Houston gymnast Asher Hong makes U.S. Olympic team

Hong was named to the U.S. men’s artistic gymnastics team for the 2024 Paris Games on Saturday night during the Olympic Trials, capping two tense days of competition at the Target Center.

Hong finished fifth in the all-around, first on rings and second on vault. But because only the top all-around finisher at the trials, Fred Richard, earned an automatic Olympic berth, Hong and the other gymnasts had to wait an agonizing 30 minutes to learn their fate.

Hong’s parents, Rick and Karen Hong, and his two brothers were in Minneapolis to see him realize his dream.

Hong played collegiately at Stanford University, where he was a two-time NCAA team champion and vault champion. Last summer, at age 19, Hong won his first U.S. all-around championship and became the youngest to do so since Tim Ryan in 1989.

He was also part of the bronze medal-winning 2023 world team, the first American men’s world medal since 2014.