GYMNASTICS: 2008 Tyson American Cup field represents 33 world, four Olympic medals

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Feb. 13, 2008 - Representing 33 world (12 gold, 12 silver, nine bronze) and four Olympic medals (two gold, two silver) medals, the athlete roster for the 2008 Tyson American Cup, March 1, at Madison Square Garden in New York City includes many of the top names in gymnastics: 2007 all-around world champion and Tyson American Cup titlist Shawn Johnson; 2004 all-around Olympic champion Paul Hamm; 2007 balance beam and team world champion Nastia Liukin; 2007 all-around world silver-medalist Fabian Hambuechen; 2006 pommel horse world bronze-medalist Alexander Artemev; 2007 all-around world bronze-medalist Hisashi Mizutori; 2006-07 Tyson American Cup champ Jonathan Horton, fourth in the all-around at the 2007 World Championships; 2001 and 2003 team world silver-medalist Raj Bhavsar; and 2007 team world champions Samantha Peszek and Shayla Worley. 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships all-around gold-medalist Lu Bo of China and 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships team bronze-medalist Alyssa Brown of Canada are also expected to compete."This year's Tyson American Cup is represented by some of the top all-around gymnasts in the world,"said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics."The stage is set for a dramatic and exciting gymnastics showdown."The field for the 2008 Tyson American Cup is listed below. Women Alyssa Brown, Canada Xiao Tingting, China Natalia Sanchez, Colombia Joeline Moebius, Germany Shawn Johnson, USA/W. Des Moines, Iowa Nastia Liukin, USA/Parker, Texas Samantha Peszek, USA/Indianapolis, Ind. Shayla Worley, USA/Orlando, Fla. Men Lu Bo, China Fabian Hambuechen, Germany Hisashi Mizutori, Japan Flavius Koczi, Romania Alexander Artemev, USA/Lakewood, Colo. Raj Bhavsar, USA/Houston Paul Hamm, USA/Waukesha, Wis. Jonathan Horton, USA/Houston On sale now, tickets range from $25-200 and may be purchased charge by phone at 866-448-7849; online at www.thegarden.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; at the Madison Square Garden Box Office; or through participating area gymnastics clubs. Visa is the preferred method of payment. Johnson and Horton are the defending Tyson American Cup champions, and Liukin and Horton claimed the titles in 2006. All eight U.S. gymnasts have competed in at least one previous Tyson American Cup. As in the past, the U.S. athletes will demonstrate competition readiness prior to the event. Five international gymnasts are making at least their second appearance in this prestigious event: Hambuechen, Koczi, Lu, Mizutori and Sanchez. In addition to Hamm, Hambuechen and Mizutori are 2004 Olympians. About the U.S. gymnasts 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 finished fourth at the 2007 Tyson American Cup. 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. 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 Tyson American Cup. A member of Team Chevron, he trains at Houston Gymnastics Academy. Hamm returned to competitive gymnastics at the 2007 Visa Championships and won the floor exercise, his 10th career national title. He 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. He recently won the all-around, floor exercise and parallel bars at the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge. Hamm is a member of Team Chevron and took time off after the 2004 Olympic Games to earn his college degree at Ohio State University, where he trains. Horton became just the fifth U.S. man to finish in the top four at an Olympic Games or a World Championships with his fourth-place finish at the 2007 World Championships. He also was a member of the U.S. Men's Team that finished fourth. Horton's successful career includes back-to-back Tyson American Cup crowns in 2006-07, a national title on the floor exercise in 2006 and being named to two World Championships Teams (2006-07). At the collegiate level, Horton has won six NCAA titles, including the all-around in 2006. Horton is a senior at the University of Oklahoma, where he competes on the men's gymnastics team. With her come-from-behind victory in the all-around finals at the 2007 World Championships, Johnson became just the fourth U.S. woman to win the coveted world all-around crown. She joined Kim Zmeskal (1991), Shannon Miller (1993-94) and Chellsie Memmel (2005) as the U.S. women to win an all-around world title. In addition to her all-around title, she also won team and floor exercise gold medals. In 2007, she won every event she entered: the 2007 Tyson American Cup; won the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam gold medals at the 2007 Pan American Games, along with the team title; and the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise titles at the 2007 Visa Championships. She trains at Chow's Gymnastics in West Des Moines, Iowa. Liukin, along with her team title, won the balance beam gold medal and finished second on the uneven bars at the 2007 World Championships. Liukin now has nine world medals (four gold and five silver), tying the mark of nine world medals held by Shannon Miller, who has earned more world and Olympic medals than any other U.S. gymnast (16 total). At the World Championships, Liukin won the uneven bars and balance beam in 2005, along with a silver medal in the all-around and floor exercise; and in 2006, she earned silver medals in the team and the uneven bars. From 2003-06, Liukin won four straight U.S. all-around titles (junior in 2003-04 and senior in 2005-06), and 10 national individual event crowns (six junior and four senior). She added another U.S. title on uneven bars in 2007. Liukin won the Tyson American Cup in 2006. She trains at WOGA in Plano, Texas. Peszek was a member of the U.S. gold-medal teams at the 2007 World Championships, the 2007 Pan Am Games and the USA vs. Great