University of Minnesota Athletics
Several Gophers Headed to Moscow
5/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Three men with ties to the University of Minnesota’s men’s gymnastics program will be taking part in the Moscow World Stars World Cup competition in Russia later this week.
Gopher head coach Mike Burns and former Gopher Guillermo Alvarez, who will be competing, left for Moscow Tuesday.
In addition to Alvarez, other gymnasts representing the USA are 2008 Olympian Raj Bhavsar and 2008 United States All-Around champion David Sender.
“This will be a great competition for Guillermo and the other gymnasts from the U.S.,” Burns said. “There are some amazing gymnasts heading to Moscow for this meet and we are bringing some amazing gymnasts with us to take on some very good athletes.
The qualifying competition will be held on Friday at the Sportcomplex Olympisky in Moscow.
“We'll be taking a long flight on Tuesday - 10 hours from Chicago to Moscow,” Burns said. “Our first order of business will be to qualify for the finals, which will be held on Saturday.”
Burns will be coaching alongside Oklahoma assistant coach Rustam Sharipov, who was the Olympic Gold Medalist on the Parallel Bars when he competed for Ukraine.
Former Gopher Brian Meeker will also be accompanying the USA Delegation as a judge for the meet. Burns will act as the USA Delegation Leader on his first trip to Russia.
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