GYMNASTICS: Olympic, world medalists highlight field for Pacific Rim Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 11, 2008- 2004 Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm of Waukesha, Wis., 2006 pommel horse world bronze-medalist Alexander Artemev of Lakewood, Colo., and 2001 and 2003 world team silver-medalist Raj Bhavsar of Houston lead the U.S. Men's Team for the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus, March 28-30, in San Jose, Calif. The women's trampoline field boasts 2000 Olympic gold-medalist and five-time individual world champion Irina Karavaeva of Russia, as well as Canada's two-time Olympic medalist Karen Cockburn. The international field includes eight 2004 Olympians and 12 world medalists. "The Pacific Rim Championships is a great opportunity for fans to see gymnastics at its finest, including many of the countries that will be fielding teams and athletes in Beijing," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "The field includes a strong combination of former Olympic and world medalists and rising stars." The eight countries competing in the Pac Rim Championships that are sending teams or athletes to the Olympic Games are: Australia-men's, women's and rhythmic gymnastics; Canada-men and women in both artistic gymnastics and trampoline, and rhythmic gymnastics; China-men and women in both artistic gymnastics and trampoline; Colombia-men's and women's gymnastics; Japan-men and women in both gymnastics and trampoline; Mexico-women's gymnastics; Russia-men and women in both artistic gymnastics and trampoline, and rhythmic gymnastics; and the USA-men's and women's gymnastics and women's trampoline. Those gymnasts in the field who have qualified by name for the Olympic Games are: Australia-Naazmi Johnston (rhythmic gymnastics), Samuel Simpson (men's gymnastics) and Ben Wilden (men's trampoline); Colombia-Jorge Hugo Giraldo and Nathalia Sanchez (men's and women's gymnastics, respectively); and Mexico-Marisela Cantu (women's gymnastics). In addition to Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the United States, the other countries sending athletes to the Pacific Rim Championships are Chile, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Peru and Singapore. Rounding out the U.S. Men's Team are junior national team members Glen Ishino of Santa Ana, Calif., Danell Leyva of Miami, Fla., and John Orozco of Bronx, N.Y. In addition to 2007 U.S. trampoline champions Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., and Brittany Dircks of Orland Park, Ill., the U.S. Trampoline Team includes: senior men-Michael Devine of Winnebago, Ill.; senior women-Alaina Williams of Amarillo, Texas; junior men-Jeffrey Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., and K.J. Heger of Rockford, Ill.; and junior women-Dakota Earnest of Plains, Texas, and Nani Vercruyssen of Honolulu, Hawaii. The U.S. Teams for women's artistic and rhythmic gymnastics will be named closer to the event. The eight 2004 Olympians in the international field are: men's artistic gymnastics - Australia's Philippe Rizzo, Canada's Adam Wong and Colombia's Geraldo; men's trampoline - Russia's Alexander Rusakov; and women's trampoline -Japan's Haruka Hirota, Russia's Natalia Chernova, Karavaeva and Cockburn. In addition to Karavaeva and Cockburn, the other world medalists in the international field are: Russia's Dmitry Gogotov, Sergei Khorokhordin and Yury Ryazanov, 2006 team silver medal in men's gymnastics; Russia's Kristina Pravdina, 2006 team bronze medal in women's gymnastics; Russia's Chernova, 2005 women's trampoline silver medal, and Alexander Rusakov, 2005 men's trampoline gold medal; Japan's Yasuhiro Ueyama, 2005 men's trampoline silver medal and 2007 bronze medal, and Tetsuya Sotomura, 2005 men's trampoline bronze medal; Canada's Rosannagh MacLennan, 2007 women's trampoline bronze medal; and Rusakov, 2005 men's trampoline gold medal. Men's and women's gymnastics will be held at the Event Center Arena at San Jose State University, with rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline scheduled for McEnery Convention Center. Artistic and rhythmic gymnastics will have team, all-around and individual event competitions. Each team will have six athletes with a maximum of three seniors each. The all-around and individual events will have both junior and senior champions, as will individual trampoline. About the U.S. gymnasts Men Alexander Artemev was a member of the 2007 World Championships Team that placed fourth in the team competition. He won the pommel horse world bronze medal in 2006, the first U.S. man to do so since 1979. At