Sooners Complete Day One at Worlds

Oct. 13, 2009

LONDON, Great Britain -- Former Sooner and 2008 Olympic silver-medalist Jonathan Horton is in the top five in the all-around standings after the first day of the 2009 World Championships at The O2 Arena in London, Great Britain.

Steven Legendre will compete in the floor exercise finals and Horton, who trains at Cypress Gymnastics, will compete in the horizontal bar finals. Three former and current Oklahoma gymnasts comprise half of the USA World Championship team.

"I think it has been more than 20 years since we had four of our six guys make finals at the World Championships," said Ron Brant, the men's national team coordinator. "We have one of the youngest teams here - three who are 23 and one each at 17, 18 and 20. I'm impressed because this shows that our training plans are working, that our athletes have taken it to heart and that we have continued leadership within the team even though we have reloaded after the last two Olympics."

Horton is currently in place fifth in the all-around with an 88.000. The Houston, Texas, native started the afternoon on vault where he earned a 15.650 and posted a 15.325 for his high bar routine. Horton scored a 14.600 on floor and finishing up on still rings with 14.700 to finish up the afternoon.

Legendre, who was competing in his first World Championships, scored a 15.475 for his floor routine. He had a small mistake on his first tumbling pass but his score landed him in seventh place and the event finals.

Another current Sooner, freshman Jake Dalton, was limited in training prior to the event after battling the after-effects of strep throat. Dalton recorded a 15.875 on vault in his first World Championships.

“Basically I knew I had to come out (and compete),” said Dalton. “I was chosen for this and had to come out and do my job. I wanted to come out and do my best for the guys and to wear USA on my shirt. It was a great experience, and you always take something away from it. I want to come back on the world team next year.”

This year's World Championships feature competition in the all-around and individual events. Qualification rounds determine advancement to the all-around and apparatus finals.

The expected field features 73 countries and a total of 457 gymnasts, with more than 1,200 athletes, coaches and officials. According to the official Web site, the countries sending the maximum number of athletes (six men and four women) are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and USA.

USA Gymnastics' Web site, www.usa-gymnastics.org, will have results and a variety of information on the U.S. Team's efforts in London.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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