Alicia Sacramone, Mattie Larson, Bridget Sloan anchor U.S. lineup in world gymnastics championships
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USA Gymnastics announced the competitive lineup for the U.S. women’s team that begins the qualifying round at the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The U.S. will begin at midnight Saturday PDT (9 a.m. Sunday in the Netherlands).
The six women who will compete for the U.S. are Mattie Larson of Los Angeles (out of the All Olympia Gymnastics Center); 2008 Olympians Alicia Sacramone and Bridget Sloan; and Rebecca Bross, Mackenzie Caquatto and Alexandra Raisman, who trains with Sacramone in Winchester, Mass. Chelsea Davis, coached by former world champion Kim Zmeskal, is also on the team but suffered a knee injury during training in Rotterdam and is out of the lineup at least for qualifications.
The apparatus lineup will be, in order:
Vault: Bross, Larson, Caquatto and Sacramone
Uneven bars: Raisman, Larson, Sloan, Caquatto and Bross
Balance beam: Caquatto, Larson, Raisman, Sacramone and Bross
Floor exercise: Caquatto, Sloan, Bross, Raisman and Larson.
The U.S. men’s team, anchored by double 2008 Olympic medalist Jonathan Horton, begins qualifications Monday at 11 a.m. PDT.
The top eight teams after qualifications will advance to compete for team medals, and results will also determine individual event final qualifiers and individual all-around qualifiers. Sloan is the defending world all-around champion, but her 2010 season has been marked by injuries more than competition. Bross recently won the U.S. national championship, with Larson second.
In addition to awarding world medals, the 2010 World Championships also determine the 24 countries that advance to the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. Countries have two opportunities to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games, finishing in the top eight in the team competition at the 2011 World Championships or in the top four at the 2012 Olympic Test Event in London.
Universal Sports will have a live webcast on universalsports.com (for $9.99 with the code USAGYMFAN) and same-day, tape-delayed prime-time broadcasts on the cable television channel. NBC will have coverage of the finals Oct. 23 and 24.
For the Web and TV schedules, go to usagym.org/worlds.
-- Diane Pucin