U.S. Olympian Jake Dalton Looks Forward To Next Olympics

Forging the path for his horizontal bar teammates Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva, U.S. male gymnast and first-time Olympian Jake Dalton, 20, finished fifth in his own individual event, the floor exercise competition, at the 2012 London Olympic events Sunday night.

The main problem with Dalton's performance was that his competition was not scored based on very high standards, making it difficult for him to achieve competitive scores. "I knew I'd have to be basically perfect, with my start value and the other guys' start values that hit today," Nevada native Dalton said, reports the Reno Gazette Journal. "To get a medal it would've been amazing. It would've had to have been pretty perfect."

When the difficulty of the contestant's chosen routine increases, so does the possible high score, which was taken in the floor exercise event by China's Zou Kai at 15.933. "I've done routines that would've been close before," Dalton acknowledged. But he wasn't letting the loss get him down. "I'll take fifth in the world," he said, echoing the sentiments of his Team USA gymnastic partner, Danell Leyva. "Things didn't turn out as planned, but that's okay," said Leyva. "We're just going to use this as fuel."

For more on the USA gymnastic teams and the 2012 London Olympics:

Danell Leyva, Jonathan Horton Place Fifth And Sixth On Horizontal Bar

Danell Leyva Tweets Shirtless Pics, Gears Up For Apparatus Finals

U.S. Gymnast Danell Leyva Wins Bronze In All-Around Comeback

Does U.S. Gymnast Danell Leyva Have The Body For Gymnastics?

U.S. Gymnast Danell Leyva Slips From Pommel Horse, Team Finishes Fifth

Gymnast Danell Leyva Confident About Olympic Gold

EXCLUSIVE: Olympic Gymnast Jonathan Horton Talks Competition Day Routine

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Gymnast Jonathan Horton On The London Games