Moldauer Takes 16th in Worlds All-Around Final

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics alum Yul Moldauer concluded his time in Stuttgart, Germany, at the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships with a 16th-place finish in the men's all-around final on Friday morning.

Moldauer competed in his third consecutive world all-around final representing Team USA, scoring a total of 82.330 to secure the 16th spot. The 2019 OU grad put up his best performance on parallel bars with a 14.666 set that was the 12th-best of the all-around competition.

"The takeaway for me from this week is it was just another great experience," said Moldauer on his week in Germany. "As a team we qualified for the Olympics and hit 100%. We haven't done that in a while so it was nice to do that.

"Individually, it was nice to get back out on the floor. Coming back from my injury, I didn't know whether I would be here or not.

"Being here, being with the team and Allan (Bower) and Mark, I had a great time out there." - Yul Moldauer

"The energy was great and I got to be a part of some really good gymnastics, I thought it was really fun."

Additionally, Moldauer chipped in solid routines on vault (14.366), still rings (13.733) and floor exercise (13.666). His vault score ranked ninth on the day, while his rings tally was good for 10th overall.

"I think it's a win for Team USA," said OU and Team USA head coach Mark Williams on the week. "A fourth-place finish and a little bit higher score than last year's World Championships. We hit 100%, we can't ask for much more from our team at this point.

"I'm awfully proud of Yul. In April, he had an injury to his elbow that really made it difficult for him to allow that to heal and then properly train for this event. So, just to get back here and compete in the all-around final for the third year in a row is a pretty amazing feat for him. We're looking forward to the next nine months to get better and for him to get to make the Olympic team."

Moldauer, Williams and 2017 Oklahoma alumnus and U.S. traveling alternate Allan Bower finish their time in Germany with a fourth-place finish in the men's team finals and 16th-place spot in the all-around final for Moldauer. The team also officially qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo with the top-nine team finish. Fellow Team USA member and Olympian Sam Mikulak placed seventh in the men's all-around and will finish the U.S. men's time in Stuttgart on Sunday in the high bar event final.

Lead, Yul FX Worlds

Moldauer concludes an exceptional year of national and international competition dating back to last year's 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Over the course of the past year, the 18-time NCAA All-American has won all-around titles at Winter Cup and American Cup and took home the coveted Nissen-Emery Award in April, awarded annually to the top NCAA male gymnast.

He finished his NCAA eligibility in 2019 as a three-time team national champion, seven-time individual national champion, two of which being all-around titles. His individual national titles mark stands as a tie for the most in NCAA history and his 18 All-America honors ties for the most at Oklahoma with Olympian Jonathan Horton. The Arvada, Colo., native also helped lead the Sooners to a winning streak that reached 121 straight victories, good for third all-time in NCAA history across all sports.

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