Jacob "Jake" Dalton (born August 19, 1991) is a retired American

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

who was a member of the University of Oklahoma gymnastics team and the

United States men's national gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at the Olympic Games 21 times, winning six med ...

. He represented the United States at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro. Dalton grew up in

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city in ...

, and is the son of Tim and Denise Dalton.

Early life

Dalton attended

Spanish Springs High School Spanish Springs High School is a public secondary school in unincorporated Washoe County serving students living in Spanish Springs and Sparks, Nevada, part of the Washoe County School District; it is one of three public high schools serving the ...

Washoe County, Nevada Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statist ...

while training at Gym Nevada under coach Andrew Pileggi. After graduating, he received an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

scholarship to compete for the University of Oklahoma in 2009 where he earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors and won the NCAA men's gymnastics floor and vault titles in 2011.

Gymnastics career

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. Dalton was a member of the USA team that won the bronze medal in the

2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Inte ...

in Tokyo, Japan. In February 2013, Dalton competed at the

2013 Winter Cup The 2013 Winter Cup was an artistic gymnastics competition held at the Las Vegas Sports Center in Las Vegas from February 7 to February 9, 2013. Competition 44 current and former collegiate gymnasts, including five members of the 2012 United Stat ...

, where he won gold on floor, rings and all-around. 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 floor exercise at

2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 6 October 2013 at Antwerp's Sports Palace. Kōhei Uchimura won the men's all-around gold medal and finished the competition with four total med ...

behind 17-year-old newcomer

Kenzo Shirai is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2015, Dalton was still recovering from a small shoulder labrum tear and did not compete in the P&G National Championships. In 2016, a new element on the parallel bars was named after Dalton in the Men's Gymnastics Code of Points.

2012 & 2016 Summer Olympics

It was announced on July 1, 2012, that Dalton would be a member of the 2012 Olympic team representing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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." Dalton, as part of the United States Gymnastics team, placed fifth in the team competition in the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. 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

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

alongside

Sam Mikulak Samuel Anthony Mikulak (born October 13, 1992) is a retired American artistic gymnast. He is a six-time U.S. national all-around champion (2013–2016, 2018–2019), the 2018 World bronze medalist on high bar, and a three-time Olympian (2012, 2 ...

John Orozco John Orozco (born December 30, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast who competed in the 2012 Olympics and is the 2012 U.S national champion. He was selected to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team for the 2016 Olympic Games, but withdrew on July ...

(who was later substituted with

Danell Leyva Danell Johan Leyva (born October 30, 1991) is a Cuban-American former gymnast who competed for the United States. He is the 2012 Olympic individual all-around bronze medalist and 2016 Olympic parallel bars and horizontal bar silver medalist. H ...

due to injury),

Alex Naddour Alexander "Alex" Naddour (born March 4, 1991) is a former American artistic gymnast. He was part of the bronze medal team at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Naddour was an alternate for Team USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...

, and Chris Brooks.

2017: Retirement

On August 9, 2017, news surfaced that Dalton was retiring from competitive gymnastics.

The Mesomorphic brand

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

Sponsorships

In 2013, Dalton signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

gymnastics.Adidas Gymnastics announces Jake Dalton is all in! http://news.theelegantsports.com/2013/03/jake-is-all-in.html

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Jacob 1991 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of the United States