Danell Leyva, Donnell Whittenburg named Olympic alternates

Danell Leyva and Donnell Whittenburg, the only two U.S. men to earn 2015 World Championships medals, were named as Olympic alternates Sunday after being left off the five-man Saturday night.

So was Akash Modi, who finished sixth in the combined all-around standings after the P&G Championships and Olympic Trials.

Leyva, Whittenburg and Modi can replace one of the five Olympic team members — Sam Mikulak, John Orozco, Jacob Dalton, Chris Brooks or Alex Naddour — in the event of injury.

It wouldn’t be unprecedented. In 2008, two Olympic alternates — Raj Bhavsar and Sasha Artemev — replaced the injured Paul and Morgan Hamm and helped the U.S. to a surprise team bronze medal in Beijing.

Leyva won the…