Around The World: World Championships Feature

It was an unprecedented and historic week for USA gymnastics. The 2003 World Championship was a great success for both the men and women's teams. The US won a combined total of five gold medals and two silvers.

The US men started things off Sunday, August 17^th, winning their preliminary session. The guys were quite surprised how high they placed because they did not have a perfect meet. Both Blain Wilson and Morgan Hamm missed their floor and pommel horse routines. However, with five solid routines on the rings, momentum was building and things picked up from there.

Another surprise was finding out that the Belarussians, the 2001 World Champions, placed 13^th in the preliminaries. Only the top twelve teams qualify into the Olympics, so the former World Champs will not have a team in Athens next year.

The women's team competed in their preliminaries the same day as the men. With two girls sick with the flu and one out with a torn ACL, the women fought hard to a 3^rd place finish. To make matters worse, the US National Champion, Courtney Kupets, tore her achilles heel the next day at practice. Things did not look good for the US women's team.

The men's team finals were held Tuesday night, August 19^th. The guys went into the competition very calm but confident. Jason Gatson started the men off with a great floor routine. However, on his last skill of the last pass he put his hands down scoring a disappointing 8.9. Brothers Paul and Morgan Hamm saved the US on the floor with impressive back to back 9.6's.

The US then moved to the pommel horse were they barely survived. Brett McClure fought hard to stay on an almost unsalvageable routine and ended up with a 9.1. The team then moved to the Rings where they shined, posting the highest team score of the night. On the vault Brett and Paul landed their 9.9 start value vaults. Morgan (Hamm) on the other hand got lost in the air and had to leave out a twist to salvage a score. This was significant because it lowered his start value from a 9.9 to a 9.5. Ironically, the judges did not notice the mistake and awarded the higher start value. However, the meet referee did see the mistake and lowered Morgan's score 0.4, to a 9.1.

Japan made a strong run on the parallel bars and high bar to finish, so the US needed to rock high bar, their last event, to stay ahead of them. Blain Wilson answered that call with an impressive layout kovacs and stuck double double to help earn the US men's team their second consecutive silver medal at the world championships.

The women's team final was brought with much uncertainty. Would they be able to fix the mistakes of prelims? Could they overcome the loss of their national champion, Courtney Kupets? Have the girls been over worked to the point of sheer exhaustion? Not only would they answer any doubts people had, but would surpassed everyone's expectations. From their first event, the vault, to their last, the floor, the US women's team dominated their competition and won the gold by almost two points. I was very impressed to see how they were able to overcome such adversities and found the will to win.

Paul Hamm and Jason Gatson competed in the all-around finals Thursday, Aug. 21. With the top twenty-four gymnasts in the world fighting for the title of world's best gymnasts, the competition was explosive from the first event. Every tenth had to be fought for and held on to as the meet progressed. One by one each gymnast made little mistakes taking them further away from fist place. Going into the last event, Paul found himself in second place. As Yang Wei from China landed a full twisting double back on the floor, cheers erupted from the Chinese fans. They were convinced he had won. Paul needed an unthinkable 9.712 on the High bar to tie. Much like 2001 World Championships, Paul would need a perfect routine to win. As Paul stuck a double twisted double layout cold, he vaulted himself into the history books to become the only male gymnasts in US history to win the all-around title at the World Championships.

The rest of the competitions consisted of Carly Pattersonwinning the silver medal in the all-around, Paul winning the floor fxercise, and Hollie Vise and Chellsie Memmel both winning gold on the uneven bars. Throughout the eighteen days we were in Anaheim, Calif., we lived by our team motto, 'One Team One Dream'. While other teams stopped supporting each other as the week went on, we stuck together the entire duration of the championships. The team was always thought of first before the individual. I believe that when the responsibility is first to the team, that individual needs will be met. I am so proud of our USA teams. Their drive and determination is an example to all that if you set your goals high, greatness can be reached.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Around The World: World Championships Feature

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