Asher Hong
Asher Keen Wah Hong (born March 23, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. He is a member of the United States men's national gymnastics team.
Asher Hong | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Asher Keen Wah Hong | ||||||||||||||||
Country represented | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||
Born | Plano, Texas, USA | March 23, 2004||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Tomball, Texas | ||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||
Level | Senior elite | ||||||||||||||||
Years on national team | 2017–present (USA) | ||||||||||||||||
Club | Cypress Academy of Gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||
College team | Stanford Cardinal (2023–26) | ||||||||||||||||
Head coach(es) | Tom Meadows | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant coach(es) | Igor Vernyi | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
Young was born in Plano, Texas, on March 23, 2004, to Rick and Karen Hong. He has two brothers, both of whom are also gymnasts.[1]
Gymnastics career
2018
Hong competed at the RD761 International Junior Team Cup where he helped his team place third and individually he placed sixth on floor exercise. He competed at the 2018 Winter Cup where he placed first in the junior division and also won gold on rings and parallel bars.[2] Hong was selected to compete at the Pacific Rim Championships alongside fellow juniors Lazarus Barnhill and Justin Ah Chow and seniors Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, and Marvin Kimble; together they placed first in the team competition and Hong placed second in the all-around behind Barnhill.[3] During event finals Hong won gold on pommel horse, silver on floor exercise, and bronze on rings and parallel bars.[4]
2019–21
Hong competed at the 2019 U.S. National Championships where he finished third in the all-around in the 15-16 age division.[5] In early 2020 Hong competed at the RD761 Gymnastics Invitational where he helped his team finish second. Individually he won bronze on the horizontal bar. At the 2020 Winter Cup he placed second in the all-around.[6] The rest of the competitions throughout the year were either canceled or postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Hong returned to competition in early 2021; he competed at the Elite Team Cup and the 2021 Winter Cup. He won the junior all-around competition at the latter event.[7] Additionally he placed first on floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars.[8] In November Hong signed his National Letter of Intent with Stanford University, intending to begin competing with their gymnastics team in the 2022–2023 season.[9]
2022
Hong became age-eligible for senior competition starting in 2022. He competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where he placed third in the all-around behind Vitaliy Guimaraes and Khoi Young.[10][11] During event finals he won gold on vault, silver on floor exercise and rings, and bronze on parallel bars. As a result Hong was selected to represent the USA at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart alongside Guimaraes, Young, Brody Malone, and Yul Moldauer.[12] While there he helped the USA place first as a team.[13] During event finals Hong won gold on rings, silver on floor exercise behind Félix Dolci, and placed fourth on parallel bars.
In August Hong competed at the U.S. National Championships. He placed third in the all-around behind Brody Malone and Donnell Whittenburg. Additionally he placed second on floor exercise, third on rings, and first on vault.[14] In October Hong was named to the team to compete at the 2022 World Championships alongside Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Colt Walker, and Donnell Whittenburg.[15] During qualifications Hong finished sixth in the all-around qualified for the final. During the team final Hong contributed scores on all apparatuses besides the horizontal bar towards the USA's fifth place finish.[16] During the all-around final Hong finished sixth.[17]
2023
Hong was selected to represent the United States at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge alongside Yul Moldauer, Brody Malone, Fred Richard, and Shane Wiskus. Together they placed first as a team and individually Hong qualified to three event finals. He won bronze on pommel horse.[18]
Competitive history
Year | Event | Team | AA | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB |
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Junior | |||||||||
2017 | International Junior Team Cup (under 14) | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
2018 | RD761 International Junior Team Cup | ![]() | 6 | ||||||
Winter Cup | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
Pacific Rim Championships | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||
2019 | U.S. National Championships (15-16) | ![]() | 6 | ![]() | 4 | 7 | ![]() | 5 | |
2020 | RD761 Gymnastics Invitational | ![]() | 12 | 8 | ![]() | ||||
Elite Team Cup | ![]() | ||||||||
Winter Cup | ![]() | 9 | ![]() | ![]() | 4 | 5 | 4 | ||
2021 | Elite Team Cup | ![]() | |||||||
Winter Cup | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 6 | ![]() | |||
Senior | |||||||||
2022 | Winter Cup | ![]() | ![]() | 17 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 29 | |
DTB Pokal Team Challenge | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | 4 | |||||
U.S. National Championships | ![]() | ![]() | 16 | ![]() | ![]() | 6 | 29 | ||
World Championships | 5 | 6 | |||||||
2023 | Winter Cup | ![]() | |||||||
DTB Pokal Team Challenge | ![]() | ![]() | 5 | 4 | |||||
MPSF Championships | ![]() | ![]() | 9 | 5 | ![]() | 4 | ![]() | 14 | |
NCAA Championships | ![]() | ![]() | 17 | 30 | 6 | ![]() | 11 | 35 |
References
- "Asher Hong USAG profile". USA Gymnastics.
- "Mikulak, Hong win Winter Cup Challenge all-around titles". USA Gymnastics. February 17, 2018.
- "U.S. men, Mikulak, Barnhill take gold at Pacific Rim Championships". USA Gymnastics. April 27, 2018.
- "USA brings home 29 medals from men's, women's individual event finals". USA Gymnastics. April 29, 2018.
- "Mikulak notches super six at U.S. Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 10, 2019.
- "Mikulak wins four event medals, Benas claims Junior All-Around Title at 2020 Winter Cup Challenge". USA Gymnastics. February 23, 2020.
- "Region 3 takes sixth-consecutive Elite Team Cup title led by all-around champion Asher Hong". USA Gymnastics. February 27, 2021.
- "Winter Cup individual men's event champions named, four additional gymnasts earn U.S. Men's National Team berths". USA Gymnastics. February 28, 2021.
- "Hong Headed to The Farm". Pac-12 Conference. November 11, 2021.
- "Guimaraes takes men's senior all-around title at 2022 Winter Cup Presented by OZONE and TURN; five gymnasts automatically qualify to National Team". USA Gymnastics. February 26, 2022. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- "Winter Cup success: Three Cardinal gymnasts named to U.S. Senior National Team". The Stanford Daily. February 27, 2022. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- "U.S. men announce lineups for upcoming FIG Apparatus World Cup in Egypt, DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup in Germany". USA Gymnastics. March 8, 2022. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- "U.S. men claim junior and senior team titles at 2022 DTB Pokal Team Challenge". USA Gymnastics. March 18, 2022.
- "Malone repeats as all-around champion at 2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 21, 2022.
- "U.S. men's program sending mix of World medalists, rising stars to 2022 Artistic World Championships". USA Gymnastics. October 5, 2022.
- "U.S. men fifth at Artistic World Championships". USA Gymnastics. November 2, 2022.
- "Malone fourth in men's all-around, Hong sixth at Artistic World Championships". USA Gymnastics. November 4, 2022.
- "U.S., Germany and Japan sweep team titles at DTB Pokal". International Gymnast Media. March 19, 2023.