I wanted to take a few minutes to answer some of the questions below. I know people are very passionate about the 2004 Paul Hamm situation. The fact is there were no winners in that whole ordeal. Neither Paul Hamm nor Yan Tae Young had anything to do with the judging. And the judges called it as they saw it. Gymnastics is a subjective sport and as athletes we know that going in. Sometimes the judges miss something and other times they don’t, it’s part of the sport. At the time, there was no “instant replay.” However; there was a procedure in place for coaches to make an inquiry. Unfortunately the inquiry was not made in the allotted time. At the end of the day there were errors made by judges and coaches but the athletes are the ones that suffer. And that’s the most disappointing part.

As for the question about Shawn Johnson’s training regimen, it’s the same as anything, everyone is different. It’s unfortunately not as simple as looking at the hours trained. Some athletes take their time during workouts but do them for longer. Others like to get in and get out as fast as possible. Some athletes bodies just work better with less training. And some athletes need that constant repetition. I think the best thing to do is figure out what works best for you personally. For me it changed throughout my career. When I was young and training for my first Olympics I really needed the repetition and the long hours. As I trained for my second Games (as a 19 year old lady) I worked on quality versus quantity.

And now for the Olympics! We?ve had two fairly successful qualifying rounds. The men have taken several blows with Paul Hamm and then his twin brother Morgan both resigning from the team due to injuries. I know there is a lot of speculation going on about how bad the injuries and why they stepped down. At the end of the day, I know both of these athletes had the best interest of the team at heart. As an athlete you don’t want to go into the Olympic Games taking up a spot if you aren’t in good form. Especially now with the 3 up 3 count rule, if you were suddenly not able to compete, your entire team would be out. Not something I’d want hanging over my head.

I am excited for Sasha (Alexander) Artemov and Raj Bhavsar who both have trained so hard and been through so much to get here. Jon Horton is within striking distance of a medal individually as is Sasha on Pommel Horse. But right now they are focused only on the team medal. Even though they are in 6th place, anything can happen. If every country hits it will be extremely difficult for them to medal, but we’ve seen some strange things happen with the 3 up 3 count format.

As for the girls, they have taken some blows as well. Tonight we’ll watch the qualification round. If you haven’t seen or heard anything stop reading here!!!

The girls place second after a strong China. Chellsie has had a tough go of it with a recent ankle injury and Samantha Peszek injured her ankle right before the girls walked out for the meet. For all the talk of such a deep Women’s team, we are now looking at only a couple of all-arounders (Nastia and Shawn) and Alicia Sacramone who competes all events except uneven bars. It’s a good thing Chellsie is able to step in on that event even with her ankle injury. With the few girls left, we still have an incredibly strong team. Shawn won the qualifier with Nastia placing second. And the 3 up 3 count rule will likely work to their advantage. I’m on pins and needles to see how they fair. Now I know, at least to some degree, how my mother felt watching me all those years!!

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

August 2, 2008

It has been a difficult time for men’s gymnastics in the last couple of weeks. On a sad note Paul Hamm withdrew from the US Olympic Team due to injury. He was unable to feel 100% prepared for the upcoming games after breaking his 4th metatarsal at the National Championship. He looked great during the recent training camp but was having issues with other parts of his body, possibly due to compensation for his hand. Paul made the decision to step down and allow another athlete to compete for the team. On a positive note, that athlete was Raj Bhavsar who was alternate for the 2004 Olympic team and had staged an impressive comeback, in the minds of the judges, this year. It was difficult to watch him be placed into the alternate position once again after the trails so it’s nice to see Raj get his shot.

The US tour of “Super Stars” roster and cities will be announced shortly. As much as these athletes are looking forward to the Olympics they are also looking forward to the post-Olympic tour! So watch for more info coming soon.

6 days and counting until the Opening ceremonies!!!

Oh and don’t forget that the US Olympic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be on NBC at 1:30 Sunday August 3rd. Watch the Mag 7 and other great athletes as they get inducted. It was fun to see how everyone has grown up and changed throughout the years. Most people remember us at age 15 or maybe 17 years old but now we have mothers, gym owners, gym coaches, a doctor, a lawyer and professional speakers on board! And no hair scrunchies in site!

