PHOENIX, Arizona — Ohio State's Parker Thackston has confirmed to Auric Gymnastics that he plans to compete a 6.1 difficulty pommel horse routine at the 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. This is an upgrade from the 5.9 routine he performed at the NCAA Championships. It also matches the exact difficulty mark USA Gymnastics requires event specialists to hit if they want to make the senior national team.

He's adding two skills to get there: he will upgrade to a Driggs for his forward travel gaining one tenth, and his flop sequence will be upgraded for the second tenth.

USA Gymnastics' selection procedures require an event specialist to win the event and hit a high-enough difficulty score on one of two competition days to make the national team. For pommel horse, that number is 6.1.

He won't have the field to himself. National teammate Brandon Dang and Patrick Hoopes have both already hit 6.1 routines this year.

The upgrade follows a rough finish to his NCAA season. Thackston was a favorite for the NCAA individual title, posting a 14.900 in the NCAA semifinals, before the nerves caught up to him and he fell in the final. In our interview, Thackston talked about how he has worked to change his response to this type of situation.

When I get nervous now, my goal is to respond with a faster circle and a more aggressive mindset and swing to sort of counteract the natural tendency.

Thackston made the national team in February, winning the pommel horse title at Winter Cup. The 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships run August 6-8, with the national team announced at the conclusion of the second day.