the Visa Championships, Artemev won the pommel horse gold medal and the parallel bars silver medal in 2007 and was the all-around champion in 2006. He competed in the 2007-08 Tyson American Cup, finishing second in 2008 and fourth in 2007. At the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge, he placed first on pommel horse and third in the all-around. Artemev is a member of Team Chevron and trains at 5280 Gymnastics in Wheat Ridge, Colo. Raj Bhavsar, an alternate on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, was a member of the U.S. Men's Teams that won the team world silver medals in 2001 and 2003. He was second in the all-around and still rings at the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge and placed first on the vault and third on the parallel bars. Bhavsar was third on the parallel bars at 2006 Visa Championships and competed in the 2007-08 Tyson American Cup, finishing sixth in 2008. A member of Team Chevron, he trains at Houston Gymnastics Academy. Paul Hamm returned to competitive gymnastics at the 2007 Visa Championships and won the floor exercise, his 10th career national title. He recently won the all-around, floor exercise and parallel bars at the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge, and won the all-around at the 2008 Tyson American Cup. Hamm became the first U.S. male gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title when he won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Just one year earlier, Hamm made history by winning the United States' first-ever men's world all-around title at the 2003 World Championships, where he also tied for first on floor and won a team silver medal. He claimed a world bronze medal on floor exercise in 2002. Hamm was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team and the 2001 U.S. World Team that won an unprecedented team silver medal. Hamm won three national all-around crowns and six national individual event titles between 2002 and 2004. Hamm, a member of Team Chevron, took time off after the 2004 Olympic Games to earn his college degree at Ohio State University, where he trains. At the 2007 Visa Championships, Glen Ishino won the still rings and placed second in the all-around, pommel horse and horizontal bar in the 16-18 year-old junior division. Ishino trains at SCATS-Huntington Beach. Danell Leyva, a finalist in the senior division at the 2007 Visa Championships, finished first in the team competition and third in the all-around and vault at the 2008 USA vs. Canada competition. Leyva trains at Universal Gymnastics. John Orozco is the 2007 U.S. junior all-around, still rings, parallel bars and high bar champion in the 14-15 year-old division. He trains at World Cup Gymnastics. All three men were members of the U.S. Men's Team that won the team gold medal at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships. Trampoline Michael Devine, who trains at J , J Tumbling and Trampoline, placed second in trampoline and synchronized trampoline at the 2008 Winter Classic. He has a U.S. title in synchronized trampoline from 2006 and placed second in synchro at the 2007 U.S. Championships. He was a member of the 2007 World Championships Team. Brittany Dircks finished 15th at the 2007 World Championships to secure one of two wild card Olympic spots for the United States, the country's third straight appearance in women's trampoline at the Olympic Games. She is the 2007 U.S. trampoline and synchronized trampoline champion. In 2007, she placed fifth in synchro at a World Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., and seventh in trampoline at the Pan American Games. She trains at Head over Heels. Chris Estrada is a three-time U.S. trampoline champion (2005-07) and three-time U.S. synchronized trampoline titlist (2004-06). In international competition in 2007, he won gold in trampoline at the Pan American Games, and placed fourth in synchronized trampoline and 16th in trampoline at the World Championships. He made the finals at three World Cups in 2007, finishing fourth in synchro in Quebec City, Quebec, seventh in both trampoline and synchro in Ostend, Belgium, and seventh in synchro in St. Petersburg, Russia. He trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Alaina Williams, who trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, just missed the medal stand with her fourth-place finish in trampoline at the 2007 Pan American Games. She teamed with Dircks to win the U.S. synchronized trampoline title in 2007 and also placed second in trampoline. Williams finished first in trampoline at the 2007 U.S. Elite Challenge and was a