Inside USA Gymnastics

Bob Colarossi
September/October 2003

What an incredibly busy and productive summer it has been preparing our athletes to qualify to the Olympic Games next summer in Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampoline.

The 100th Anniversary of the World Gymnastics Championships concluded August 24 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in California, and proved to be a major success for USA Gymnastics at every level. The American gymnasts won seven medals including five gold and two silver. The USA Women earned the first team gold medal in a World Championships competition. The USA Men earned the team silver medal, making it the second consecutive team silver medal at a World Championships. Paul Hamm won the World Championships All-Around title, becoming the first American male gymnast to ever accomplish this feat. He also won gold on Floor Exercise. Carly Patterson won the allaround silver medal in only her third competition as a senior gymnast. Hollie Vise and Chellsie Memmel tied for the gold medal on Uneven Bars making it a double gold for the U.S.

The women's team lost three World Medalists, Courtney Kupets, Ashley Postell and Annia Hatch to illness or injury. The alternates stepped in to the lineup and stepped up to the challenge, winning the first team gold at a World Championships. We wish Courtney and Annia a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing all three of them back on the competition floor as soon as possible.

The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim was a fantastic partner in promoting and organizing the event. Total World Championships attendance was 85,872. USA Gymnastics and NBC partnered together to present five hours of coverage from the 2003 World Championships, including a prime time show on Aug. 24. An additional 2 1/2 hours of programming is being developed with ESPN and ESPN2 that will air later this Fall. The USA Gymnastics National Congress was held in conjunction with the World Championships with over 1600 professional members articipating. Congratulations to the 2003 Hall of Fame Inductees: Bonnie Davidson, Harold Holmes, Jr., Scott Keswick, Charles Lakes, Shannon Miller, Jaycie Phelps and Chris Waller.

The most memorable "Longines Perfect 10 Moments in Time" was awarded during the World Championships to Nadia Comaneci's Perfect 10 at the 1976 American Cup by more than 316,000 votes. Nadia's Perfect 10 moment narrowly edged 1984 Olympic Champion Mary Lou Retton for the winning moment by less that 1%.

T.J. Maxx, the nation's largest off-price retailer, announced plans to partner with USA Gymnastics in 2003 and 2004 to sponsor the T.J. Maxx Tour of Gymnastics Champions. Competitive gymnastics routines will be combined with acrobatic performances to dazzle and delight fans of all ages. The tour will deliver gymnastics in a creative and entertaining format to nine cities Oct. 3-19, 2003. For city and ticket information, check out the ad in this issue of the magazine on page 48.

The U.S. also experienced a great deal of success at the Pan American Games held just prior to the World Championships. The U.S. won 21 medals in men's, women's and rhythmic gymnastics, including 11 gold. These results show the tremendous depth in our program that we're able to field two successful teams internationally in men's and women's gymnastics. The Sports Acrobatics and Trampoline and Tumbling programs also had a busy summer with the Freedom Cup, Sports Acrobatic JO and National Championships, and the Trampoline and Tumbling JO and National Championships. See coverage of these events in this issue or log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org for more details.

The World Gymnaestrada, which took place July 20-26 in Lisbon, Portugal, included 25,000 participants from 52 countries. The U.S. delegation included 250 participants from the ages of 3-77. It was a spectacular event and planning has already begun for the next Gymnaestrada in Dornbin, Austria in 2007.

Good luck to Mary Sanders, Olga Karmansky, and Lisa Wang who will be competing at the World Rhythmic Championships, September 24-28 in Budapest, Hungary, and all of the athletes who will compete October 13-19 at the World Trampoline Championships in Hannover, Germany.

Congratulations to all of the clubs, coaches, gymnasts, officials and parents for the extraordinary success that was achieved this summer. Also, thank you to all of the individuals who made these events a success. Good luck in training and in competitions this fall!

Bob Colarossi

This article is reprinted from the September/October 2003 USA Gymnastics magazine, Vol. 32, No. 5.

[ Home ]
[ Publications ]
[ USA Gymnastics Magazine Index ]

URL: http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/publications/usa- gymnastics/2003/5/pres-5usa03.html