This past weekend I went down to Kissimmee, Florida to the JO Nationals. On Friday night I had the opportunity to welcome the athletes and wish them good luck for the weekend. On Saturday I had fun handing out awards after the first session and doing some autographs and photos. It’s so much fun watching these young gymnasts. It brings back wonderful memories and I am excited for all they have ahead. There were a slew of college recruiters on hand to look at potential college scholarship athletes.

It was old home week for me since I got to see so many of my friends in the gymnastics community; coaches, judges, parents, athletes, etc. After we caught up on our personal lives the conversation turned quickly to the number one question we will be asking for the next 2 months, “Who will make the Olympic team?”

It’s one of those quirky pastimes that we enjoy. It’s fun to guess and debate on who our picks would be and why. (so maybe we’re geeks but I like to consider it “research.”)

For the women it seems to be an easier answer in some ways. We have 8-9 girls that have the best chance of making the team. Injuries alone may narrow that down to 6-7 rather quickly. So the name of the game on the women’s side is to stay healthy. It tends to become survival of the fittest at this stage in the game. With the number of high pressure training camps these girls are attending in addition to their competition schedule, it is incredibly important to not over train or over compete. Gymnastics is all about peaks and valleys. If you want to peak at the Olympic Games then you must be strategic in your training and competition schedules. Looking back I truly believe that getting injured actually saved my career. Prior to both Olympics I had major injuries that forced me to sit out one of the 2 qualifying competitions. (Back then the scores from National Championships and Olympic Trials were combined to decide the team — I competed fully only at Olympic Trials before the 92 Olympics and did only the Nationals prior to the 96 Games) Being forced to sit out of one of the two qualify competitions so close to the games gave my body the rest it needed to get through 2 weeks at the Olympics.

On the men’s side it gets a bit more difficult. Because there are so many men’s event (6) it can get complicated fast. An interesting question arose, “Should the men focus on forming a team that will be sure to qualify to the finals or focus on putting together a team that will excel once in the finals?” These could be two completely different teams. In the qualifying round it’s a 6-5-4 format. Six men on a team, 5 men compete on each event and 4 scores count. In the final round it’s a 3 up 3 count format. Three athletes compete on each event, all scores count. For the qualifying round you would likely need athletes that can do more events, thus more all-arounders. This would mean the less events you compete (no matter how good), the worse your chances of making the team. However, if you want to focus on the final round and assume you’ll make it there, you would need only 3 men on each event that can throw huge scores. This means a ringman like Kevin Tan or a specialist like Sean Golden may have a much better chance to make the team.

Of course there are a million variations because as soon as you choose one guy then you have to look at who supports his weaknesses and can also fill in on other events if someone were to go down with an injury. If you take Jon Horton with a weaker pommel horse score, you’ll want someone like Alexander Artemov who is one of the best in the world on that event.

Based on international competition and recent showings the front runners look to be obvious, Paul Hamm and Jonathon Horton. But Raj Bhavsar, Sean Townsend and Todd Thornton have all been on the comeback trail. By next weekend we will have a much better idea where they stand. The men hold their Nationals Championships in Houston from May 22nd-24th. Watch for Justin Spring who is coming back from an ACL injury last year, Morgan Hamm who had an allergic reaction and had to sit out the qualifier and of course Blaine Wilson who seems to be the talk of the gymnastics community. Everyone is anxious to see what these three will do.

Winning at the Olympic level involves so much more than talent. It’s about hard work, dedication, timing and heart. I’ve seen all of this in the men and women that are vying for spots on the team this year. If you get a chance to be at any of the competitions, make sure to let them hear your support! (Men’s Nationals (Houston June 22-24), Women’s Nationals (Boston June 5-7) and Olympic Trials (Philadelphia, June 19-22)

For more news, updates and information on Shannon Miller, please check out www.shannonmiller.com.

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