Brody Malone’s remarkable comeback to second Olympic berth

In July 2023, Brody Malone had to relearn how to walk. 

In July 2024, he will take center stage in Paris as an Olympian.

The former Stanford gymnastics student-athlete suffered what many may have considered to be a career-ending injury in March 2023. During a World Cup event in Germany, he slipped during the dismount of his high bar routine and crashed to the mat. The diagnosis would later reveal a tibial plateau fracture in his right knee, a fully torn LCL, a torn meniscus, a partially torn PCL and some cartilage damage.

As the Tokyo Olympian endured three surgeries and several weeks of bed rest, the clock began ticking on his 2024 Olympic dream. 

"The injury itself was pretty rough," Malone said. "I was stuck in bed for a long time. I couldn't really get up and move around, which for me sucked, because I'm a busybody."

The injury, though monumental, couldn't keep Malone still for too long. Several months and countless hours of rehab followed. 

"It was very difficult," he said of the recovery process. "But I've had a lot of support from my family, my teammates, my coaches, my fiancee. … I have the support system to get back, and I'm doing great. Now I'm running, jumping, tumbling and doing all the things." 

With his Olympic dreams on the line and the clock ticking, Malone's first major test would come in late May. The 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships would be his first all-around competition since the injury and would provide Malone with an idea of where he stood heading into the buildup to Paris. 

Throughout two days of competition, all doubts about Malone's comeback were silenced. Malone earned his third career all-around national title and sent a clear message with the victory. 

He was back, and the 2024 Olympic dream was very much alive.

"It just feels amazing to be able to — with everything I've gone through — be able to come back and make a comeback like I have and be competitive enough to be on the top again. … " Malone said, according to Olympics.com, after the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. "Going through what I've gone through, I've definitely learned to be grateful for every opportunity I have to compete. And so with that, I'm just letting loose a little bit more, having a little more fun."

The support system that rallied around Malone to help get him to this moment has been a constant throughout his career, playing an especially significant role in his success at the collegiate level. As gymnastics seemed like a very individual sport while he was growing up, it wasn't until he stepped onto campus at Stanford that he began to experience and appreciate the team components involved. 

"When you get to the college level, it switches," he said of the transition. "It's a complete 180 — everything you're doing is for the team. How can I make the team better? What areas can I perform better in to make the team better?" 

"I learned how to compete for something that's bigger than myself," he added. "When you put aside your own self and you're doing it for something bigger than yourself, that just makes you work harder." 

This work ethic propelled Malone to seven individual National Collegiate Championships: three bar, two all-around, one floor and one pommel horse. Even more important to Malone, however, were the three team national titles he was part of. 

"Ever since our freshman year, our goal was to win a national championship," he said. "And we did. We came to the gym every day, and we grinded for it. Going through a hard process like that with a group of guys, you're getting super close and you're pushing one another every single day. It just helps you grow."  

Graduating from Stanford in 2023 with a degree in management science and engineering, Malone has carried this team-oriented mindset into competition as a member of Team USA. He says that this approach to training and competition resonates with several of his teammates who share a similar background in the sport. 

"Mostly all of the guys on the national team have gone through the NCAA program," he said. "So it translates perfectly over to Team USA. We just bring all of the knowledge and stuff that we got from college and bring it there." 

While this team-oriented mindset has proven to be useful, so too has the level and frequency of competition that Malone experienced during his time spent at Stanford. 

"Competing collegiately at an NCAA level just teaches you how to compete better because you're competing so much throughout the year," he said. "And you're not competing for yourself anymore, you're competing for a team. You get plenty of opportunities to do that. It teaches you how to do it at a high level and high enough that you can do well for Team USA." 

It's clear that Malone has never shied away from competing at a high level or embracing a big moment, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials brought perhaps one of the biggest yet. With a chance to complete the ultimate comeback story and solidify himself as a two-time Olympian, Malone was ready.  

Finishing second in the all-around competition, Malone earned his roster spot on Team USA and will travel to Paris to compete with his teammates this summer. While Malone's individual journey has been remarkable, his ultimate focus has remained the same — the success of the team.  

Team USA will look to bring home an Olympic team medal, a feat that has not been accomplished since 2008. Recovered and ready to go, Malone looks forward to leading the charge. 

"Being able to train where I do with the teammates I have is just phenomenal," Malone told NBC in an interview after being named to the team. "With everything that's happened with my knee and the comeback, I'm just ecstatic right now, and I can't wait to go represent the U.S. in Paris."