Horton, American Cup Live on NBC

2008 Tyson American Cup
Date	Saturday, March 1 at 10:30 a.m. (CST)
Location	New York, N.Y. \| Madison Square Garden
TV	NBC (Live coverage begins at noon Central)
Online	usa-gymnastics.org

NORMAN, Okla. - While the rest of the third-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team takes the week off from competition, senior Jonathan Horton is preparing for his biggest event so far this year. Horton will join the world's best at the 2008 Tyson American Cup at New York City's legendary Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 1. The event will be carried live on NBC (Cox Channel 3 in OKC) beginning at noon (CST).

Horton is the two-time defending American Cup Champion, defeating 2005 World Championship silver-medalist Hisashi Mizutori of Japan in 2006, and Japan's Nakase Takuya at last year's event. With his back-to-back wins, Horton became the first male gymnast to win consecutive American Cup titles since the USA's Blaine Wilson won three straight from 1997-99.

"The competition is going to be really intense," Horton said. "The best guys in the world are going to be there."

The 2008 Tyson American Cup will feature the top names in international gymnastics. The men's field includes arguably the world's top four gymnasts in reigning Olympic all-around gold-medalist Paul Hamm (USA), 2007 all-around world silver-medalist Fabian Hambuechen (Germany) and Mizutori, the 2007 world bronze-medalist in the all-around. Horton finished fourth in the all-around at the 2007 World Championships, just 0.2 points behind Mizutori's third-place score.

Also in the field are 2006 pommel horse world bronze-medalist Alexander Artemev and 2001 and 2003 team world silver-medalist Raj Bhavsar of the USA.

Vote Horton for the Sullivan Award! | Horton bio | 2007 American Cup Results | 2006

Horton said he doesn't feel any added pressure trying to win his third-straight American Cup title.

"I'm just going to go out there and have fun and try to perform well for the crowd," Horton said. "It's going to be really exciting being in Madison Square Garden. It's going to be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it."

At last year's event, Horton finished first on the floor exercise (15.9) and parallel bars (15.75), tied for second on rings (15.55), was third on high bar (15.35) and tied for fourth on the pommel horse (14.35).

Trailing Russia's Maxim Devyatovsky going into the final two rotations, Horton stuck his p-bars routine. He needed just a 14.75 on high bar to clinch his second straight title and came through with a clutch 15.35.

"When Jonathan has a good day he can compete with the highest-level athletes in the world," said OU head coach Mark Williams.

Horton proved Williams correct with his breakout performance at the 2007 World Championships. Another strong showing this weekend would help solidify his chances for making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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