Britain International Competition. At the 2007 Worlds, she was the first U.S. woman to compete in the team finals, leading the United States off on vault. She also competed at the 2007 Tyson American Cup and was seventh in the all-around at the 2007 Visa Championships. Peszek trains at DeVeau's in Fishers, Ind. Worley was a member of the 2007 World Championships gold-medal team. Also in 2007, Worley placed second on the balance beam at the U.S. Classic and also finished second in the all-around and the uneven bars at the Visa Championships. At the 2007 USA vs. Great Britain International Competition, she placed first on the uneven bars and second in the all-around, and was a member of the championship team. This is Worley's third straight appearance at the Tyson American Cup (2006-08). She trains at Orlando Metro in Orlando, Fla. About the international gymnasts At the 2007 World Championships, Hambuechen won the gold medal on the horizontal bar and the silver medal in the all-around, as well as helped the German men win the team bronze medal. He won the all-around and vault world bronze medals in 2006. A 2004 Olympian, his highest finish at the Olympic Games was seventh on the high bar. He is the 2005-07 German national champion in the all-around and horizontal bar. Hambuechen returns to compete in his fourth straight Tyson American Cup. Mizutori was a member of the Japanese team that won the team gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. He is a six-time world medalist, claiming the silver medal in the all-around in 2005 and in the team competition in 2007, and earning the bronze medal in the team competition in 2006 and in the all-around, floor exercise and horizontal bar in 2007. At the 2007 World University Games, Mizutori won gold medals in the team competition, all-around and horizontal bar. He competed in the 2005 Tyson American Cup, where he claimed silver medals on the pommel horse and horizontal bar. Lu won gold medals in the all-around and still rings at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships. At the 2007 Good Luck Beijing International Tournament, he won the team gold medal and placed fifth on the still rings. This is Lu's third appearance at the Tyson American Cup. He placed fifth in the all-around in 2007 and finished fourth on the still rings and sixth on the parallel bars in 2005. In 2007, Koczi placed third on the pommel horse at the European Championships and finished seventh in the all-around at the World Championships. Brown claimed bronze medals in the team competition and on the vault at the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships. She is the 2006 Canadian balance beam champion and competed for Canada at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships. This is her first appearance at the Tyson American Cup. Moebius and Sanchez competed for their respective countries at the 2007 World Championships. At the World Cup in Shanghai, China, Tingting won the gold medal on the uneven bars in 2006 and the bronze medal on the uneven bars in 2007. About the event The Tyson American Cup will be televised live on NBC Sports at 1 p.m. ET. This will be the tenth time the invitational competition has been held at Madison Square Garden (MSG) and the fifth time New York has hosted it in an Olympic year. The competition will be televised live on NBC Sports. Some of the sport's biggest names are former American Cup all-around gold medalists, including: men -- Jason Gatson, Blaine Wilson, John Roethlisberger, Vitaly Scherbo (Belarus), Tim Daggett, Peter Vidmar, Mitsuo Tsukahara (Japan), Kurt Thomas and Bart Conner; and women -- Carly Patterson, Elena Zamolodchikova (Russia), Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, Kristie Phillips, Mary Lou Retton, Julianne McNamara, Stella Zakarova (USSR) and Nadia Comaneci (Romania). First held in 1976, past sites are: New York City (1976-80, 1982-84, 2004); Ft. Worth Texas (1981, 1996-98); Indianapolis, Ind. (1985) ; Fairfax, Va. (1986-90, 2003) ; Orlando, Fla. (1991-94, 2000-02) ; Seattle (1995); St. Petersburg, Fla. (1999) ; Uniondale, N.Y. (2005) ; Philadelphia (2006); and Jacksonville, Fla. (2007) . In addition to its sponsorship of the Tyson American Cup, Tyson is powering gymnasts by providing high-quality chicken, beef and pork to the USA Gymnastics Women's National Training Center in Huntsville, Texas. Tyson's protein-filled products help these talented athletes to develop and maintain the strength and endurance they need to perform at elite events, such as the Tyson American Cup and the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. About Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, L.P. is owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation, and includes the New York Knicks (NBA); the New York Rangers (NHL); the New York Liberty (WNBA); the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League); MSG Entertainment, which includes concerts and events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theatre; MSG Media, which is comprised of MSG and FSN New York; fuse, the music television network; and the Madison Square Garden arena complex, located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area. About Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. [NYSE: TSN] , founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork, the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500 and a member of the S,P 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products and is the recognized market leader in the retail and foodservice markets it serves. Tyson provides products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 80 countries. The company has approximately 104,000 Team Members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. 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 information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org. #