News: Johnson leads senior women’s all-around at the 2007 Visa Championships

Johnson leads senior women’s all-around at the
2007 Visa Championships

August 16, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2007— 2007 Pan American Games all-around champion Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, leads the senior women’s all-around competition going into the final round of the 2007 Visa Championships on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 6 p.m. PT at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (Calif.). The U.S. women’s champion will be crowned on Saturday based on the total two-day score.

Johnson, the 2006 U.S. junior all-around champion, moved into first place after the second rotation and never relinquished it on the way to a total score of 61.700. She started the competition with a 15.250 on uneven bars. Her routine included a double-twisting, double-back dismount. Johnson’s 15.750 and 15.500 were the highest on balance beam and floor exercise, respectively. On beam her routine featured a full-twisting double-back dismount. On floor, Johnson started her routine with a double-twisting double-back tumbling pass. She finished the day on vault with a double-twisting Yurchenko that earned a 15.200.

"I'm actually very nervous in competition,” Johnson said. “I felt very shaky up on beam today. I still have another whole day to give it all that I have. Tonight’s competition only accounted for 50 percent, and that really isn't a whole lot."

2007 Pan American Games team gold-medalist Ivana Hong of Blue Springs, Mo., is second in the all-around with a score of 60.150, followed by 2007 U.S. Classic all-around champion Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind., at 59.450.

"The crowd here was so supportive,” Hong said. “It felt good trying my new vault and floor skills with such a great crowd. I expected to be right where I am in the rankings. I love to grab people's attention, and that's what I did tonight."

2005 floor exercise world gold-medalist Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., had the top score on vault with a 15.450, while 2005 world uneven bars champion Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, earned the highest uneven bars score of the night with a 15.350.

The senior women’s all-around and individual event champions (except vault) will be determined by totaling each gymnast’s scores from both sessions. Only athletes who perform two vaults on both days of competition are eligible for a vault award. The vault score used to determine medals is the average of the two vaults.

In the junior division, 2007 Pan American Games all-around silver-medalist Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, leads the all-around with a score of 58.95 after the first day of competition.

Despite a fall on bars, Bross held her lead with scores of 14.75 on vault, 13.85 on bars, 15.05 on beam and 15.30 on floor. She also posted the highest scores of the division on both vault (Yurchenko double full) and floor.

Samantha Shapiro of Los Angeles nailed her beam routine with the high score of the day on that event, 15.600, to finish a strong second all-around with a score of 58.900.

Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich., finished third overall with a score of 58.500. Wieber had the top score on bars with a 14.450 for her routine that included with a twisting double layout dismount. Chelsea Davis of Lakeway, Texas, and Rheagan Courville of Baton Rouge, La., tied for fourth at 57.300.

The second day of junior competition is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The scores from both days will be added together to determine the all-around rankings and national champions.

Acrobatic gymnastics competition begins tomorrow, while men’s artistic gymnastics competition concludes tomorrow evening. Women’s artistic and rhythmic gymnastics wrap up on the final day of the Visa Championships on Saturday.

Tickets are still available for the Visa Championships, the national championships for artistic, rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics. Tickets may be purchased at the HP Pavilion Ticket Office; all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at (408) 998-TIXS; or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Artistic gymnastics will be held at HP Pavilion at San Jose, and rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics are set for the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. The USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show, held in conjunction with the Visa Championships, will also be at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

At HP Pavilion, the artistic gymnastics competition schedule for the Visa Championships is: Thursday, Aug. 16 – 7 p.m., senior women’s first day of competition; Friday, Aug. 17 – 7 p.m., senior men’s final day of competition; and Saturday, Aug. 18 – 1 p.m., junior women’s final day of competition, and 6 p.m., senior women’s final day of competition.

About HP Pavilion at San Jose

HP Pavilion at San Jose is the premier sports and entertainment venue in Northern California. Home to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League, SAP Open men’s professional tennis tournament and the annual Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament, HP Pavilion also hosts a multitude of events annually including concerts, family shows and civic events.

HP Pavilion at San Jose is an exemplification of architectural excellence and technological innovation. Outside, a shining stainless-steel facade supports a magnificent, glass pyramid entry, soaring 10 stories above the ground. Inside, first-class amenities and leading-edge seismic engineering contribute to the building’s reputation as one of the finest facilities in the United States.

HP Pavilion at San Jose is capable of accommodating a full-range of entertainment. State-of-the-art acoustics, plush seating and a video replay scoreboard add to the comfort and luxury for the venue’s patrons. In addition, the downtown location is easily accessible via several major freeways, light-rail and a regional train station, located across the street.

About San Jose McEnery Convention Center

Considered the hub for meetings and conventions in San Jose, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center opened its doors in April 1989. The facility has 432,000 square feet of function space, including a 22,000 square-foot ballroom and 30 meeting rooms.

About Visa USA

Visa USA is a leading payments brand and the nation's largest payments system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders – financial institutions, cardholders and merchants. In the United States, more than 521 million Visa-branded cards have been issued by our 13,320 financial institution customers.

Visa products generated nearly $1.8 trillion in total volume in the United States through March 2007 and enjoy unsurpassed acceptance around the globe. For more information, visit www.visa.com.

About the San Jose Sports Authority

The San Jose Sports Authority is a non-profit organization that serves as the sports marketing agency for the City of San Jose. Since their inception in 1991, they have worked with community partners to bring more than 150 premier events and programs to the San Jose area. For more information, visit www.sjsa.org.

About USA Gymnastics

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.