Brody Malone: An American Gymnastics Champion
John Brody Malone, born on January 7, 2000, is an accomplished American artistic gymnast. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2020, representing the United States at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Malone was part of the team that earned a bronze medal in the team final. He is a three-time United States national all-around champion (2021, 2022, and 2024). On the horizontal bar, he is the 2022 World Champion, and the 2021 World Championship bronze medalist.
Early Life and Introduction to Gymnastics
Born in Johnson City, Tennessee, to John and Tracy Malone, Brody's parents enrolled him in gymnastics classes at age three because he was a very active child. This early exposure to the sport ignited a passion that would drive him to achieve remarkable success.
Junior Olympic Career
Malone competed at the Junior Olympic level, showcasing his talent and dedication from a young age. At the 2015 National Championships, he placed seventh. At the 2016 National Championships he placed second behind Vitaliy Guimaraes. In 2016, Malone competed at his first elite National Championships.
Collegiate Career at Stanford University
Malone began competing for the Stanford Cardinal gymnastics team in 2019 and trained there while he was a student-athlete. As a Freshman in 2019, Malone and the team became National Champions. He was named CGA Rookie of the Year and MPSF Gymnast of the Year. He became the first Stanford gymnast to win three individual NCAA titles in one season, capturing national title on floor with a career-best 14.800, won the all-around with a career-high 85.832 and high bar with a mark of 14.633. He was the fourth Cardinal gymnast to record five All-America honors in one Championship Meet and third gymnast to win NCAA all-around crown as a freshman. Malone captured national title on floor with a career-best 14.800, won the all-around with a career-high 85.832 and high bar with a mark of 14.633. He won 16 event titles in total, including five all-arounds, five on high bar, and two apiece on parallel bars, vault and floor. Malone was ranked first in the nation in the all-around (84.225), sixth in high bar (14.100), seventh in parallel bars (14.188), eighth in vault (14.588), and top-25 in floor (18th, 14.150), rings (20th, 13.950) and pommel horse (20th, 13.563). He hit for a career-best 14.300 on still rings to capture third at Pac-12 Invitational.
As a Sophomore in 2020, Malone was named MPSF Gymnast of the Year and Block S Outstanding Sophomore Award Winner. He finished season as the national leader on parallel bars (14.500) and was ranked second in the all-around (82.650). Malone won seven event titles overall, including four on parallel bars, and one each on still rings, vault and the all-around. He captured all-around title (81.900) in a tri-meet with California and Air Force (Jan. 18). Malone hit for a career-best 14.900 on vault to post the third-highest score in the nation and win the event title at the Stanford Open (Jan. 25) and registered the third-best all-around score in the nation (84.200) at the ASU Invitational (Feb. 8). He turned in the second-best vault of day one (14.400) and second-best parallel bars routine in the prelims (14.600) to finish third in the all-around during the 2020 Winter Cup Challenge preliminary round with a score of 83.950 to earn a spot on the US Senior National Team.
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In 2021, as a Junior, Malone and the team became National Champions. He was named MPSF Gymnast of the Year. Malone won two NCAA National Championships (all-around, high bar) and earned four NCAA All-American honors (all-around, floor, high bar, still rings). He was a two-time MPSF Individual Champion (all-around, high bar) and was named San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Male Athlete of the Year (2021). Malone also was a two-time CGA National Gymnast of the Week and MPSF Gymnast of the Week. He scored 85.064 to win second consecutive all-around national title from the NCAA Championship meet and had a season-best 14.466 to win second consecutive high bar national championship. Malone had a Career-best 14.366 on still rings (second overall) and a season-high 14.666 on floor to capture All-America honors at the national championship. He won MPSF Championship on high bar (14.400) and in the all-around (83.050) on April 3. Malone finished the season ranked second nationally on high bar (14.096), fourth on still rings (14.096) and fifth on pommel horse (13.813) and parallel bars (14.242). He had a National-best and a career-high 15.100 on parallel bars vs. Army (March 27) and won 16 event titles, including four on high bar, three on pommel horse, parallel bars and in the all-around, two on still rings and one on vault. He posted career-best 14.500 on pommel horse vs. California to record the top score of the year for Stanford (March 7) and hit for a season-best 14.700 on vault at the NCAA Championship Qualifier (April 16). Malone won the all-around title and captured event titles in all but vault with a career-best 86.500 vs. Army (March 27). Malone returned to competition at the 2021 NCAA Championships, where he helped Stanford defend their team title.
