Seven Olympians compete at Nationals

The top young American gymnasts have gathered in Dallas this week for the national championships, known as the Visa Championships.

But so have seven veterans from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including Olympic women's all-around gold medalist Nastia Liukin, who hails from nearby Parker, Texas, and Olympic horizontal bar silver medalist Jonathan Horton.

To be recognized at the national championships, the up-and-coming women will have to outshine Liukin, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan from the 2008 team that won a silver medal in Beijing.

On the men's side, Joey Hagerty will be joining Horton from the men's team that won a bronze medal in Beijing. Their teammate Sacha Artemev was scheduled to compete but dropped out Monday with a back injury. Chris Estrada, the first U.S. man to compete in Olympic trampoline, also is in Dallas.

As if that competition isn't heady enough for the national championships, most of the returning Olympians, including Liukin, have already expressed a desire to compete at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"I am back in full-time training for London 2012," said Liukin, who is training all four events daily, but focusing on the uneven bars and balance beam for the Visa Championships.

And if that still isn't challenging enough competition, even 2008 Olympic all-around silver medalist Shawn Johnson said she has hired a trainer and is considering a comeback.

"It's something I have definitely not ruled out," Johnson told TeamUSA.org. "It is something I am taking a lot of time to think about and kind of analyze, but if I could relive the Beijing Olympics and be a part of that experience again, I would do it again in a heartbeat."

But this week in Dallas, many of the country's top gymnasts will be competing in their first major meet since the Olympics with positions at the 2009 World Championships in London on the line.

This year's competition is the first time all five of USA Gymnastics' competitive disciplines-men's and women's gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics-will hold their national championships at the same event.

It will also showcase these returning athletes in their roles as veteran leaders for USA Gymnastics.

"The value of having them remaining involved at a competitive level is extremely important to the next group," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "I was at a camp recently and at one end of the line was this young, young, young girl, and at the other end of the line was Nastia Liukin. They stretched across the entire length of the floor, 30-40 girls.

"And I was thinking what it must be like for that young girl to be training in the same gym on the same floor with the same goals as Nastia Liukin. And to have Nastia in the gym providing leadership, and not just Nastia because Alicia (Sacramone), Samantha Peszek, Bridget Sloan-to see what they are already giving back to the next generation is huge. You can't create that; you can't invent that."

The gymnasts have already begun to see the changes. In February, Liukin began training with Ivana Hong, one of the alternates from the 2008 Olympic team. Liukin said training together has helped both gymnasts.

"It's really cool for me because last year I was mostly training by myself, so to have two other senior teammates has been really fun," said Liukin, who also trains with Rebecca Bross. "Ivana is doing really well."

Sloan, who at 16 was the youngest U.S. gymnast at the Olympics, was much more shy before the Olympic Games in Beijing and was used to always being the youngest girl on the team. Now she has taken on more of a leadership role within the national team and trains alongside Peszek in Indianapolis.

"Being at the Olympics wasn't our ending point, it was just the beginning," said Sloan, who hopes to compete in the all-around competition at the Visa and World Championships. "Once we got home, after letting our injuries heal, our aches and pains, now we're both really motivated."

After competing in the Japan Cup last July in Makuhari, Japan, Horton said he began to feel like a team leader.

"It really hit me that Sasha, Joey and myself, we really are kind of the leaders of the team now, that all the young guys are looking up to," Horton said. "All the younger guys were looking to me like, 'What do we do in this situation? How do we calm down?'"

The 2008 Olympic Games were the first for Artemev, Hagerty and Horton. It was also an Olympic Games without 2004 stars and twin brothers Morgan and Paul Hamm (the all-around Olympic gold medalist in Athens), who both withdrew late due to injuries. Artemev was Morgan's replacement.

Even with the last-minute omission of the star Hamm brothers, the U.S. men came together to earn the Olympic bronze medal in the team event in 2008. Now Artemev, Hagerty and Horton are back because they think they can do better in London.

"I know we both have several reasons, but one reason I know I'm still going is we both have that dream of standing on top of the medal podium in 2012 as a team with the gold medal wrapped around our necks," Horton said of himself and Artemev. "Sasha and I are both very young ... and I still have a lot of years left in the sport and I feel like I can contribute and be a leader in the sport.

"That bronze medal was just a taste of what the U.S. team can do."

The Visa Championships opened Wednesday with junior and senior rhythmic qualifiers as well as junior men's competition and the first day of senior men's competition. The event will continue today with trampoline and tumbling and acrobatic gymnastics. It also is the first day of senior women's competition.

The junior and senior all-around rhythmic, tumbling and trampoline finals will be held Friday along with the second day of men's competition. The event concludes Saturday with rhythmic all-around/trampoline and tumbling/acrobatic gymnastics finals along with the junior and senior women's second day of competition.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.