Guard Young Set For Gymnastics' Olympic Trials

NORMAN, Okla. OU assistant men's gymnastics coach Guard Young will be among 17 men this weekend fighting for the six available spots on the U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in Athens, Greece this summer. The U.S. Olympic Trials slated to start on Thursday, June 24 and end on June 26 for the men will be held at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Calif.

Despite missing competition at the U.S. Championships held earlier this month due to injury, Young's petition to the U.S. Gymnastics committee was approved and now at the age of 27, he finds himself making his second and last attempt for a spot on the Olympic team.

Young's petition was approved on June 4, giving him a spot at the trials this weekend, after he was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Championships due to an acute case of tendonitis in his Achilles' tendon. In addition to the six spots on the team available, three more spots will also be sought after this weekend to be part of the Olympic training squad. Without this year's U.S. Championships under his belt, Young could be at a disadvantage in terms of his scores stacking up with the others. Young's full score will be counted this weekend, where as the others will be able to count 40 percent from the championships and 60 percent from this weekend's trials.

“Guard will need to be very consistent in his performances to clearly position himself in the top six,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “Basically, his scores from the trials will be doubled to match the athletes who have already performed at the championships. Our goal in training has been to achieve a high hit percentage for the 12 routines he will perform at the trials.”

This year's trials is being tagged as one of the deepest fields the U.S.A. has put out on the floor for both the men's and women's teams.

“I want to express how excited we are about the depth of our teams right now as we look back at our Visa U.S. Championships last week and forward to Trials and Athens,” USA Gymnastics President Bob Colarossi said. “I can't think of a time when our program was so deep. I'm excited, and a little bit scared, that we have to get the right kids on the floor. It's important to realize that the athletes will be chosen by the value they add to the team score, not their value in individual competitions.”

Williams will help Young try and put together one of the better performances of his career in order to complete his dream of making the Olympic squad, a feat he missed in 2000.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to compete with the best 17 athletes in the country,” said Williams. “I'm sure it will be a thrilling 2004 Olympic Trials. Since Guard has been a part of the last three World Championship teams, I think he will be right in the middle of things for a place on the 2004 Olympic team.”

Young's successful gymnastics career already includes a second-place finish in the NCAA all-around during his time at Brigham Young, spots on three World Championship teams and two top-five finishes in the U.S. Gymnastics all-around.

“This will be my last Olympic Trials and there is always a lot of pressure involved with this type of competition,” said Young. “I think my time at the 2000 Olympic Trials gives me the needed experience to be fully prepared for this trials. I'm looking forward to giving my best at the competition.”

The men's all-around preliminaries will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m. (PT) with the finals set for 3 p.m. on Saturday. The finals will air as a rebroadcast by NBC Sports on Saturday, July 3.

Click Here for more information, including score updates, on the U.S. Olympic Trials.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Guard Young Set For Gymnastics' Olympic Trials

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