Olympic Announcements
It’s a big week ahead for the men and the women of US gymnastics. We’ll head to Philadelphia where the men’s Olympic team will be announced on Sunday and the women will lock in their top 2 spots. The rest of the women will then head to a selection camp where the other 4 spots and 2-3 alternates will be named.
On the men’s side the field is wide open. You’ve got Paul Hamm who is consistently 4 points ahead of every other US male. Unfortunately he also broke his hand at men’s Nationals. He quickly went into surgery had a plate with 9 micro screws inserted We will have an update on x-rays and how it is healing a couple days after Olympic Trials.
Paul has petitioned directly to the Olympic team and although the selection committee won’t meet until this weekend I feel confident that he will be granted one of those coveted team spots. He will still have to show readiness at a training camp closer to the Games but Paul is the type of athlete that will be the first one to step aside if he is not ready. He is interested in helping team USA not in getting a free trip to Beijing.
Others to watch on the men’s side, National Champion David Sender, Raj Bhavsar (2004 Olympic Team Alternate), David Durante (2007 National Champion, Guillermo Alverez and of course Jonathon Horton who placed 4th at the 2007 World Championships. Sean Golden and Morgan Hamm also have a good chance to make the team although they are specialist and will not compete in the AA.
On the women’s side the obvious ones to watch are Shawn Johnson (current National and World Champion), Nastia Liukin (9 time world medalist) and Chellsie Memmel (2004 Olympic Team Alternate and 2005 World Champion). As a specialist, Alecia Sacramone is looking to compete at her first Olympic Trials and earn a spot on the team after helping the US to gold at last years World Championships. And I am interested to see how Shayla Worley looks and if she is healthy. She is a beautiful gymnast but has had such bad luck with injuries.
But we’ve all read the news and watched nationals. What you might not hear about is what one particular athlete had to deal with this week beyond simply training for the toughest competition in a gymnasts career (yes, Olympic Trials is actually tougher than the Olympic Games!)
Shawn Johnson got to deal with the Iowa floods that have been making the news. Not only is Chow’s Gymnastics, where she trains, under 2 feet of water, but there were actually fish swept into the gym from the flooded river! As devastating as it is, I don’t want to get too swept up in thinking completely about a tough day at the gym. My heart goes out to all of those who lost so much more during this tragedy.
On a strictly gymnastics note, it is already so difficult to compete at this high level. Even two days without training can be a major problem, especially this close to the games. I feel for Chow and his family and Shawn and her family. And the area has been hit so hard that, gymnastics may need to take a back seat to higher priorities (imagine that).
It’s never easy to get to the top and it’s even harder to stay there. Good luck to everyone competing this weekend!
For more news, updates and information on Shannon Miller, please check out www.shannonmiller.com
June 17th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
You can’t help but respect a guy who isn’t willing to let a broken hand stop him from going to the olympics! It’s too bad his fate is now in the hands of a selection committee…
The flooding in Iowa is an absolute freak of nature, and the timing can’t be any worse for Shawn Johnson and her coaches, but I’m sure it won’t hurt her chances of making the team. I bet she’ll be eager to put this behind her and show everyone that a natural disaster like this isn’t gonna slow her down.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:12 am
It must be frustrating to go out there and work your butt off and prove that you’re worthy of being on the team (finishing in the top 6) only to see 2 names picked. That’s like having something important to say to someone only to have them completely ignore you, until they’re good and ready to deal with you again!Which is a feeling I know all too well… BTW congrats to Shawn and Nastia… but now the rest of them have to go back and do it all over again for the remaining 4 spots? Seems a bit redundant to me! Especially if the people involved with the mens team have no problems deciding who goes and who doesn’t after one competition.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I wonder if the gymnasts sometimes feel as if Trials doesn’t mean as much. It does in a way, but it’s the selection camp afterwards that really matters except for the top two finishers.
Selection procedures are interesting for women’s gymnastics. It’s been this way in one form or another since at least 1992. It seems to be working in that in 1988, the women brought home one medal (Phoebe Mills on beam - bronze). And of course, we all know what happened in 1992 and 1996. Only 2000 departed from the general trend of bringing home medals.
On the one hand, I feel it’s unfair to make the women compete at a selection camp for their spots. On the other…well, it’s working.