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 at the Olympic trials, capping two tense days of competition at Target Center.

Hong finished fifth in the all-around, first on rings and second on vault. But with only the top all-around finisher at the trials, Fred Richard, earning an automatic Olympic berth, Hong and the other gymnasts faced an agonizing 30-minute wait 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 competes collegiately for Stanford University, where he is a two-time NCAA team champion and vault champion. Last summer, at age 19, Hong won his first U.S. all-around championship and was the youngest to do so since Tim Ryan in 1989.

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