With the summer Olympics only a month away from starting, the United States Olympic Committee will determine its Olympic men’s and women’s gymnastics teams this week with the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in St. Louis. The U.S. will send a maximum of six male gymnasts to Tokyo: four to compete in the team all-around competition and up to two “plus-one” spots for event specialists.

Illinois alum Alex Diab is hoping to claim one of those plus-one spots as a still rings specialist.

Diab has had a very successful competitive season so far, capturing still rings titles at Winter Cup in February and the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships earlier this month. His Day 1 score of 14.950 at the Championships earned him a spot on the U.S. men’s national gymnastics team, an achievement that came with an invitation to the Olympic Team Trials.

Diab will be competing against 19 other gymnasts, including 16 all-arounders, for a spot on the Olympic team. Any of the 103 routines on all six apparatuses can claim a plus-one spot, but Diab has an advantage over the competition on still rings. His routine’s starting value is the highest in the nation, which has played a role in his success this year. Furthermore, almost all of the gymnasts competing against him this week are familiar faces he defeated earlier this year at Winter Cup and the national championships.

Like previous competitions hosted by USA Gymnastics, the Olympic Team Trials will last four days: two for men and two for women. The men’s competition will take place Thursday at 5:30 p.m. central time and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CST, with television coverage on NBCSN and the Olympic Channel, respectively.

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