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

What a great night at the White House. It was nice to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones as well. I love looking at the many Presidential portraits through out the rooms. There are a few more modern pieces of art on the walls now which adds an interesting touch.

It was an intimate gathering which made it easy to visit with most of the invitees. I chatted with Sarah Mergenthaler who will be representing sailing at the upcoming Olympic Games. I’m always amazed out how similar top level athletes are no matter what their sport. Whether it’s the competitive mentality, training regimen, diets or just the idea of following your passion it’s fun to think that we’re all in this together. (even though I?m now retired I still can’t help but think of my self as an athlete) I wish Sarah the best of luck. She says her siblings are much better sailors the she is but I can’t help but think she’s being a bit humble.

I can’t believe we are days away from Olympics. I am so excited for some of our favorites like Michael Phelps, Dara Torres and Shawn Johnson. But my favorite thing to do is watch for those side stories. The story of the first person from their country to medal in a sport. Or the athletes that truly risked everything in hopes of simply being part of the Olympic movement. There will be many uplifting moments and many heart wrenching defeats. But all of this is in the name of bringing the world together through sport.

As for me, I head to NYC this weekend to work on a couple projects (to be announced). Also, make sure you pick up a copy of USA Weekend that will have a great story on me and Shawn Johnson. We posed together after the Olympic Trials and the issue will be out July 27th!

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

Tonight the U.S. gymnastics teams were finalized for the men and women. Paul Hamm was declared “prepared” during the men’s training camp. His hand looks like it will hold up for the training and competition over the next 5 weeks. That’s great news for Team USA. Paul brings with him an incredible difficulty level in his gymnastics, but he also has the execution to score big and the reputation of one of the most strategic gymnasts ever. When he walks into a competition everyone pays attention, especially the other competitors. His brother Morgan has also been confirmed for the U.S. team. This will be their 3rd Olympics together.

On the women’s side, it was much more of an emotional weekend. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin had already secured their spots from Olympic Trials held in Philly a few weeks ago. Three of the last four spots seemed all but secured for Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek and Alecia Sacramone. That proved to be accurate as those three did earn spots onto the 2008 Olympic team. The final spot was up for grabs at the beginning of the weekend with Shayla Worley as a strong favorite. Unfortunately her dream ended with a broken fibula. Shayla has been plagued with injuries over the years and without having the competitive results, she was going to need to have a strong performance this weekend. With Shayla out, it seemed to come down to Jana Beiger and Bridget Sloan and possibly Ivana Hong. Bridget wowed Marta with a new and more powerful vault, a “Yurchenko double twist.” Jana missed bars earlier today, which didn’t help her cause. In the end, here is your United States Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team 2008 - Shawn Johnson, Nastia Luikin, Chellsie Memmel, Alecia Sacramone, Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan!!!

Alternates are:
Jana Bieger, Ivana Hong, Corrie Lothrop

Congratulations to all of the girls who have worked so hard to make it so far!

So sorry for the delay in response. It’s been a bit ridiculous schedule-wise. The women’s finals at Trials were incredible. I personally would have liked to see them name Chellsie Memmel to the team that night. She was second in the AA in the end. That’s not quite how Marta works, though. She’d like to wait until the very last possible moment to name the girls to the team. The thought is to make sure that those chosen are the healthiest and most prepared. It’s survival of the fittest and this weekend (July 20 on NBC) will be the final, final trial for the U.S. women. The last four athletes will be chosen.

So while we’re waiting for the outcome of the women, we’ll also await the final word on Paul Hamm and his hand injury. Although I fully believe that Paul will be in shape and ready to go in Beijing.

Meanwhile, I’m going about my crazy schedule. Shawn Johnson and I had a photo shoot the morning after Olympic Trials (watch for USA Weekend — out July 27). Then it was on to the Post Olympic Trials Media Day, where I put on my reporter hat and interviewed the athletes for my last show for this season of Gymnastics 360° with Shannon Miller.

It’s always interesting on media day. I wear my reporter hat one second and my interviewee hat the next. But that makes it fun!

Then it was on to Oklahoma City for a corporate speech and co-hosting the NBC afternoon news before settling in with my parents for dinner. The next day I was back in Philly to tape the last episode of my show on Comcast.

By the week of June 30, I was outside of LA at Woodward West Gymnastics Camp, then Lake Owen and then on to CATS Camp. It was fun getting to wear sweats and work with the gymnasts all day. I also had a chance to do a little training for the upcoming tour!

This past weekend I filmed a new commercial set to broadcast in August (more info to follow) and we had a huge announcement for the tour. The 40-city post-Olympics tour will include myself, Shawn Johnson, Chellsie Memmel, Blaine Wilson and the entire men’s Olympic team including Paul and Morgan Hamm and Jon Horton!!! I’ll post the cities we’ll be visiting on my website at www.shannonmiller.com as soon as I can, so keep checking back!!!

So the gymnastics world is watching and waiting to see what happens this weekend. As far as most are concerned, there are five lock-ins (assuming that they’re healthy): Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Pezcek and Alicia Sacramone. The sixth spot is up for grabs. If Shayla Worley can show she is healthy and can hit, she could take it.

But Jana Beiger is set to battle for that spot. With international clout she is certainly in the mix. Anything can happen, so we’ll have to wait and see!

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

Wow what an incredible weekend of gymnastics! I missed the first day of men’s Olympic Trials. I was with the rest of my team from the 1996 Olympics in Chicago. We were inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame along with some other great athletes like Brian Boitano, David Robinson, Lones Wigger, Oscar de la Hoya, and others. Then it was up at 3am and on a plane a 6am. I headed to Philly for the Olympic Trials.

I get to wear many hats but one of my favorites is host of the WGYM radio program for the competition. The fist night of women’s competition was spectacular. I can’t get over the fact there were only about 4 falls in the whole competition. That bodes well for the US team. Shawn Johnson had an outstanding performance on all four events. She is rock solid with an infectious smile. It’s like she had absolutely no idea she is world champion. Hopefully she won’t realize how good she is until after the Olympics. Nastia Liukin came in second by half a point. She also had a wonderful competition. She nailed about the best vault she can do. Her beam and floor are so beautiful to watch with her long lines and artistry. Her bar dismount still comes in pretty low and I have a feeling the international judges are not going to be quite as forgiving as they have been here. But it’s just a marathon bar routine. I don’t know how she even makes it to the dismount.

Chellsie Memmel, shows her passion and her heart once again. She sits in third and is a contender for one of the top 2 spots that could solidify her a spot on the Olympic team. Other than a step out of bounds on the floor exercise she had a great competition. She is weakest on vault, like Nastia, both competing a yurchenko 1 ½ twist. But she stuck the landing just as she did at National Championships. That consistency is key for the team.

Alecia Sacramone and Samantha Peszek also look like they could be solidifying spots on the team. Two women will be named to the team tomorrow evening after the final round. The rest will head to a selection camp in a couple weeks where the final 6 will be nailed down.

On the men’s side, the finals were tonight with Paul Hamm and Jonathon Horton being named to the men’s Olympic Team. Others may be named tomorrow night. The men’s field is wide open. After Paul and Jon the rest of the team could be any of 12 other athletes. There were a few big mistakes this evening during first round and a very difficult pommel horse night for many. Sasha Artemov is one of the best in the world on PH but has trouble with consistency. Artemov opened the door for Morgan Hamm when he fell, once again, on the Pommel horse, his signature event. Morgan hit his 4 events but was not solid. He seemed to be a different gymnast tonight. It will be a close call to see if he’ll make the team. Home town boy Sean Golden was strong on his three events. And Joey Hagerty came out of no where to really shake up the line up with a great performance throughout the nationals and trials. David Durante was the life of the competition tonight pumping his fist and keeping the crown engaged as moved from event to event. Justin Spring has made an incredible comeback after blowing out his ACL last year at Nationals and injuring his ankle earlier this year. He looked great and really proved his case to make the team.

