Madison Kocian Named to U.S. Olympic Team
July 10, 2016 | Gymnastics
San Jose, Calif. - Incoming UCLA freshman Madison Kocian was selected to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team after a World-class showing on uneven bars and an eighth-place all-around finish over two days at the Olympic Trials.ย
With Kocian's selection, UCLA will have representation in women's gymnastics at the last nine Olympic Games with a total of 22 Bruin gymnasts and five non-competing alumnae making the Olympic teams. The 2017 UCLA Gymnastics team will have two competing Olympians โ Kocian and 2012 gold medalist Kyla Ross โ and two coaches โ 1992 Olympian Chris Waller and 2012 gold medalist Jordyn Wieber.ย
Kocian had a Day 1 all-around score of 58.6 and a Day 2 score of 58.450. She tied for the top uneven bars score on Day 1 with a 15.75 and one-upped it on Day 2 with a whopping 15.9, the highest of the competition. Her combined two-day bars score of 31.650 was the second-highest two-day total on any event, bested only by Biles' vault (32.2).ย
Although she suffered an early fall on balance beam on a standing Arabian, she rebounded and finished her routine strong, scoring 13.85 after earning 14.7 on Day 1. Kocian concluded the competition on Sunday with a score of 14.7 on floor exercise.ย
"After beam it was disappointing but I still had a pretty good score, and my coach told me to move on from it," Kocian said. "It's not going to set me back or anything. I just went out and did the best that I could on floor, and my bars tonight was phenomenal, so I'm excited to go out of this with no regrets."
Three-time World All-Around champion Simone Biles earned the automatic Olympic berth by winning the all-around. Returning Olympians Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas also made the five-person team. ย
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