Horton Named to U.S. Worlds Team

Aug. 18, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - For the second consecutive year, Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton will represent the United States at the World Gymnastics Championships. USA Gymnastics announced the six-member U.S. squad Saturday night. The 2007 World Championships will be held Sept. 1-9 in Stuttgart, Germany.

"Making this team was really important to me," Horton said. "I feel like I deserve to be there and kind of redeem myself from 2006. Every time you go to Worlds you gain more experience and it's one step closer to making it to the Olympics."

The World Championships serve as the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games. The top 12 teams will advance to compete in Beijing.

Horton's U.S. squad finished a disappointing third in the subdivision I preliminary round at the 2006 World Championships, failing to advance to the team finals.

"If there's any experience that has really taught me a lot it was last year's Worlds," Horton said. "I use that memory every day to push myself to keep getting better."

Joining Horton on Team USA are 2007 U.S. all-around champion David Durante (Garwood, N.J./Team Chevron), Guillermo Alvarez (Denver, Colo./Team Chevron), Alexander Artemev (Morrison, Colo./Team Chevron), Sean Golden (Camden of N.J./Team Chevron) and Kevin Tan (Fremont, Calif./Team Chevron). Sho Nakamori (Albany, Calif./Stanford University) is the team alternate.

"I'm confident these guys can get the job done," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "They showed what they are capable of at last night's competition."

Horton, Artemev, Durante and Tan were all members of last year's U.S. World Championships Team.

The team was selected based on performances from the U.S. Qualifier, June 9, and the Visa Championships which concluded Friday night. Horton earned all-around finishes of second and sixth, respectively, in the two events.

Also weighing into the selection committee's decision were Horton's performances in his most recent international competitions. At the USA/Russia/Ukraine tri-meet on June 30, Horton took the all-around title, besting Russia's Maxim Deviatovski, the reigning European all-around champion. He also earned a second consecutive Tyson American Cup title in March, becoming the first male gymnast to win back-to-back Tyson Cup titles since the USA's Blaine Wilson won three straight from 1997-99.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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