2008 Before the Olympics.
2008 Visa National Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. Leggo.
It was no surprise that after winning the 2007 World All Around titles, Miss Shawn Johnson took her second consecutive national gymnastics title, directly in front of Nastia Liukin. At this point in time, even before trials started, it was obvious that barring injury or disaster that these two girls were Beijing bound. In hindsight, they probably could have sat down their dismounts, fell from the beam 3 times and done a half twisting Yurchenko and still would have made the team. Shawn Johnson was the obvious national champion. Also, her double twisting double tucked salto floor mount was the tits.
The men's side painted a different picture. So many talented young men were in the hunt for the 2008 National title, including the x2 Olympic team members, twins at that, Paul and Morgan Hamm. Making the 2000 Sydney team at 17 wasn't enough for them. Neither was an Athens team Silver and an All Around gold and High Bar Silver for Paul. These two were determined to make an historic third Olympic team together for Beijing. Most guys had strong and convincing showings at nationals. It was a particularly good day for David Sender of Stanford. David was the "surprise national champion." But during podium training for the Olympic trials, he came off of the high bar, jumped back up to stop it from shaking and then jumped down and he injured his ankle. He petitioned onto the Olympic team, but his petition was denied due to another petition granted. His dream didn't end after coming off of pommel horse or sitting down a dismount. All he did was grab the bar and then landed wrong on the jump down.
Ok so Women's Olympic trials in Philly--- The top two female athletes from Olympic trials were granted automatic berths to the Olympics while the 4 other members and the alternates were decided at a selection camp before the team left for China. 5/6 team members were nearly obvious at the beginning of the trials because of their consistency and team contribution. Shawn Johnson won the Olympic trials, with Nastia Liukin in second, giving them both automatic bids to the Olympics. Although over the few days of competition, Nastia didn't perform up to par, she still scored very well due to her high difficulty level. No surprise there.
3 other athletes were Alicia Sacramone, Samantha Peszek and Chellsie Memmel. Cut and dry. That coveted 6th spot was up for grabs but concluding trials, looked as if it would be granted to Jana Beiger.
The team was as followed
Shawn Johnson- 16 year old World All Around Champion from West Des Moines, Iowa. Her coaches were originally from none other than Beijing. Shawn went to Beijing as a favorite for the All Around Gold medal.
Nastia Liukin- Comes from a blood line of Soviet champions. Her father was an Olympic silver and gold medal winning Soviet gymnast and mother a World Champion in rhythmic gymnastics. Nastia is famous for her difficulty on the uneven bars and balance beam and her long, balletic, classic Soviet body line. Nastia was also favorite for the all around gold, although some people overlooked her because of her shortcomings in the past and ankle injury. She was just shy of the world AA medal in 2005. At age 14, she would have gone to Athens, but the IOC/FIG age limit prevented her from Olympic success in Greece
Chellsie Memmel- Or Chellsie Freaking Memmel, whichever. Where do we begin with Chells and her credentials??? Well ok, similar to Nastia, she's coached by her Dad. Although Chellsie's from Wisconsin. She's tall (For a gymnast) and POWER. Here we go. 2003 world co- uneven bars champion and contributed to USA's first team gold medal in Anaheim, despite originally being an alternate. Athens, 2004, Chellsie was again an alternate because of an injury, but wasn't needed to replace anybody. Oh but lo and behold 2005. HAHA 2005. Chellsie won the world AA championship, just ahead of Nastia Liukin. After that she was plagued with injury but came back strong in 08' on all four events to receive a well deserved, long time coming Olympic berth to Beijing. She just looked SO solid. Her 1.5 twisting yurchenko vault was STUCK. Her balance beam was amazing with little balance checks and she did serious work to the uneven bars with her famous jam-Lgrip double front dismount. But nothing can quite compare to her Olympic Trials day 2 Floor Routine. Chellsie Memmel, you are my hero. It was the last performance of the entire competition, so Ms. Memmel took it upon herself to shut it DOWN. With her Memmel illusion turns, sickening choreo and other worldly tumbling, she was a straight boss. Nothing was more incredible though, than her cold-stuck double pike dismount. Watch it here vvvvv
Chellsie has been called "The most unlucky gymnast" of all time. She's had injuries just at the worst possible time. I wouldn't wish her hospital record on my worst enemy.
