USA's Paul Juda after men's gymnastics all-around final: 'Experience of a lifetime'

PARIS — Before the all-around men's gymnastics final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Paul Juda said he joked that lightning would have to strike four times in the same place for him to wind up on the podium.

"But I was like, 'Hey, you never know,'" he said.

Then, after a subpar vault, the number of requisite lightning strikes increased − and he said his perspective changed again. He put placement out of his mind and focused on some intangibles: Giving 100% effort. Having fun. And, perhaps most importantly, putting on a performance that his future self would be proud of.

Juda managed to do all of those things Wednesday night at Bercy Arena, while finishing a solid 14th − a fraction of a point higher than U.S. (and University of Michigan) teammate Frederick Richard.

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For a guy who wasn't a lock to even make the U.S. Olympic team, let alone the all-around final, it was a performance indicative of the massive growth and consistency that he's displayed over the past few months − and the immense value he brought to Team USA as it won its first team medal since 2008.

When asked to rank his Olympic experience, the 23-year-old beamed. He'd give it a 12 out of 10.

"Experience of a lifetime," Juda said. "You know, I'm in the all-around final. And I'm not last! That was my only other goal."

Juda, who won the NCAA individual all-around title in 2022, showed incredible consistency over three days of competition in Paris. Across 16 routines, he had no falls and never scored worse than 13.333 on high bar in qualifying. Across all events, his average score was 13.8.

On his final event, pommel horse, Juda confessed that he was already thinking about how he wanted to kiss the horse in celebration when he finished. But in order to do that, he reasoned that he had to turn in a solid routine. He hopes one of the many television cameras in the arena captured the words he said before his dismount: "Oh my God I did it, oh my God I did it, I did it, I did it."

It was a performance to take pride in, which was one of his big goals.

"At some point, I’m going to watch back the Olympics," Juda said, "and I want to be like, ‘OK, that was awesome. I’m really happy with that performance.'"

Now that it's over, Juda said he's looking forward to hugging his parents and his girlfriend, to eating a baguette and to hopefully seeing Team USA compete on the golf course.

When asked if he, like Richard, is already thinking ahead to the 2028 Summer Olympics, Juda said he is taking the advice of close friend and Michigan teammate Lais Najjar, who is competing on behalf of Syria at these Games.

"You don’t have to make any four-year decisions right now," Juda said Najjar told him.

"So I’m taking it one day at a time," he continued. "I’ll let you know when I know."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US gymnast Paul Juda on all-around final: 'Experience of a lifetime'