Horton, Team USA Ready for Worlds

Sept. 3, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton will once again represent the United States as a member of the six-man American team at the World Gymnastics Championships. The 2007 World Championships will be held Sept. 1-9 in Stuttgart, Germany and serve as the team qualifying competition for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Horton and the rest of the U.S. squad will begin their medal quest in the preliminary round on Sept. 4. Team USA will compete in Subdivision 6 with the Netherlands and Romania.

Joining Horton as part of the U.S. delegation for the second straight year is OU head coach Mark Williams. The head coach of the American squad at last year's World Championships, Williams will serve as an assistant coach on the 2007 team.

"It's always great to be part of an international effort and represent the USA," Williams said. "It's especially rewarding to have a guy that you train on a day-to-day basis get an opportunity like this. It's kind of a fulfillment of what you've tried to do to bring out the best in the athletes that you coach."

AT&T Blue Room | WCSN.com | USA Gymnastics

Horton, Williams and the rest of the U.S. team have lofty goals for this year's competition after a disappointing finish at the 2006 Worlds in Aarhus, Denmark. Competing in an ultra-competitive qualifier with Russia and Korea, a young and inexperienced American team failed to advance to the team finals.

"I think last year's team - as inexperienced as they were, including Jon - really needed that firsthand experience of being on the floor at World Championships in order to feel more comfortable this time around," Williams said. "I think we're going to be far more comfortable going into this year's competition."

On numerous occasions, Horton has pointed to the experience in Aarhus as a primary motivator for him and the rest of the U.S. team.

"I think there was a realization that we can't let that happen again," Horton said. "I really realized that when you're out there on the floor at the World Championships, no one's messing around. Everyone has their game faces on and guys are going all out."

In addition to Horton, 2006 U.S. World Championships team members Guillermo Alvarez, Kevin Tan, Alexander Artemev and David Durante return to the American squad. Joining them on the 2007 team are Sean Golden and alternate Sho Nakamori.

"The United States has so much talent and so much potential and I definitely feel like we have something to prove to the world," Horton said. "We have the talent to beat a lot of the teams out there and finish on the medal podium."

Gymnastics fans across the country will have an unprecedented opportunity to follow Team USA in Stuttgart. Through a partnership of USA Gymnastics, AT&T, NBC Sports and WCSN, fans can experience the competition via the Internet and network television.

As part of AT&T's Blue Room, "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team" will provide video clips from Stuttgart, including post-competition interviews.

Beginning on Sept. 5, fans can watch a free webcast, both live and on-demand, of the men's and women's team, all-around and individual event finals at wcsn.com.

Also, for the first time since 2003, the World Championships will be broadcast on network television. NBC Sports will air a two-hour presentation of the World Championships at 4 p.m. (ET) on Oct. 7.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors