Out gay gymnast Josh Dixon finished 13th overall on Day One of competition at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, hurting his chances of being named to the Olympic team. He recorded low scores in the high bar and parallel bars, then was hit with 0.9 combined deduction points in the floor exercise and vault. The meet is a homecoming for Dixon, who competed before a very supportive crowd in San Jose, as he told the Mercury News:
"It didn't affect my performance," Dixon said of the home crowd. "It more or less was me being a little bit timid and holding back a little bit on my events and letting my nerves get to me instead of going out there and being aggressive."
Out gay gymnast Josh Dixon finished 13th overall on Day One of competition at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, hurting his chances of being named to the Olympic team. He recorded low scores in the high bar and parallel bars, then was hit with 0.9 combined deduction points in the floor exercise and vault. The meet is a homecoming for Dixon, who competed before a very supportive crowd in San Jose, as he told the Mercury News:
"It didn't affect my performance," Dixon said of the home crowd. "It more or less was me being a little bit timid and holding back a little bit on my events and letting my nerves get to me instead of going out there and being aggressive."
Combined with scores from the Visa Championships a couple weeks ago, Dixon now sits in 15th place with one more day of competition coming on Saturday. He could possibly save a spot on the U.S. Olympic team with a career performance on Saturday, but that is likely what it will take to snag a spot. The selection committee will choose five gymnasts to compete for the United States in London, with an alternate.
Familiar names like Danell Leyva, John Orozco, Sam Mikulak, Jonathan Horton and Jacob Dalton occupy the top five combined-score positions after Day One.
Either way, we expect a great performance from Dixon for his home crowd on Sunday! NBC will carry the event live. You can follow Josh on Twitter.
Also check out Out magazine's recent article on Dixon.
PHOTO: San Jose, CA, USA; Josh Dixon performs on the floor exercise during the 2012 USA Gymnastics Olympic Team Trials at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE
