POSTED: Sunday September 9th 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USA wins two more medals at 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
STUTTGART, Germany, Sept. 8, 2007 ? Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, and Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., added a silver and a bronze medal, respectively, to their world team gold medal at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Liukin was second on the uneven bars, with Sacramone finishing third on the vault.
Guillermo Alvarez of Denver and Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif., both just missed the podium to finish fourth in the men?s floor exercise and still rings, respectively. Alexander Artemev of
Morrison, Colo., placed sixth on the pommel horse.
Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, Liukin and Sacramone will compete tomorrow, Sept. 9, on the final day of individual event finals.
Known for her elegance and clean lines, Liukin nailed all of her release moves and had only a small step on her double-front, half-out dismount. Her 16.300 was just .05 behind the 16.350 of gold-medalist Ksenia Semenova of Russia, who had a slightly higher A (difficulty) score. China?s Yang Yilin was third at 16.150.
?I had a step on my landing and that?s what cost me,? said Liukin, who was the world bars champion in 2005 and the silver medalist in 2006. ?I will learn from this experience and move on for next year.?
?I am not disappointed (at this event),? said Liukin. ?Our big goal was to win the team gold medal, and we did that. Also, I have proven that I can do four events. We?ve got a lot of events next year and my main focus is on Beijing.?
Liukin?s silver brings her total world medal tally to eight, one short of the mark of nine held by Shannon Miller, who has earned more world and Olympic medals than any other U.S. gymnast. Miller, the only U.S. woman to win back-to-back all-around world titles, has five gol
d, three silver and one bronze world medal to her credit. Liukin has three gold and four silver medals and will compete in the balance beam finals tomorrow.
?Eight medals is such an accomplishment,? said Liukin. ?Shannon is a great inspiration to us.?
Sacramone nailed her first vault, a handspring Rudi (a front flip with a one-and-a-half twist) to post a 15.750. Her second vault was a Yurchenko double full, which earned a 15.075 due to a small step on the landing. Her average of 15.412 garnered her the bronze medal, finishing behind China?s Cheng Fei at 15.937 and the People?s Republic of Korea?s Hong Su Jong at 15.812. In the vault finals, each gymnast does two vaults and the score is an average of the two.
?I feel very good about my performance today,? said Sacramone, who has won world vault medals in the last three World Championships. ?The vault competition was really tough this year, and it is great to get a medal. My second vault was good in the air, but I had a step on the landing. I need to upgrade my vaults.?
In the floor exercise, Alvarez finished fourth at 15.600, just .05 behind bronze-medalist Hisashi Mizutori of Japan, who finished with a 15.650. Brazil?s Diego Hypolito won his second world floor title with his 16.150. Spain?s Gervasio Deferr was second at 15.950.
?Fourth place is awesome, but to come so close to a medal again is a little frustrating,? said Alvarez. ?I?m really happy and did as well as I could today. To make it to the event finals before the Olympics is great, and to be on the same floor as Diego Hypolito is an honor.?
Tan also missed getting a bronze medal by .25 of a point. Tan executed his routine well and held his landing on his full twisting, double layout dismount to score a 16.325. China?s Chen Yibing was first at 16.700, followed by the Netherlands? Yuri Van Gelder at 16.625 and Bulgaria?s Jordan Jovtchev at 16.575.
?It was great to make the event finals at a world championships,? said Tan. ?You had the world?s best and it is one of the toughest competitions I?ve seen in a long time. I am happy with my performance, and each day I got a little better.?
Artemev had the crowd cheering and on its feet with his high-flying moves on the pommel horse. A misplaced hand on his dismount dropped his score to 15.175 and sixth place. China?s Xiao Qin won the title with his score of 16.300.
?The pommel horse group was so good,? said Artemev, who was the 2006 world bronze medalist. ?You can?t afford to make any mistakes, and they are just flawless. I am not just a pommel horse guy, I am an all-arounder. I think the horse is one of my strong points. A lot of all-aroun
d gymnasts seem to struggle on it.?
?It?s been an absolutely great week,? said Kevin Mazeika, the U.S. men?s head coach. ?I am so proud of these guys. They are professionals from start to finish. They have sent the message that we?re back (and competitive), and I believe that next year we will be on the podium several times.?
The individual event finals finish up on Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. local Stuttgart time. For full results and coverage of the 2007 World Championships, visit www.usa-gymnastics.org.
Earlier in the event, the U.S. women won the world team title, with the men finishing fourth in the team competition. Johnson became just the fourth U.S. woman to win the world all-around title. Jonathan Horton of Houston was fourth in the men?s all-around finals.
U.S. gymnastics fans have three ways to follow the action from the 2007 World Championships. ?USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T? will have video clips from Stuttgart, including athlete media interviews after competition, at www.attblueroom.com/teamusa. WCSN is offering a free, live an
d on-demand Web cast of the men?s and women?s team, all-around and individual event finals at
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States, encourages participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. For more information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.
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2007 World Championships
Stuttgart, Germany
Sept. 8, 2007
Men?s events
Floor exercise
1. Diego Hypolito, Brazil, 16.150
2. Gervasio Deferr, Spain 15.950
3. Hisashi Mizutori, Japan, 15.650
4. Guillermo Alvarez, Denver, Colo., 15.600
Pommel horse
1. Xiao Qin, China, 16.300
2. Krisztian Berki, Hungary, 15.700
3. Louis Smith, Great Britain, 15.600
U.S. finish
6. Alexander Artemev, Morrison, Colo., 15.175
Still rings
1. Chen Yibing, China, 16.700
2. Yuri Van Gelder, Netherlands, 16.625
3. Jordan Jovtchev, Bulgaria, 16.575
4. Kevin Tan, Fremont, Calif., 16.325
Women?s events
Vault
1. Cheng Fei, China, 15.937
2. Hong Su Jong, People?s Republic of Korea, 15.812
3. Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass., 15.412
Uneven bars
1. Ksenia Semenova, Russia, 16.350
2. Nastia Liukin, Parker, Texas, 16.300
3. Yang Yilin, China, 16.150
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