The US men’s gymnastics team was eyeing a successful campaign at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships amidst the absence of some big names in Team USA’s roster. However, America’s hopes for men’s all-around win got squashed with Asher Hong’s withdrawal.

The American team’s roster currently includes Kameron Nelson in the floor exercise, Patrick Hoopes for pommel horse, Donnell Whittenburg for still rings and parallel bars, and Brody Malone for the high bar. Hong was the lone contender from the USA to compete in the all-around event at the World Championships. However, after injuring his ankle while warming up on the floor exercise, Hong had to withdraw from the competition even before the men’s qualifying rounds began. 

Right now, the top contenders in the all-around include Zhang Boheng from China and the Japanese stars Daiki Hashimoto and Shinnosuke Oka. It would have been the perfect stage for Hong to tackle the reigning Olympic champion and the previous world champions at the event. This event had even more significance for Asher Hong. Well, his mother, Karen, was born and brought up there, and Jakarta is home to his grandparents, who would have shown up at the event to watch Hong in action. 

But alas! Fate had different plans for Hong. He was already out of the Pan American Championships this year, all because of a sudden illness. Seems like Hong’s 2025 season has been an uphill battle for him. 

What really happened with Asher Hong at the Jakarta Gymnastics 2025?

One of the team’s coaches at the Jakarta Gymnastics 2025, Syque Caesar, talked about Hong’s stance following the US men’s qualifying subdivision. He said, “We were warming up floor – he did double full double front, kind of jammed his foot into the ground. Then he got back up – actually did it again really well – but as the warmups continued on through to pommel horse, it started just continuously throbbing and throbbing, got worse and worse.” 

Later, Asher Hong got his ankle checked out by the medical team. He claimed that he didn’t feel safe competing, and the medical team agreed. Of course, it’s a gut-wrenching incident with America’s lone contender at the all-around out of the championships before the actual event began. Brett McClure, the US men’s high-performance director, pointed out that Hong had been working really hard. And that hit him badly. He stated, “I know his family is here – he wanted to impress them as well. So it was just a tough pill to swallow.”

This year, at the Xfinity National Championships, he won his second national championship in the all-around, surpassing Fred Richard and Fuzzy Benas. Back in 2023, Asher Hong got the all-around gold medals in the US Classic, US National Championships, and MPSF Championships. And in Jakarta, he was looking forward to cementing his US national championship title. However, his withdrawal has now put the American gymnastics team in a bit of jeopardy with the all-around event.