member of the 2007 World Championships Team. At the 2008 Winter Classic, Jeffrey Gluckstein won trampoline and synchronized trampoline in the men's junior division, and K.J. Heger finished second in double mini. Gluckstein trains at Head over Heels, and Heger's gym club is Gymnastic Academy of Rockford. Dakota Earnest, who trains at Acrospirits, is the 2007 U.S. junior trampoline champion, and she earned second-place finishes in junior trampoline at the 2007 Winter Classic and 2007 U.S. Elite Challenge. At the U.S. Championships, Nani Vercruyssen finished first in junior trampoline in 2006 and second in 2007. She placed second in junior trampoline at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships. Vercruyssen trains at Hawaii Academy. About the international gymnasts Many of the athletes in the field are expected to vie for berths on their countries' Olympic squads. Of the international athletes scheduled to compete, at least 47 have represented their respective countries at a World Championships, including 11 for the men, 17 for the women, 14 for trampoline and five for rhythmic. In women's artistic gymnastics, Australia's Daria Joura placed sixth on the balance beam and 10th in the all-around at the 2007 World Championships. Teammate Lauren Mitchell finished fifth on the balance beam. Russia's Pravdina competed in the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, winning a bronze medal in the team competition in 2006. At the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, Joura finished fifth in the all-around; Hong Kong's Wong Hiu Ying Angel finished fifth on the vault and eighth on the floor exercise; and Mexico's Marisela Cantu placed sixth on the uneven bars, seventh on the balance beam and 10th in the all-around. For men's artistic gymnastics, Lu won gold medals in the all-around and still rings at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships. He has competed in three Tyson American Cups (2005, 2007-08), placing fourth in 2008 and fifth in 2007. Canada's Nathan Gafuik won the gold medal on the horizontal bar, the silver medal on the vault and the bronze medal in the all-around at the Pacific Alliance Championships. At the World Championships, Russia's Gogotov, Khorokhordin and Ryazanov were members of the men's team that won the team silver medal in 2006, and Khorokhordin finished fifth in the all-around in 2005. Canada's women's gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics athletes have not yet been named. The trampoline field is stocked with Olympic and world medalists. In addition to their Olympic medals, Cockburn won the individual trampoline world title in 2003, and Karavaeva's resume includes five world crowns (1994, 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2007) and two world silver medals (1996 and 2001) in individual trampoline. At the 2005 World Championships, Rusakov and Ueyama finished first and second, respectively, for the men, and Chernova was second for the women. Ueyama and MacLennan finished third for the men and women, respectively, at the 2007 World Championships. In rhythmic gymnastics, Australia's Johnston and Kimberly Mason both competed in the 2007 World Championships. About the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus Single ticket prices begin at $15 for afternoon sessions and $30 for the evening sessions for artistic gymnastics, with the tickets for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline beginning at $15. Tickets may be purchased charge by phone at 408.998.TIXS; online at www.ticketmaster.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; at the Event Center Arena Box Office; or through participating Bay Area gymnastics clubs. Visa is the preferred method of payment. The schedule for artistic gymnastics at the Pacific Rim Championships is: Friday, March 28 - men's team and all-around finals, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 29 - women's team and all-around finals, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 30 - men's and women's individual event finals, juniors at 12 p.m. and seniors at 6 p.m. The schedule for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline is: Friday, March 28 - rhythmic gymnastics team and all-around (rope and ball), 3 p.m.; Saturday, March 29 - rhythmic team and all-around (ball/clubs and ribbon), and trampoline prelims, 3 p.m.; and Sunday, March 30 - rhythmic and trampoline individual event finals, 3 p.m. NBC Sports is broadcasting action from the Pacific Rim Championships on April 13 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Pacific Rim Championships, previously known