Stay tuned to NBC tomorrow evening for the women’s finals!

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

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

No doubt the busier you get the more likely your computer will start acting up! I’ve had a few technical difficulties this past couple of weeks but hopefully (fingers crossed) those are behind me for now.

So let’s see, to catch up, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at the Governor’s Conference on Women’s Health in Orlando at the end of May and headed down for some deep sea fishing in the Dominican Republic.

So far this month I’ve barely caught my breath. I started with a couple days at CATS summer camp in Boulder, CO. This is the 3rd year I’ve helped teach balance beam and do a special clinic with the campers. I had a great time, as always, and it was a good way to ease into the summer. Next I headed to New York City to be inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. It was such an amazing evening. It’s very humbling to look out and see so many amazing women athletes who gathered for the event. The next morning I headed to a speech in New Jersey for Mediacom. I spoke about setting goals, winning everyday and keeping your passion alive. It was a great group of people and they were amazingly awake after having had their hotel evacuated at 1:30am that morning!

After the speech I headed on to State College for Woodward East Gymnastics camp. I spent another couple of days visiting with the girls and teaching more of my favorite, balance beam. I even got to sneak in a little beam work of my own as I try to get in shape for an upcoming 40-city tour.

From there it was on to Philadelphia to promote the US Olympic Trials that will be coming to Philly June 19-22. I finally made it home yesterday (Friday) and picked up my laptop from the Geek Squad today. Yeah!

So now that we’re all caught up on my lovely travel schedule we can get down to the important stuff — the actual gymnasts!!! In my next blog we’ll recap Nationals and see what’s going on as we lead up to the Olympic Trials this week.

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

Wow! It was an interesting National Championships. We had a couple of injuries including Sean Townsend, with a subluxed right shoulder, who has petitioned (and been accepted) to the Olympic Trials. Blaine Wilson decided to retire during the first day of competition. That is such an emotional call to make. It’s so difficult to retire but in your heart you always know when it’s time. Blaine will continue to train with Morgan Hamm as he prepares for the Olympic Trials. He will be a support in the gym if not on the competition floor.

Morgan did a great job at Nationals winning the floor exercise. He also debuted his “air flare”, which this pretty cool break-dancing move that he invented. If he competes it successfully at the Olympics it will be named the “Hamm.”

David Sender won the all-around title with a consistent performance over the two days of competition. Jon Horton was second, followed by Joseph Hagerty. David Durante and Raj Bhavsar rounded out the top five in the all-around.

The individual event champions for 2008 are: Morgan Hamm on floor exercise; Yewki Tomita on pommel horse; Kevin Tan on still rings; David Sender on vault, Justin Spring on parallel bars; and Joseph Hagerty on horizontal bar.

There was a ridiculously wide margin between Paul Hamm and the rest of the pack on the first day of competition, over 4 points! He has amazed everyone that has been covering his comeback after 2 ½ years off. Unfortunately he had a devastating end to the first day of competition. He fractured the fourth metacarpal on his right hand during his Parallel Bar routine. He has already undergone surgery and is currently ahead of schedule in his recovery.

I had recently written about how sometimes an injury close to the Games can be a blessing in disguise. I still believe that. This is an injury with a recovery time of 4-6 weeks. Most athletes tend to get back on the floor faster than expected. Paul has proven himself time and again and is well known for his work ethic and strategic training. He has petitioned directly to the Olympic team based on the men’s selection procedures and won?t compete at the Olympic Trials.

I can still remember sitting up in a suite watching the Olympic Trials in 1996. You have to completely rely on your past performance to decide you future. It?s a painful evening. At the same time if you’ve done your job and proven yourself over a period of time, as Paul has, then the only thing that matters is whether or not you will be healthy and ready on August 8th.

On another note it was great to see the comeback of Justin Spring to competition after an ACL injury last year at National Championships. It’s getting more and more exciting with every day and next up will be the women two weeks from now.

I just returned from the Dominican Republic and a speech in Orlando at the Governor’s Conference on Women’s Health so I am beat. I have a busy month ahead and will keep you up on the travels. Talk to you soon!

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.