Jacob William Dalton (born August 19, 1991) is a retired American gymnast who was a member of the Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics team and the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Jake Dalton
Dalton at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full nameJacob William Dalton
Country representedUnited States
Born (1991-08-19) August 19, 1991 (age 33)
Reno, Nevada, U.S.
HometownSparks, Nevada, U.S.
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team2009–2017
GymUSOTC
Team Hilton HHonors
Gym Nevada
College teamOklahoma Sooners
Head coach(es)Mark Williams
Assistant coach(es)Rustam Sharipov, Daniel Furney
Eponymous skillsDalton (parallel bars)
RetiredAugust 9, 2017
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's artistic gymnastics
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Championships 0 1 3
Pacific Rim Championships 4 0 0
Pan American Championships 1 0 1
Total 5 1 4
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2013 Antwerp Floor
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Nanning Team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Nanning Vault
Pacific Rim Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Everett Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Everett Floor
Gold medal – first place 2016 Everett Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Everett Floor
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guadalajara Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guadalajara Floor

Early life and education

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Dalton was born August 19, 1991, in Reno, Nevada, to Tim and Denise Dalton. He grew up in Sparks, Nevada and attended Spanish Springs High School.

Dailton trained at Gym Nevada under Wanda Fredericks and Andrew Pileggi. After graduating, he received an NCAA scholarship to compete for the University of Oklahoma in 2009[1] where he earned All-America honors and won the NCAA men's gymnastics floor and vault titles in 2011.

Gymnastics career

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Dalton was the U.S. National vault champion in 2009 and 2011, the floor champion in 2011, and the All-Around Gold medalist of the Winter Cup Challenge in 2011.[2]

Dalton was a member of the USA team that won the bronze medal in the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In February 2013, Dalton competed at the 2013 Winter Cup, where he won gold on the floor, rings, and all-around.[3] In August 2013, he won the bronze medal at the P&G National Championships en route to making the World Championships team. He went on to win a silver medal in the floor exercise at 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships behind 17-year-old newcomer Kenzo Shirai of Japan. In 2015, Dalton was still recovering from a small shoulder labrum tear and did not compete in the P&G National Championships.[4]

2012 & 2016 Summer Olympics

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Dalton during the 2012 Olympics

It was announced on July 1, 2012, that Dalton would be a member of the 2012 Olympic team representing the United States. The New York Times stated that the team roster was "considered so good that it could be the first United States men's team to win gold since the 1984 Los Angeles Games."[5] Dalton, as part of the United States Gymnastics team, placed fifth in the team competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[6]

On June 25, 2016, Dalton was once again named to the five-man United States men's gymnastics team for the Olympics. He represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro alongside Sam Mikulak, John Orozco (who was later substituted with Danell Leyva due to injury), Alex Naddour, and Chris Brooks.[7] Dalton placed second in vault at the 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event.

2017: Retirement

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On August 9, 2017,[8] news surfaced that Dalton was retiring from competitive gymnastics.[9][10]

Personal life

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In 2013, Dalton signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Adidas Gymnastics.[11]

Mesomorphic was a clothing brand founded in 2012 by Jake Dalton and fulfilled by Stars and Stripes Chicago.

Eponymous skills

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Dalton has one named element on the parallel bars.[12][13]

Gymnastics elements named after Jake Dalton
Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Added to Code of Points
Parallel bars Dalton "Roll bwd. with ½ t. tuck to hang." E, 0.5 Newsletter 30, 2016. Performed at the 2015 World Challenge Cup in Doha[14]
  1. ^ Valid for the 2025–2028 Code of Points

References

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  1. ^ "Player Bio: Jacob Dalton - SoonerSports.com - Official Athletics Site of the Oklahoma Sooners". Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011. Jacob Dalton – University of Oklahoma profile
  2. ^ "Jacob Dalton". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "Dalton wins 2013 Winter Cup Challenge title". wintercup.com. February 9, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  4. ^ "Sam Mikulak three-peats at P&G Championships on fall-filled day". August 17, 2015.
  5. ^ Macur, Juliet (July 2012). "Harboring High Hopes, U.S. Men's Team Adds 3 Gymnasts for Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  6. ^ Quinn, Sam. "Olympic Results 2012: US Men Gymnasts' Show in Team Final Is Huge Disappointment". TBS. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  7. ^ Graves, Will (June 25, 2016). "National Champion Sam Mikulak Leads US Men's Gymnastics Team". ABC News. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "N. Nevada native & Olympian Jake Dalton announces retirement from competitive gymnastics". August 8, 2017.
  9. ^ "Jake Dalton Retires from Gymnastics, Shifts Focus to Managing Gyms - FloGymnastics". August 9, 2017.
  10. ^ Duffy, Patricia C. (August 9, 2017). "INSIDE EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Olympian Jake Dalton retires". Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Adidas Gymnastics announces Jake Dalton is all in! http://news.theelegantsports.com/2013/03/jake-is-all-in.html
  12. ^ "Table of Named Elements Men's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. December 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  13. ^ "Men's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points 2025–2028" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. July 3, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  14. ^ "Eight new elements named, added to Men's Gymnastics Code of Points". gymnastics.sport. February 14, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
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