gymnastics.
Khoi Alexander Young is an American artistic gymnast. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2022 and was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships. He competes in collegiate gymnastics for Stanford. He is the 2023 Pan American champion on the pommel horse. In June 2024, he was named an alternate to the U.S. men's team for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Colt Barrett Walker is an American artistic gymnast. He is a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competes in collegiate gymnastics for the Stanford Cardinal. He was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2022 Pan American Championships and was the alternate for the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships. He is the 2019 junior Winter Cup and National Champion.
Asher Keen Wah Hong is an American artistic gymnast and a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He was a member of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 World Championships. He represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the team competition.
Curran Michael Phillips is an American former artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and was the 2023 Pan American champion on the horizontal bar and 2023 Pan American Games champion on parallel bars. He competed in collegiate gymnastics for Stanford.
Frederick Nathaniel Richard is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2023 World all-around bronze medalist, as well as the 2021 and 2022 Junior Pan American Champion. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2022 and represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the team event.
Taylor Anthony Burkhart is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and is currently competing in collegiate gymnastics for Stanford. He was the alternate for the gold medal-winning team at the 2022 Pan American Championships.
Jeremy Reece Bischoff is an American men's artistic gymnast. He is a Senior National Team Member of the US Gymnastics National Team and competes in collegiate gymnastics as an all-arounder for the Stanford University Men's Gymnastics Team. He was a member of the fourth-placing team at the 2023 DTP Pokal Mixed Cup in Stuttgart, Germany. He finished seventh place all-around at the 2024 U.S. Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky with a combined score of 163.00, also securing the silver medal on horizontal bar. He finished in sixth place all-around at the 2023 U.S. Classic with an 80.150. He won gold for the parallel bars title and silver in the all-around at the 2018 Men's Junior Olympic National Championships in Oklahoma City, OK. He was the California State All-Around Champion in 2019.
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