News: USA Gymnastics selects the U.S. Women’s Team

USA Gymnastics selects the U.S. Women’s Team
for the 2007 Pan American Games

For immediate release - July 4, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., July 04, 2007 – USA Gymnastics has selected the six women it will nominate to the U.S. Olympic Committee to represent the United States in gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games, July 13-29, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Pending the USOC’s approval, the six-woman Pan Am squad is comprised of: Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA; Ivana Hong of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE; Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics; Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas/WOGA; Samantha Peszek of Indianapolis, Ind./DeVeau’s School of Gymnastics; and Amber Trani of Richlandtown, Pa./Parkettes. The replacement athletes are: Sarah DeMeo of Overland Park, Kan./GAGE; and Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s Gymnastics Academy. Valeri Liukin of Parker, Texas/WOGA, is the head coach, and Donna Strauss of Allentown, Pa./Parkettes, is assistant coach.
"The Pan Am Games provide a valuable international opportunity for our athletes," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "They have the potential to mount the podium as a team and as individuals and will represent our country well. Also, this team will benefit from the experience of competing in Rio as we prepare for the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games."

The U.S. Women’s Team for the Pan American Games was named at the conclusion of the Pan Am Selection Training Camp, June 30-July 3, at the Women’s National Training Center.

Liukin is returning for her second Pan Am Games. In 2003, she was on the gold-medal team and also won the title on the balance beam, was second in the all-around and third on the uneven bars and floor exercise. She also is a two-time U.S. all-around champion as a senior (2005-06) and as a junior (2003-04). Liukin won the world title on both the balance beam and uneven bars in 2005. At the World Championships in 2006, she won a silver medal in both the team competition and the uneven bars.

Johnson, who is competing as a senior in 2007, won the 2007 Tyson American Cup. In 2006, Johnson won the junior all-around title at the Visa Championships, where she also claimed the gold medal in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise. At the USA vs Great Britain International competition, she won the all-around and balance beam and was on the team that won the title, along with Peszek and Bross. Johnson won the all-around and balance beam and was second on vault and floor at the 2006 Junior Pan American Championships, where she, Peszek and Bross were on the team that won the title.

Peszek, who also is competing as a senior, added the floor exercise and vault gold medals to the team title at the USA vs Great Britain dual meet, as well as competed in the Tyson American Cup in 2007. At the 2006 Junior Pan Am Championships, she won the floor exercise title and a silver medal in vault, as well as the team gold medal. At the 2006 Visa Championships, she was second in the vault and third in the all-around and uneven bars as a junior.

Bross won the vault title at the Junior Pan Am Championships, along with the team crown. She was second on the balance beam and fourth in the all-around in the junior division at the 2006 Visa Championships. Both Bross and Johnson were members of the gold medal team at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships.

Hong, now competing as a senior, was second in the all-around and the balance beam at the Houston International Invitational. She was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the USA vs Great Britain International Competition, where she was also third on the balance beam. At the 2006 Visa Championships, she was third on the balance beam in the junior division.

Trani won the vault title and was third on the balance beam at the Houston International Invitational. At the Gymnix International, she was a member of the silver-medal team and was fourth in the all-around.

Pending USOC approval, USA Gymnastics has already announced the teams for men’s artistic gymnastics and trampoline. The names of the rhythmic gymnasts will be released in the near future.

The six-man Pan Am Team is comprised of: Guillermo Alvarez of Denver/Team Chevron; David Durante of Garwood, N.J./Team Chevron; Sean Golden of Camden, N.J./Gattaca; Joseph Hagerty of Rio Rancho, N.M./Team Chevron; Justin Spring of Burke, Va./Team Chevron; and Todd Thornton of Houston/Team Chevron. The replacement athletes are Sho Nakamori of Albany, Calif./Stanford University, and Bryant Hadden of Wichita, Kan./Stanford University.

For trampoline, the four athletes are: men—Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., and Ryan Weston of Chubbuck, Idaho; and women—Brittany Dircks of Orland Park, Ill., and Alaina Williams of Amarillo, Texas. All four trampolinists train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

USA Gymnastics
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport.
For more information about USA Gymnastics and its programs, access USA Gymnastics online at
www.usa-gymnastics.org.

USA Gymnastics selects the U.S. Women’s Team for the 2007 Pan American Games

USA Gymnastics selects the U.S. Women’s Team
for the 2007 Pan American Games