Just weeks after battling a frustrating setback that had many questioning his readiness, Asher Hong stormed into the Xfinity Championship with one burning goal: Claiming gold. But his path was far from smooth. Still recovering from the illness that sidelined him at the Pan American Championships, Hong’s campaign nearly ended in disaster when his high bar routine went awry, putting his entire championship run on the brink.

Asher Hong was performing his high-bar routine when his hands slipped, causing him to fall to the ground and devastating his performance. Speaking to Inside Gym, Hong admitted that he made a mistake in the routine, and when he slipped, it felt like a flash-bang experience for him. “Oh yeah, it was like, “Ahh, I got hit by a flash grenade,” to be honest — in Call of Duty. I fell, and then I heard some ringing in my ears, and I was like, “Alright, I’ve got a high bar routine,” shared Asher Hong.

He further added, “But I was up, and I was like, “Okay, I’ve got to lock in for floor and finish the meet off strong. You can’t let that first event affect the rest of your performance,” because when you are on an NCAA team, you know you can’t get all emotional about that. So I learned to hone that in and, um, dial it in on floor — and that’s what I did, and I was glad to do it.”

Despite the fall, Hong dominated the competition, posting the highest mark on the floor exercise, vault, and still rings on day two. Hong scored 170.020. And the real drama unfolded in the battle for second place.

Fredrick Richards edged past Fuzzy Beans by a slight margin of 0.245 points. Richards scored 162.555, while Beans scored 162.310 over two days.

It must be noted that Richards still claimed the runner-up spot despite willingly taking a 0.6-point deduction for sporting a noncompliant uniform. As for Hong, despite his high-bar mistake, he has been improving steadily in his routine.

Asher Hong reveals his high bar performance scaling

As a former champion who claimed his first title two years ago and helped the U.S. men’s squad secure bronze at the Paris Olympics last summer, Hong delivered top-two finishes in four events — vault, floor, rings, and parallel bars. These have long been his dominant disciplines, but Hong is now gradually extending his reach to the pommel horse and high bar as well.

While speaking with Inside Gym, Asher Hong was asked how he is preparing for his pommel horse and high bar routines. “Yeah, it was interesting coz I started off the season with a wrist fracture, so that kind of stopped me from working horse,” he responded.

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The 21-year-old athlete will be looking forward to making a name for himself in the upcoming leagues, but before that, he will celebrate his Xfinity success.