2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships: Kai Uemura, David Shamah lead junior men’s divisions after Day 1

TAMPA, Fla. – The junior men’s divisions kicked off competition at the 2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Amalie Arena on Thursday afternoon.

Competing as one session but in two divisions, 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds, the future of the U.S. men’s elite program showed immense promise as athletes tried to balance difficulty with clean execution of eight skills (versus 10 as seniors).

The two athletes who succeeded at that feat were Kai Uemura (Lakeshore Acad.), who leads the 16-year-old division with an 80.120 all-around total, and David Shamah (WOGA), who leads the 17-year-old division with a 79.506 all-around total.

Uemura’s score was bolstered by top marks on parallel bars (13.969) and high bar (14.390) and an incredible save after he fell off the podium on his rings dismount (12.638 -5th).

Kiran Mandava (Cypress) and Preston Ngai (Elk Grove) sit second and third in the 16-year-old all-around with scores of 78.315 and 76.443, respectively.

Shamah, who was the 2022 Elite Team Cup/Winter Cup junior all-around champion, made his return to domestic competition after a long six months representing the U.S. internationally and recovering from a minor ankle injury.

He led the field on parallel bars, with a 14.840, and top-5 scores on floor, pommels, rings, and vault. High bar (11.913) saw one of only a couple major blemishes on the day when a bad catch on his Kovacs caused him to take some extra swings.

Shamah took full advantage of the U.S. men’s bonus point system – which awards athletes additional points for performing select high-difficulty elements. He earned bonus points for all six of his routines.

In the 17-year-old division, Chase Davenport-Mills (Roswell) and Zach Green (Stanford Boys) round out the top 3 with a 77.892 and 77.836, respectively.

See the full scores from Day 1 of junior men’s competition at the 2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships for Junior 16 here and Junior 17 here.

Junior men’s competition concludes Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET with Day 2. Follow our live blog here.