LONDON — On Saturday the U.S. men’s gymnastics team turned heads by finishing first in team event qualifying, and John Orozco looked like a contender in the all-around, performing with a poise beyond his years.
But the teenager from the Bronx who lives at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs came back to earth Monday, and so did his team.
With a series of miscues, the U.S. men fell behind early and ultimately finished fifth. A team that took bronze at the Beijing Olympics and silver at the Athens Games was hoping to win its first team gold since 1984, but by the midway point of the evening they were performing more for pride than medals.
Team USA looked like a team feeling the pressure.
“I try and go out there and not think about it, and I’d like to think it doesn’t get to me, but I guess it does because I didn’t do as well as I hoped today,” said Orozco, 19. “The team just kept fighting, trying to get through to the end.”
The U.S. men won a bronze medal at the world championships last year, and Orozco was the top American in the all-around, finishing fifth. But the Olympics is different. Pretty much the same cast of characters from team to team, but a whole different kind of pressure.
The U.S. looked shaky on its first rotation, which was floor exercises. Things got worse on pommel horse when Danell Leyva — who was first in the all-around standings Saturday — fell off. Then Orozco touched his buttocks down on the horse.
“I thought I felt good, coming into the meet, but after pommel I was feeling kind of down,” Orozco said. “I knew I still had four events to go, so I tried to get through it, tried to get past it, not think about it.”
Then on his worst event — vault — Orozco fell.
“I fell on my butt,” Orozco said. “I don’t have the best technique on vault. I was a little leery about vault, because prelims was the first one I’ve landed since I’ve been here in London. I wasn’t exactly confident going on vault, but I tried my best. That’s all I can do.
“After vault, for me, it was like, ‘All right, that’s two routines I destroyed.’ “
Orozco fought through his struggles and finished strong, showing the kind of gumption that got him here.
“He never gave up, and he came through with a huge routine on parallel bars, then finishing on high bar,” said U.S. head coach Kevin Mazeika. “I’m super proud of him. He fought hard to the very end and never gave up. It’s a testament to John and his will. He just picked it up and finished strong.”
Orozco grew up ignoring the taunts of other children because he was a gymnast, so he’s tough. And he’s still young for a male gymnast, on a young U.S. team with only one member who came here with previous Olympic experience.
“It just didn’t go as planned,” Orozco said. “When I started really messing up, I thought, ‘You know what? I’m just going to try to stay on, get through my routines the best I can.’ There was some pressure, but all we try to do is get through it, do our best. That’s all we can do.”
Orozco still can challenge for a medal in the all-around Wednesday. Scores reset at zero.
“In two days I’m just going to just try to go out there and compete for Team USA,” Orozco said. “I’m not even thinking about myself. I just want to do a good performance for USA.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jmeyer26
