University of Minnesota Athletics
Burns Blog No. 4 From the World Gymnastics Championships
9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Just missing the bronze medal by 1.25 points, the USA Men's Gymnastics Team positioned itself back amongst the contenders for a team medal at the 2008 Olympic Games.
A rough high bar set the team back but as they went to their last event, floor exercise, they showed a lot of the right stuff. Sean Golden, Guillermo Alvarez, and Jonathan Horton accepted the weight of the collective American spirit and put on a floor exercise clinic, winning the meet on floor with a score of 46.80 (Sean, 15.575; Guillermo, 15.60; and Jonathan, 15.625).
Having just come off of two misses on high bar it was great to see these guys turn it around and knock out three amazing routines and move the team from 6th place all the way up to 4th. It was almost impossible to catch Germany, which went on to grab the bronze medal but moving to 4th place after a 13th place finish last year was an incredible feat.
Here is a brief rundown on the meet:
The U.S. men started team finals on pommel horse. Artemev again had the crowd cheering for his style on the horse and earned a 14.775. Tan did a solid routine that included a handstand on a pommel to earn a 14.525. Durante posted a 14.225 after his hand missed and he hit the horse during a circle. They earned a total of 43.525.
On still rings, Tan had a small step on his full-twisting, double layout dismount, but had a good routine for a score of 15.825. Golden, who has a long strength sequence in his routine, posted a 15.375 after hitting his double layout dismount. Horton also had a clean routine and stuck his landing for a 15.150. The team was in seventh after the rotation at 89.875.
Alvarez started the men off on the vault, posting a 15.600 for his Yurchenko double full. Artemev held on to his landing after his Yurchenko two-and-a-half, but received a zone deduction to take a 15.600. Golden performed a very nice Yurchenko two-and-a-half to earn a 16.100, and the USA moved into fifth place after the third rotation.
On parallel bars, Tan had a solid routine to earn a 15.200. Artemev stuck his double pike dismount, as well as performed a good routine, for a 15.500. Horton, who had a step on his dismount, earned a 15.400. The USA’s 183.275 moved them in to fourth place behind China, Japan and Korea.
The U.S. men dropped to sixth place after the fifth rotation. Both Durante and Artemev missed on release moves to score a 13.575 and 13.750, respectively. Horton hit his routine and had only a small step on his triple-twisting, double layout dismount for a 14.875.
The men showed their mettle on the floor exercise, posting the highest score of the day with a 46.800. Golden was first and gave a solid performance with a 15.575. Alvarez also had a clean routine with good landings, including on his double layout dismount, to score a 15.600. Horton, who was rock steady all day, was impressive, nailing his double-twisting, double-back and his full-twisting, double-back dismount for a 15.625.
Durante and Horton will compete in the all-around finals tomorrow at 2 pm local time and Guillermo, Sasha, and Kevin will compete on Saturday in the event finals.
