USA Gymnastics announces Men international assignments for May

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., April 28, 2009 - 2008 Olympic team bronze-medalists Raj Bhavsar of Houston and Joey Hagerty of Rio Rancho, N.M., are among the five members of the U.S. Men's National Team who will be competing internationally in late May. 

Guillermo Alvarez of Minneapolis/Minnesota Gymnastics, Chris Brooks of Houston/University of Oklahoma, David Sender of Arlington Heights, Ill./Stanford University, and Bhavsar, who trains at the Houston Gymnastics Academy, will compete in the World Stars/World Cup in Moscow, Russia, May 29-30.  Mike Burns of Minneapolis and Rustam Sharipov of Norman, Okla., will coach the gymnasts in Moscow.

 Hagerty will participate in the Champions Trophy, May 29-30, in Frankfurt, Germany.  Hagerty, who trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, will be accompanied by his coach Vitaly Marinitch of Colorado Springs, Colo.  The Champions Trophy is a new event that includes competition in four cities in Germany in May, September, October and November.

 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 information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.