Alicia Sacramone- Alicia is my home girl , so no matter what she says or does, I'll still love her to death. She was inches away from Athens, but her rookie mistakes and falls kept her off of the team. At 20 years old, she was the Captain and emotional leader of team USA. She's most notable for her extreme power and gloriously entertaining interviews. She's been called the "Honey Badger" of USA gymnastics, which is quite fitting. Let us please give the genius who granted her that nickname a huge round of applause. Alicia does what she wants and doesn't care. She's without a doubt the Honey Badger
Bridget Sloan- And the winner is....Bridget Sloan! She ended up receiving the nod for that 6th spot. She was slightly unprepared due to her lack of experience, but brava BSloan. You did it girl. She's a solid all around gymnast, but ended up contributing mostly on Uneven bars and Vault. Many people were skeptical of Bridget's place on the team, but I think that if she showed strength during Nationals, Trials and the Karolyi Selection Death Camp, she deserved to be on the team
Samantha Peszek- Now personally, I've always been a fan of Sam. (TeamSammyP) but she's turned out to be the forgotten member. Most teams have one. She was a fantastic gymnast with great connections on beam and a nice full twisting double bars dismount, but was over-looked. She was similar to Shawn Johnson in that she had a short, stocky and muscular body type. (She also had a Chinese coach and was sort of the All American Girl) She never went pro, but is instead enjoying a gymnastics career at UCLA (Go Bruins!) under head coach Miss Val <33
THE ALTERNATES DUN DUN DUN
Ivana Hong, who trained at Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) had a rocky nationals and trials. She has amazing gymnastics, but as it turned out, she had a broken bone in her foot. Ivana's coach Al Fong is most notable for his IRON fist that has taken a toll on many of his athletes. Christy Henrich, one of Fong's gymnasts, died of anorexia at just 46 pounds after an international judge told her she was fat, weighing 96 pounds. It is wildly speculated that Al Fong has encouraged severe food diets in favor of a small and lighter body. He made Ivana compete on a broken bone and caused irreparable emotional damage. After the games, she moved to WOGA (Nastia's gym) to train under Valeri Liukin.
Jana Beiger- Jana was coached by her German mother in Florida and was a serious contender to make the team. She was NOT the most artistic, but when she got up on the uneven bars, she went into attack mode.
Corrie Lothrop- Who is Corrie Lothrop? Well, good question, because most don't know. She had great gymnastics and great artistry, but got no media hype by the NBC musketeers. Her scores weren't inflated and she didn't go pro. She's at Utah enjoying a great NCAA career. She was happier than any person could be to "only" be an alternate, which should put things into perspective. You GO Corrie Lothrop.
Men men men men manly men men men.
Alright, so this is the story. Paul Hamm injured his hand on the p-bars night one, so was out of the competition. He petitioned onto the team because in the eyes of many, was even stronger than Athens. Many people had a great showing at trials and many not so great. The team lineup was as followed-
Hailing from OU (Boomer Sooner) is Jonathan Horton. Jonathan topped trials despite never having won a national title and earned an automatic bid to the games. He's like 5'1, crazy on high bar and still rings, but an amazing all around gymnast nonetheless. Hands down one of my favorite gymnasts of all time. Not only his incredible gymnastics, but he truly embodies what it means to be on a team. His #1 priority 100% is TEAM TEAM TEAM.
Hailing from Tiawan/China/Penn State Kai Wen/Kevin Tan. Like the typical Penn State Gymnast, Kevin is amazing on Still Rings. That school just trains rings like no other because Kevin is a BEAST. He's HUGE. Kevin Tan is almost other worldly. You watch his and this "Pssshhh I can do that!" Problem is, if you try to do what he's doing, you'd shatter your labrum and a need serious hernia repair. I think that the only fitting nickname for Kevin is the Mussel. "Kevin the Clam." Yeah- so- really he's Kai Wen/Kevin/Mussel. Any reference to the Mussel is KTAN
Hailing from Gold Cup Gymnastics/USOTC is Joey Hagerty. Joey. I love you- I really do. The reason I include his former club gym, Gold Cup, is because of the history there. As a kid he grew up idolizing Trent Dimas (Gold on high bar, 1992 Barcelona Games) and other gymnastics greats. (http://www.goldcupgymnastics.com/) Joseph has done an exceptional job at continuing in the Gold Cup Legacy and inspiring young gymnasts. More recently, Big 10 conference AA Champion CJ Maestas. Oh yeah, he trains at Illinois under PRINCE. ANYWAY BACK TO JOEY. Joey's toe point could make you cry because it's so beautiful. vvvvv He was the 2008 national title holder on the High bar. His father actually got into a car accident and was in a stabilizing halo during trials and almost couldn't make it to the games. But did. Aside from his stunning feet and high bar, he's also known as Mr. One Word. In interviews he'd usually give a one word, or a very- few- word answer. It's just his personality. From here on out Joey=Mr. One Word. I may interchange the two.