as the Pacific Alliance Championships, were held in Honolulu in 2004 and 2006. World champions Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel tied for the women's all-around title in 2006. In 2004, both Carly Patterson and Paul Hamm won gold medals before becoming 2004 Olympic all-around champions. In 2007, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center hosted rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics competition during the Visa Championships. The Pacific Rim Championships is the official championships of the Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Federations. About San Jose State University San Jose State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 4,000 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city. For more information, please visit http://www.sjsu.edu. About the San Jose McEnery Convention Center Considered the hub for meetings and conventions in San Jose, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center opened its doors in April 1989. The facility has 432,000 square feet of function space, including a 22,000 square-foot ballroom and 30 meeting rooms. About the San Jose Sports Authority The San Jose Sports Authority is a non-profit organization that serves as the sports marketing agency for the City of San Jose. Since their inception in 1991, they have worked with community partners to bring more than 150 premier events and programs to the San Jose area. For more information, visit www.sjsa.org. About USA Gymnastics Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics. For more complete information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org. # 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships participants First listed by country then by discipline; order of information is name and discipline. Does not include U.S. women's and rhythmic gymnastics teams, and Canadian women's artistic and rhythmic gymnastics teams. Australia Mathew Curtis, jr. men Jack Rickards, jr. men Luke Wadsworth, jr. men Joshua Jefferis, sr. men Philippe Rizzo, sr. men Samuel Simpson, sr. men Britt Greeley, jr. women Emily Little, jr. women Tain Molendijk, jr. women Ashleigh Brennan, sr. women Daria Joura, sr. women Lauren Mitchell, sr. women Chloe Hayes, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Cody-Sue Turco, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Jaelle Cohen, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Naazmi Johnston, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Kimberly Mason, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Janine Murray, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Blake Gaudry, jr. men's trampoline Reece Thompson, jr. men's trampoline Scott Brown, sr. men's trampoline Benjamin Wilden, sr. men's trampoline Alexandra Freeman, jr. women's trampoline Aslin Styles, jr. women's trampoline Canada Anderson Loran, jr. men Kevin Lytwyn, jr. men Jackson Payne, jr. men Nathan Gafuik, sr. men Brandon O'Neill, sr. men Adam Wong, sr. men Keegan Soehn, jr. men's trampoline Sebastien St. Germain, jr. men's trampoline David Sabourin, sr. men's trampoline Charles Thibault, sr. men's trampoline Kailey McLeod, jr. women's trampoline Samantha Sendel, jr. women's trampoline Karen Cockburn, sr. women's trampoline Rosannagh MacLennan, sr. women's trampoline Chile Melany Cabrera, sr. women Martina Castro, sr. women Simona Castro, sr. women China Chen Xuezhang, jr. men Fang Lixiang, jr. men Liu Zhanteng, jr. men Liang Mingsheng, sr. men Lu Bo, sr. men Wang Heng, sr. men Cui Jie, jr. women Guan Wenli, jr. women Huang Ying, jr. women Guo Wei, sr. women Huang Qiushuang, sr. women Tian Mengsi, sr. women Dou Baobao, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Li Jing, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Yang Yuqing, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Deng Senyue, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Ma Qianhui, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Zhou Jie, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Chinese Taipei Wei Ming Lin, jr. men Ping Chien Shu, jr. men Che Wei Chang, sr. men Chih Yu Chen, sr. men Yu Chun Chen, jr. women Yu Ju Lo, jr. women Chen Hsuan Wu, jr. women Chun Min Chen, sr. women Hsiang Han Mai Liu, sr. women Wei Ju Juan, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Yi Ting Ma, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Li Ting Wen, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Ying Tzu Lai, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Yi Chieh Wang, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Pei Lung