Illinois men’s gymnastics alum Diab wins third straight rings title at 2022 Winter Cup
Photo courtesy of Illini Athletics
Alex Diab performs on still rings during the 2019 Windy City Invitational. Diab graduated in 2019 and has placed third in the 2022 Winter Cup.
March 1, 2022
The 2022 Winter Cup Challenge, a qualifying event for the 2022 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, took place from Friday through Sunday.
Senior Michael Fletcher and 2019 Illini graduate Alex Diab, represented the program during the qualifying event in Frisco, Texas.
Fletcher competed in the all-around competition, while Diab, an alternate for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, competed in the floor, rings and vault.
The three-day meet started off on Friday with the event qualifiers, while the event finals took place during the last day of competition on Sunday.
Fletcher came into this meet setting a career-high on the pommel horse with a score of 13.850 against Ohio State on Feb. 5.
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Last season, he was the 2021 Big Ten vault champion during playoff competitions and earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors.
The New Hampshire native set three season-highs during the Winter Cup, including a 13.800 on the parallel bars, 14.050 on the vault and a 13.600 on the floor.
He would go on to finish with an all-around score of 79.350, which brought his two-day total to 156.70.
A two-time NCAA rings champion, Diab won the rings event title during the Winter Cup for the third straight year with a score of 15.145.
The Glen Ellyn native finished with a final two-day score of 29.590.
Following this meet, the Illini will be returning to some Big Ten action in a tri-meet featuring Nebraska and Minnesota.
The meet is scheduled to take place on March 5 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The men’s squad is currently on a two-meet win streak against Nebraska in its meetings during the past two seasons.
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