Legendre, U.S. to Compete in Japan

July 14, 2009

NORMAN, Okla.--University of Oklahoma junior Steven Legendre will compete as a member of the USA Men's Gymnastics Senior National Team at the Japan Cup on July 18-19 at the Makuhari Event Hall in Chiba, Japan.

Legendre will be competing alongside former Sooner Jonathan Horton (Cypress Gymnastics). The other U.S. gymnasts include Kyle Bunthuwong (UC-Berkley), Tim McNeill (UC-Berkley), Sho Nakamori (Stanford) and Danell Leyva (Universal Gymnastics), against teams from Japan, China, Australia, Korea, Russia, and Germany.

"It is a team meet, so I'm going to go out there and help the team do as best as we can," added Legendre. "Maybe we will come home with a medal. I just want to go out there and do what I can do, and show people in the U.S. and internationally that I am a good competitor."

Oklahoma Head Coach Mark Williams will also travel to Japan to coach the U.S. gymnasts. It's Williams' seventh trip to Japan in his career.

"We are excited for this opportunity as a team," said Williams. "This will be an opportunity for some of our young guys to get the ball rolling on this new Olympic cycle and go up against the best teams in the world."

Steven Legendre Bio | USA Gymnastics | Legendre Article on Inside Gymnastics

Legendre will look to medal on two of his strongest events, floor exercise and vault, after being the individual all-around, floor and vault champion at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

"Having Steve compete at the Japan Cup is a great opportunity for him to experience a new level of team international events," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "This is good preparation for him towards making the team for World Championships in the fall and Steve's goal to be on the 2012 Olympic team."

In his last national competition, Legendre competed at the 2008 Toyota Cup and recorded third-place finish on the vault during the last day of competition, good for a bronze medal. Legendre averaged a 15.825 on the vault after posting scores of 16.05 and 15.75.

The team competition is July 18, and the all-around finals on July 19 will feature 12 gymnasts, with a maximum of two per country. In the team competition, three gymnasts compete on each apparatus and all three scores count toward the team score.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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