RIO DE JANEIRO _ When gymnast Alex Naddour finished his pommel horse routine, he was greeted by his United States Olympic teammates as if he had survived a ruthless interrogation.
Ruthless best describes how the horse treated Chris Brooks and Sam Mikulak on Saturday as they both came off it in consecutive routines during qualification rounds at Rio Olympic Arena.
The flubs weren't costly in the larger sense _ Brooks scored 12.766 and Mikulak 13.100 _ but only the three best of the four routines count in the team scoring during qualifications. Naddour's 15.366 and Danell Leyva's 14.533 helped the cause.
For Monday's team finals, China was the top qualifier, followed by the U.S. and the margin couldn't have been much closer, 270.461 to 270.405. Mikulak and Brooks qualified for the all-around final Wednesday.
Additionally, Mikulak made the final in floor exercise and high bar. Leyva qualified for the parallel bars and high bar, and Jake Dalton made it in floor exercise and Naddour the pommel horse.
"We had a lot of momentum going into pommel horse and I felt pretty comfortable we were going to be fine," said Coach Mark Williams. "We just needed one more pommel horse routine and I would have said it was a great day."
Kevin Mazeika, the national team coordinator, called the pommel horse a "bit of a tight rope," adding, "different from all the others. You're not flipping around. You're staying on one plane and shifting your weight constantly."
Training on the pommel horse had been going well, team members said. Brooks said that to have it go awry at this time was "extremely aggravating."
They were in the same qualification group as France, Britain and Germany, and the upbeat mood in the arena turned grim when French gymnast Samir Aid Said broke his lower left leg on his vault landing.
Brooks was at the other end of the floor getting ready for his turn on the high bar, far away from the vault, where the French were competing.
"I saw him come off the (vaulting) table a little bit awkwardly and I kind of looked away from there," Brooks said. "You just don't want to see it."
Fans sitting closer to the vault area, and even from far away, said they could hear his leg snap. Ait Said was carried from the arena on a stretcher, receiving loud applause from the crowd. Ait Said, 26, was considered a medal contender on rings.
Said the Orange County-raised Mikulak, whose father is an orthopedic surgeon: "It's always a shame when there's an injury. This sport is absolutely brutal, we've learned from (the injured) John Orozco. Horrible, horrible thing."
Mikulak's high bar routine came after the injury and he scored 15.133.
"Sam had to go next, and I think he's in his little bubble," Williams said.
Mikulak, Leyva and Dalton are the three returnees from the 2012 Olympic team. There was a strong note of unfinished business among the gymnasts and coaches. In 2012, the U.S. men were first after the qualification rounds but faded in the team final and finished fifth.
"We're not going to be complacent this time," Mikulak said. "We're going to make sure we come in with a chip on our shoulder. We've done nothing but qualify."
Brooks, an alternate in 2012, said the meaning hit him when they were in the arena tunnel before competing and he "talked" with his late father a bit.
Leyva had been selected as an alternate but got on the team when Orozco tore knee ligaments in training camp in July and required surgery.
"Whenever I was feeling a little bit anxious (today), I would take a breath and look up at the rings," said Leyva, a bronze medalist in the all-round in 2012.
He is also finding inspiration from a U.S. teammate, the tiny but powerful Simone Biles, the women's all-around favorite.
"Simone is just not human," he said. "She is not human. She's a huge role model of mine, honestly. Like, huge. I've been trying to emulate the way she goes about her gymnastics. She enjoys it.
"The last two years just watching her really helped me enjoy my gymnastics more."
Williams spoke to the maturity of the men's team.
"I don't think the guys were nearly as high in terms of emotional level as we were in 2012," he said. "They're ready to go on Monday. They want to finish things this time."
