American Alec Yoder won bronze as the first Nanjing Youth Olympics gymnastics medals were awarded Tuesday.
Yoder, a 17-year-old from Indianapolis, totaled 82.8 points in the all-around competition. Great Britain’s Giarnni Regini-Moran won gold with 84.725 points, followed by Russia’s Nikita Nagornyy (83.05).
The home-schooled Yoder was second in the junior all-around at the Pacific Rim Championships in Richmond, B.C., in April. Though Olympic-level men’s gymnasts are typically older than women, consider Sam Mikulak and John Orozco made the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team at age 19.
The Youth Olympics continue with coverage on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Youth Olympics broadcast schedule
The Youth Olympic gymnastics competition continues with the women’s all-around Wednesday.
Yoder also qualified for individual event finals on pommel horse Saturday and parallel bars Sunday.
Yoder also has a big fan in reigning World all-around champion Simone Biles.
OMG CONGRATS @AlecYoder AAAHHHHHH🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😭❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍😍💙💙💙💙 SO HAPPY FOR YOU! Knew you could do it!! Love yaaaa!!! Way to represent #werk
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 19, 2014