His hands slipped off the high bar early as he went in for his dismount at the DTB Cup in Germany in March of last year. Accustomed to being in total control flying through the dozen feet of open space separating bar and mat, this time Malone felt himself hurtling haphazardly through the air.
In the split second before his body hit the ground, Malone still thought he could land safely. It might not be pretty, but he figured he would be okay.
That painful miscalculation cost the 2022 world high bar champion the rest of his 2023 season and cast his 2024 Olympic aspirations into doubt. The botched landing ripped up his right knee — full diagnosis: torn meniscus, tibial plateau fracture, partially torn posterior cruciate ligament, fully torn lateral collateral ligament — and resulted in three surgeries, weeks of bedrest and more familiarity with crutches than he ever wanted.
“I couldn’t really get up and move around, which for me sucked because I’m a busybody; I like to be up and moving,” he said.
It was several months before Malone was able to walk, let alone think about tumbling, which made winning his third U.S. title in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier this month that much more impressive. His leg might have broken, but Malone’s fighting spirit never ruptured.
“I don’t like to lose,” he said in the southern drawl that characterizes his sound bites. “It drives me and makes me work hard. I didn’t come here to just show up and compete. I wanted to win.”
Just how much became clear after Malone hit his high bar routine on the first night of the championships to re-establish himself as the man to beat. When he stuck his high bar dismount, his normally impenetrable demeanor vanished, and for a few seconds Malone became a whooping, hollering, fist-pumping bundle of glee shaking off months of pent-up energy and frustration.
Take that, high bar dismount. Take that, crutches.
“I just let myself go and it was awesome; I enjoyed it,” he said. “Going through what I’ve gone through, I’ve definitely learned to be grateful for every opportunity I have to compete. So with that I’m just letting loose a little bit more and having a lot more fun.”