As a Senior in 2022, Malone and the team became National Champions. He was the Nissen-Emery Award winner, MPSF Gymnast of the Year, and USA Men's Gymnastics Athlete and Sportsperson of the Year. He achieved Two-time NCAA National Champion (pommel horse, high bar) and Five-time NCAA All-American (all-around, floor, pommel horse, still rings, high bar) honors. Malone also was a Two-time MPSF Individual Champion (all-around, high bar), CGA National Gymnast of the Week, and MPSF Gymnast of the Week. He won the pommel horse national title with a 14.000 at the NCAA Championships and the horizontal bar national title after registering a 14.700 at the NCAA Championships. Malone was a National runner-up and an All-American in the all-around (84.733) at NCAA Championships and Garnered All-America honors on still rings after finishing seventh overall with a score of 14.100 and All-America honors on floor with a score of 14.600 to claim a share of third overall. He won MPSF title in the all-around (85.950) and on horizontal bar (15.150) at MPSF Championships and placed ninth overall on vault (14.533) at National Championship meet. Malone won 10 individual event titles, including four on horizontal bar, three on pommel horse and one each on vault, parallel bars and in the all-around
As a Fifth-Year in 2023, Malone and the team became National Champions and MPSF Champions. He was the Tom Hansen Conference Medalist and MPSF Gymnast of the Week (March 7). Malone won the event title on still rings in a tri-meet against California and Illinois with a career-best 14.600 (March 4) and the event title on horizontal bar in a tri-meet against Navy and Air Force with a 14.150 (March 11).
Malone graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a degree in management science and engineering.
Awards and Recognition at Stanford
Throughout his collegiate career, Malone achieved numerous accolades, including:
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- Nissen-Emery Award (2022)
- MPSF Gymnast of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
- USA Gymnastics Athlete of the Year and Sportsperson of the Year in men's artistic gymnastics (2022)
- San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Male Athlete of the Year (2021)
- CGA Rookie of the Year (2019)
- Nine-time MPSF Gymnast of the Week
- Six-time CGA National Gymnast of the Week
- CGA Specialist of the Week
- Six-time CGA National Rookie of the Week
- Block S Outstanding Freshman Award Winner (2019)
- Block S Outstanding Sophomore Award Winner (2020)
- Two-time CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete (2021-22)
- Three-time MPSF All-Academic Scholar-Athlete (2020-22)
- Two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2022-23)
Elite Career
2020-2021: Olympic Debut and World Championship Medal
Malone has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2020. In 2020, Malone finished third in all-around in preliminary round of Winter Cup Challenge to earn spot on US Senior National Team.
In 2021, Malone secured his place on the US Olympic team. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the International Gymnastics Federation [FIG] entered a parallel bars element named the 'Malone' into the Code of Points. He first performed the element, which involves a shoot up to handstand and fall back to support with three-quarter turn. The 'Malone' element involves a shoot up to handstand and fall back to support with a three-quarter turn.
Malone competed at the 2021 World Championships where he only competed on the horizontal bar, qualifying for the event final in fourth place. He won a bronze medal on the horizontal bar at the World Championships.
2022: World Champion on High Bar
In February 2022, Malone competed at the Cottbus World Cup where he advanced to the pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar event finals. Malone won bronze on pommel horse behind Filip Ude and Illia Kovtun and placed sixth on rings. In June, Malone was selected to represent the United States at the Pan American Championships alongside Riley Loos, Yul Moldauer, Colt Walker, and Shane Wiskus. On the first day of competition, Malone competed on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar to help qualify the United States in first place to the team final. He won the all-around title with a score of 88.558. At the 2022 World Championships, Malone qualified for the all-around and horizontal bar finals. He became the World Champion on horizontal bar.
2023: Injury and Recovery
Malone was selected to represent the United States at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in March 2023. During event finals, Malone injured his knee while dismounting from the horizontal bar, which required surgery at a local hospital to get an external fixator installed. Upon returning to Stanford Malone then underwent a second surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture, a meniscus tear, and cartilage damage. An MRI later revealed that Malone also had a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament and a fully torn lateral collateral ligament. Malone would have to undergo a third surgery to repair the LCL.
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2024: Return to Competition and Olympic Medal
After injuring his knee in 2023, Malone returned to competition at the 2024 Winter Cup, where he placed third on parallel bars. Malone returned to competition in August at the National Championships. At the conclusion of the competition, he placed first on parallel bars, second on rings, and third on pommel horse. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Malone was part of the team that earned a bronze medal in the team final.
Gymnastics Style and Named Element
Malone is known for his exceptional skills on the horizontal bar. In September 2021, the International Gymnastics Federation [FIG] entered a parallel bars element named the 'Malone' into the Code of Points. He first performed the element, which involves a shoot up to handstand and fall back to support with three-quarter turn, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Personal Life
Malone was born on January 7, 2000. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, and rodeo. He speaks English. He is pursuing degrees in Engineering and Management at Stanford University.
His father John competed in rodeo at Georgia Southern University. His late mother Tracy competed in equestrian jumping. His younger brother Cooper has competed in rodeo for the University of Western Alabama in Livingston, AL. During high school he competed in regional rodeo events. On December 31, 2023 Brody Malone announced his engagement to long-time girlfriend Serena Ortiz.
His mother Tracy died from cancer in 2012 and his stepmother Lynn passed away in 2019 after suffering a brain aneurysm. Malone has stated that these experiences helped him realize that "no matter what happens in your life, you can always move on from it. Not in a way that you forget the past, but that you can always move on and do better. Life goes on whether you like it or not."
Ambitions
Malone's ambitions include competing at the Olympic Games.
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