2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships at a glance

What: 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

When: Oct. 13-18, competition days

Where: O2 Arena, London, England

Format: Individual event championships (all-around and apparatus). Qualification rounds determine advancement to the all-around and apparatus finals. The top 24 compete in the all-around on Oct. 15 (men) and Oct. 16 (women). For individual events, the top eight on each apparatus from the qualification rounds advance to the finals (Oct. 17-18). A maximum of two gymnasts per country may advance to the finals.

Schedule: This schedule is based on published schedules; all times listed are local to London.
* designates sessions that include U.S. gymnasts.
Oct. 7-12: official training
Oct. 11: men's podium training, 10 a.m.*, 2:30 p.m.*, 7 p.m.*
Oct. 12: women's podium training, 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m.*, 3:30 p.m.*, 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.*
Oct. 13: men's qualification, 10 a.m.*, 2:30 p.m.*, 7 p.m.*
Oct. 13: opening ceremony, 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 14: women's qualification, 10 a.m., 2:30 p.m.*, 3:30 p.m.*, 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.*
Oct. 15: men's all-around final, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 16: women's all-around final, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 17: apparatus finals (Men - FX, PH, SR; Women - VT, UB), 1 p.m.
Oct. 18: apparatus finals (Men - VT, PB, HB; Women, BB, FX), 1 p.m.
Abbreviations: FX=floor exercise, PH=pommel horse, SR=still rings, VT=vault, UB=uneven bars, PB=parallel bars, HB=horizontal bar, BB=balance beam

U.S. Team: The U.S. Men's Team: Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Wesley Haagensen of Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center; Jonathan Horton of Houston/Cypress Gymnastics; Steven Legendre of Flower Mound, Texas/Oklahoma; Danell Leyva of Miami/Universal Gymnastics; and Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va./University of California - Berkeley.

The U.S. Women's Team: Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics; Ivana Hong of Allen, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics; Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind., Sharp's Gymnastics; and Kayla Williams of Nitro, W.V., Gym Nest Inc.

Participants: The expected field features 73 countries and a total of 457 gymnasts, with more than 1,200 athletes, coaches and officials. According to the official Web site, the countries sending the maximum number of athletes (six men and four women) are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and USA.

Time difference: London, Greenwich Mean Time, is 5 hours ahead of the USA's Eastern Time zone, which means when it is midnight in New York City, it is 5 a.m. in London.

Past sites: Recent hosts of World Championships are listed below
1991 Indianapolis, Ind., USA Team, all-around, apparatus finals
1992 Paris, France Apparatus finals
1993 Birmingham, Great Britain All-around, apparatus finals
1994 Brisbane, Australia All-around, apparatus finals
1994 Dortmund, Germany Team
1995 Sabae, Japan Team, all-around, apparatus finals
1996 San Juan, Puerto Rico Apparatus finals
1997 Lausanne, Switzerland Team, all-around, apparatus finals
1999 Tianjin, China Team, all-around, apparatus finals
2001 Ghent, Belgium Team, all-around, apparatus finals
2002 Debrecen, Hungary Apparatus finals
2003 Anaheim, Calif. Team, all-around, apparatus finals
2005 Melbourne, Australia All-around, apparatus finals
2006 Aarhus, Denmark Team, all-around, apparatus finals
2007 Stuttgart, Germany Team, all-around, apparatus finals

Information: Information on participating countries, the draw, etc., is available on theWeb sites of both the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), www.fig-gymnastics.com, and organizing committee, www.worldgymnastics2009.com.

Event Coverage: USA Gymnastics' Web site, www.usa-gymnastics.org, will have results and a variety of information on the U.S. Team's efforts in London.

U.S. TV/Web cast: Universal Sports will carry a live webcast (universalsports.com) of the final rounds of the World Championships, with delayed coverage on its network (except for the women's all-around), and NBC Sports will broadcast coverage of the Worlds on Oct. 24 at 1:30 p.m. and Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. To find Universal Sports TV in your area, go to universalsports.tv.
Web/broadcast TV schedule (all times Eastern)
Oct. 15: Men's all-around finals, 1:30 p.m., Web; 8 p.m., Universal Sports TV
Oct. 16: Women's all-around finals, 1:30 p.m., Web
Oct. 17: Individual event finals, 7:55 a.m., Web; 8 p.m., Universal Sports TV
Oct. 18: Individual event finals, 7:55 a.m., Web; 8 p.m., Universal Sports TV
Oct. 24: Women's all-around finals, 1:30 p.m., NBC Sports
Oct. 25: Individual event finals, 2 p.m., NBC Sports

FIG contact: Philippe Silacci, FIG, +41-32-494-64-10, office phone; +41-32-494-64-19, office fax; psilacci@fig-gymnastics.org, email