Yu, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Colombia Jorge Hugo Giraldo, sr. men Jessica Gil Ortiz, sr. women Nathalia Sanchez, sr. women Hong Kong Jim Man Hin, jr. men Poon Chun Kit, jr. men Shek Wai Hung, jr. men Leung Ka Man, jr. women Tsui Lok Yee, jr. women Zhang Wei, jr. women Choi Nim Yan, sr. women Vut Tsi Ying, sr. women Wong Hiu Ying Angel, sr. women Chan Yuen Ching, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Yu Chiu, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Japan Ryotaka Deguchi, jr. men Hiroyuki Imai, jr. men Riku Munakata, jr. men Genki Takeshita, jr. men Takuya Inatera, sr. men Yusuke Saito, sr. men Erica Lynn Danko, jr. women Nanaho Hidaka, jr. women Shizuka Tozawa, jr. women Tetsuya Sotomura, sr. men's trampoline Yasuhiro Ueyama, sr. men's trampoline Hiromi Hammoto, sr. women's trampoline Haruka Hirota, sr. women's trampoline Malaysia Wei Zang Ooi, sr. men Sau Wah Chan, sr. women Noor Hasleen Fathihin Hasnan, sr. women Elaine Koon, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Ee Leng Elaine Tan, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Ka Lye Brenda Yar, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Nur Hoayah Aboul Waihd, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Seow Ting Foong, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Yoke Jeng Jamie Lee, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Mexico Javier Balboa, jr. men Asiel Lopez, jr. men Kalo Traslocheros, jr. men Joaquin Ramirez, sr. men Luis Alberto Sosa, sr. men Aldo Torres, sr. men Patricia Arredondo, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Isha Sanchez, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Alejandra Vazquez, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Geraldine Alarcon, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Rut Castillo, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Fernanda Zertuche, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Daniela Espinosa, jr. women Paula Martinez, jr. women Karla Salazar, jr. women Marisela Cantu, sr. women Elsa Garcia, sr. women Ericka Garcia, sr. women Oswado Prieto, jr. men's trampoline Victor Reyes, jr. men's trampoline Jorge Gracia, sr. men's trampoline Ramses Zavala, sr. men's trampoline Karen Guerrero, jr. women's trampoline Julia Lopez, jr. women's trampoline Michelle Garcia, sr. women's trampoline Nadia Solis, sr. women's trampoline Philippines Frances Audrey P. Munoz, jr. women Desirie Saldana, jr. women Ma. Virginia Helen D. Acuna, sr. women Cintamoni D. De Guzman, sr. women Patricia Kathryn P. Paraso, sr. women Maria Victoria T. Recinto, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Danica B. Calapatan, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Sheryll D. Contillo, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Carla Denise O. Dioniso, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Peru Britt Reusche-Lari, jr. women Russia David Belyavskiy, jr. men Nikita Ignatyev, jr. men Igor Pakhomenko, jr. men Dmitriy Gogotov, sr. men Sergey Khorokhordin, sr. men Yury Ryazanov, sr. men Anastasia Grishina, jr. women Viktoriya Komova, jr. women Violetta Malikova, jr. women Tatiana Kazantseva, sr. women Anna Myzdrikova, sr. women Kristina Pravdina, sr. women Elizaveta Bryksina, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Ekaterina Starodub, jr. rhythmic gymnastics Lina Ghirovskaya, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Tatiana Sergeeva, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Kristina Sizova, sr. rhythmic gymnastics Nikita Fedorenko, jr. men's trampoline Mikhail Melnik, jr. men's trampoline Alexander Rusakov, sr. men's trampoline Dmitry Ushakov, sr. men's trampoline Nadezhda Glebova, jr. women's trampoline Ekaterina Shustikova, jr. women's trampoline Natalia Chernova, sr. women's trampoline Irina Karavaeva, sr. women's trampoline Singapore Heem Wei Lim, sr. women Hui Mu Ng, sr. women Jia Hui Tay, sr. women Xi Hui Tay, sr. women USA Glen Ishino, Santa Ana, Calif., jr. men Danell Leyva, Miami, Fla., jr. men John Orozco, Bronx, N.Y., jr. men Alexander Artemev, Lakewood, Colo., sr. men Raj Bhavsar, Houston, Texas, sr. men Paul Hamm, Waukesha, Wis., sr. men Jeffrey Gluckstein, Atlantic Highlands, N.J., jr. men's trampoline K.J. Heger, Rockford, Ill., jr. men's trampoline Michael Devine, Winnebago, Ill., sr. men's trampoline Chris Estrada, Lafayette, La., sr. men's trampoline Dakota Earnest, Plains, Texas, jr. women's trampoline Nani Vercruyssen, Honolulu, Hawaii, jr. women's trampoline Brittany Dircks, Orland Park, Ill., sr. women's trampoline Alaina Williams, Amarillo, Texas, sr. women's trampoline