Introduction
Jacob "Jake" Dalton (born August 19, 1991) is an American gymnast and member of the University of Oklahoma Gymnastics and the U.S. National Team. He grew up in Reno, Nevada, the son of Tim and Denise Dalton. He represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Early life
Dalton attended Spanish Springs High School while training at Gym Nevada under coach Andrew Pileggi. After graduating, he received an NCAA scholarship to compete for the University of Oklahoma in 2009 where he has earned All-America honors, as well as winning the NCAA men's gymnastics floor and vault titles in 2011.
Gymnast
He was the U.S. National Vault champion in 2009 and 2011, and the Floor Champion in 2011 and the All-Around Gold medalist of the Winter Cup Challenge in 2011.
He was a member of the USA team that won the Bronze medal in the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In 2013, Dalton won the bronze medal at the P&G National Championships en route to making the World Championships team. He went on the win a silver medal on floor exercise at 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In 2015, Dalton was still recovering from a small shoulder labrum tear and did not compete in the P&G National Championships.
In 2016, a new element on the parallel bars was named for him in the Men's Gymnastics Code of Points.
Olympics
It was announced on July 1, 2012 that Dalton would be a member of the 2012 Olympic team. The New York Times stated that the team roster is "considered so good that it could be the first United States men’s team to win gold since the 1984 Los Angeles Games." Dalton as part of the United States Gymastics team placed fifth in the team competition in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
On June 25, 2016, Dalton was once again named to the five-man United States men's gymnastics team for the Olympics. He will represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro alongside Sam Mikulak, John Orozco who was later substituted with Danell Leyva due to injury, Alex Naddour, and Chris Brooks.
Mesomorphic
Mesomorphic or MESO is a brand made to motivate your drive. Jake Dalton has always felt his achievements in gymnastics were largely due to a positive attitude. He feels strongly that self-motivation, positivity, and dedication are the keys to success and that is why he created the Mesomorphic brand.
Jake Dalton wants to spread the positive message of perseverance to all that are motivated to achieving their goals. This brand is designed to motivate your drive. Jake continues pushing forward and moving toward larger success and will not stop until he has achieved it.
The MESO brand is about understanding that we as individuals have the ability, through individual reliance, hard work, and positive thinking, to achieve anything we can imagine… that we can indeed all, Crown Ourselves.
Keep On Pushing. Keep On Trying. Don’t Stop Moving Forward.
Sponsorships
In 2013, Dalton signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Adidas gymnastics.