Hailing from Wisconsin/Ohio State are the Hamm Brothers. I've been over them. Morgan Hamm made the team, but Paul, after his hand injury, had to petition on to the team. His petition was granted and no one said a word about it. Now if I was David Sender, I would have. In all honestly, most people probably would have made a big hoop-la if either Hamm was left off of the team because they're both shiny and flashy big name gymnasts in the sport.
Cue the dramatic music 'cuz guess what time it is? You guessed it. It's alternate time.
The 2008 alternates were some of the most talented athletes in the history of American Gymnastics.
Hailing from Gymnastics Academy in Houston/India/Ohio State/Team Chevron for Sponsorship purposes Raj Bhavsar. I think that he did more than what he needed to do, but was still left off of the team because his gymnastics coincided with that of Paul and Morgan Hamm. Also an alternate on the Athens team, it must have sucked to know that you didn't everything right only to be looked over twice. He stated his claim and was passed up. After Athens, he was bitter and upset (rightfully so) then found Yoga or something and became Zen AF. When asked on how he'd feel being left off, or worse, left in gymnastics limbo as a two-time-alternate he responded with the "I'd be fine with that" or "That'd be straight with me" response. He's currently apart of Cirque du Soleil.
Hailing from the OTC/Stanford/Italy is David Durante. David was the 2007 National Champion and a spectacular gymnast. He had a rough time after 2007 nationals and just couldn't seem to hit his routines when it really counted. His Olympic trials weren't disastrous, but weren't enough to give him a team spot. He fell a few times, and stuff like that. As a dual citizen for the USA and Italy, he almost went and trained to be apart of the Italian National Team. But gymnastics, ESPECIALLY Men's gymnastics isn't exactly big in Italy. David is a class act 100% and an amazing team leader.
Last but not least, hailing from Belarus/his dad's gym, Alexander (Sasha) Artemev, the 2006 national champion. Most notable for his WORLD CLASS pommel horse routine, Sasha also struggled with hitting his routines. Remaining on the subject of word class, can we also take a moment to discuss Sasha'a WORLD CLASS toe point? Joey Hagerty. I love you but kindly sit DOWN. (And remain seated) I'm actually going to flatline because of the beauty of Sasha's toes-anyway...--------------------------->
He had difficulty with domestic performance but if sent to any foreign competition, could hit like the Belarusian-American boss that he was. He was the 2006 World AA Bronze Medalist.
(<333333333333333333 A photograph of the famous Belarusian toe point on the famous Belarusian KING. )
BUT WAIT. IT GETS BETTER
He had difficulty with domestic performance but if sent to any foreign competition, could hit like the Belarusian-American boss that he was. He was the 2006 World AA Bronze Medalist.
(<333333333333333333 A photograph of the famous Belarusian toe point on the famous Belarusian KING. )
BUT WAIT. IT GETS BETTER
Now THIS. THIS IS WHERE YOU SEE THE FAMOUS TOE POINT IN ACTION. In motion. Pommel Horse doesn't look hard to the untrained eye even though it's CRAY...that is, unless you're watch Sasha. It looks hard, it looks good and it looks sexy. Who break dances on a pommel horse? Sasha. Sasha does.
Sasha had the potential to make the team based solely on his pommel horse, but due to the ratio of him hitting and him not, he was an alternate.
Sasha had the potential to make the team based solely on his pommel horse, but due to the ratio of him hitting and him not, he was an alternate.
But here's the shade people. Here lies the infamous team announcement. And here we find Raj almost making me cry. Can we please just take a moment to commend Raj for his well-spoken words of accomplishment? I love that guy. "There's no happier camper in the world right now than myself" :(
Oh yeah and here's the official debut of the team. Team USA warm up tunics and all.
Watch this. These gorgeous videos. Jon deserved EVERYTHING. Paul. Well...
In my opinion- the selection committee was trying to make the strongest team possible. ...alright. I don't really know how they could have put the team together any better. Although Paul Hamm may have been wrongfully awarded for potential and politics came into play. He looked good before his injury, but was arrogant as heck, which annoys me. Being the Olympic champion, your arrogance MUST be kept cute. Paul didn't always keep it cute, and must have annoyed the heck out of everyone. I know I was annoyed. It happens. Things got way more scandalous in China. You'll see.
*DISCLAIMER* I do not own any pictures, links or videos.
I'm only getting started. Please join me in a different post where I attempt to recap an entire quadrennium xoxo
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