Men's U.S. Olympic Trials Field Set

May 25, 2008

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The 14 men who will be competing for six Olympic spots, plus at least two alternate positions, in Philadelphia next month are set.

The top 10 athletes, based on points, from this weekend’s Men’s National Championships in Houston earned automatic bids to the Trials and the 2008-09 U.S. National Team. Those 10 men are (in rank order): New national champ David Sender, Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan, Joey Hagerty, Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, David Durante, Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar and Sean Golden.

Selected for the U.S. National Team, and also given Trials berths, by the Men’s Program Committee (MPC) last night: Justin Spring, Tim McNeill, Guillermo Alvarez and Yewki Tomita. Skipped over in the point total was 19-year-old Steve Legendre. (Other than Legendre, the selections went in rank, point order.)

Legendre, an all-arounder who excels on floor and vault, had 31 points, 12 ahead of Tomita’s tally, but was likely passed over because his best events aren’t ones it appears the potential Olympic team will need.

The men’s selection procedures specify that the top two all-arounders after Trials (40% USAs + 60% Trials) earn Olympic spots if they also finish in the top three on at least three events. With Sender and Horton as a potential one-two, the U.S. Olympic team would badly need pommel horse workers, something Tomita, McNeill or Alvarez could provide. That trio went one-two-four, respectively, on horse at USAs, while Horton and Sender were 17th and 20th; with the highest score between them a day two 14.05 from Horton.

It’s important to note that, while Sender and Horton fulfilled the first criteria for automatic Olympic selection, they both fell short of the second—neither was in the top three on three events after USAs. Horton was second on floor and rings, while Sender won vault, his only top three placement. But both are close enough to that standard—Sender is currently fourth on floor and high bar, as well as fifth on rings; while Horton is fifth on vault and sixth on p-bars—to make moving into the podium places on three apparatus by Trials realistic. (Like the all-around totals, event scores will be combined from Nationals and Trials.)

Also moving on to Philadelphia: Sean Townsend, the lone approved petitioner. Townsend is not a part of the current U.S. National Team, but would be added should he make it to Beijing. Because he was unable to take part in Championships due to injury (subluxed right shoulder), his Trials scores will count 100% towards points and all-around placement.

“I didn’t compete, so it’s fine this way,” Townsend said of not getting a National Team position. “The way I look at it, all I’ve got to do is go to Trials, do my job, and I’ve got a great shot at an Olympic spot. If I can be consistent on parallel bars and high bar, I think they could use me there. And I’ve got a 17.0 vault (the double-front half), and there were none of those at USAs.

“My shoulder isn’t as serious as we thought at first,” he added of the injury that kept him from competing. “It’s been [10] days and a in a week or two, I should be good.”

At this point, National Team member Paul Hamm remains an official Trials participant, but his plans to petition directly to the Olympic team have been previously announced, so only 14 athletes, at most, will be on the floor in Philly. The men’s selection procedures do not allow for alternates to replace injured or withdrawn Trials qualifiers.

Notables now out of the hunt for Beijing include: 2005 U.S. Champ Todd Thornton, eighth all-around at USAs; 2007 World Team alternate Sho Nakamori and 2006 World Team member Clay Strother.

The finalizing of the Trials field also completes the five-man Olympic Selection Committee. Because Tomita made Trials, his father, Yoichi, will not be a part of the committee. Instead, MPC member Stacy Maloney will join National Team Coordinator Ron Brant, Men’s Program Senior Director Dennis McIntyre, Coaches’ Representative Bill Foster and Athlete Representative Jay Thornton, the committee chairman, in selecting the Olympic team.

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