NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Asher Hong cruised to his second national title in men's gymnastics on Saturday, pulling away from the field for an easy victory at the U.S. Championships.
The 21-year-old Hong, part of the five-man team that earned bronze at the Paris Olympics last summer, posted a two-day total of 170.020 to win easily despite a rare miscue on the high bar during the first rotation on Saturday.
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Asher Hong of Stanford University competes on the vault during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Donnell Whittenburg of EVO Gymnastics competes on the parallel bars during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Donnell Whittenburg of EVO Gymnastics falls from the rings during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Asher Hong of Stanford University competes on the rings during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Overall gold medal winner Asher Hong of Stanford University, center, poses with silver medal winner Frederick Richard of the University of Michigan, left, and bronze medal winner Fuzzy Benas of the University of Oklahoma, after the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Not that it mattered. Hong became the 13th man to win multiple national titles with ease. The 2023 champion entered with a massive lead of over four points thanks to six steady routines Thursday.
Hong finished with the top scores on floor exercise, vault and still rings, events where the rising Stanford senior's power easily translates.
The real race was for second, where Frederick Richard 's two-day total of 162.555 was just enough to slip by Fuzzy Benas at 162.310. Richard managed to finish runner-up despite voluntarily taking 0.6 points in deductions for wearing a nonconforming uniform on parallel bars, high bar, pommel horse and rings.
Rather than don the stirrup pants that have long been the norm, Richard wore gray shorts with matching leggings underneath, a small sacrifice the 21-year-old says he's willing to make while competing at domestic elite meets in hopes of making the sport a little “cooler” to potential fans.
Colt Walker was fourth in the final meet before the world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.
Two-time national champion Brody Malone, who skipped floor exercise and vault to put a little less stress on his surgically repaired right knee, placed first on parallel bars, second on rings and third on pommel horse to put him in a strong position to return to worlds for the first time since 2022.
Stephen Nedoroscik, the pommel horse specialist who became a viral sensation while winning two bronze medals in Paris, was fifth in his return to competition following a lengthy post-Olympic break that included a stint on “Dancing With the Stars.”
While Hong, Richard, Malone and Nedoroscik are pressing on, the fifth member of the 2024 Olympic team — Paul Juda — announced his retirement Saturday night.
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Asher Hong of Stanford University competes on the vault during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Donnell Whittenburg of EVO Gymnastics competes on the parallel bars during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Donnell Whittenburg of EVO Gymnastics falls from the rings during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Asher Hong of Stanford University competes on the rings during the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Overall gold medal winner Asher Hong of Stanford University, center, poses with silver medal winner Frederick Richard of the University of Michigan, left, and bronze medal winner Fuzzy Benas of the University of Oklahoma, after the senior men's finals of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday as foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway and Sweden — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.
The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.
“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.
Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.
On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.
Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continuation of “dialogue and diplomacy.”
“Greenland is not for sale,” he said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”
In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.
Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.
Maya Martinsen, 21, said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.
The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”
On Wednesday, Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.
The Russian embassy in Brussels on Thursday lambasted what it called the West's “bellicose plans” in response to “phantom threats that they generate themselves”. It said the planned military actions were part of an “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda” by NATO.
“Russia has consistently maintained that the Arctic should remain a territory of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation," the embassy said.
Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.
“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.
Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”
“We are really happy that action is being taken to make sure that this discussion is not just ended with that meeting alone,” Greenlandic MP Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam said on Thursday during a news conference in Copenhagen.
She said Greenlandic people understood they were a “pivotal point” in a broader transformation of the international rules-based order and that they felt responsible not just for themselves but also for the whole world to get it right.
Høegh-Dam said the military operations should not happen “right next to our schools and right next to our kindergartens.”
Line McGee, 38, from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”
Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”
Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
People walk on a street in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
From center to right, Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, rear, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, right, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)
Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
