Andrew Thornton feels there are only 2 athletes certain to qualify to World’s in October who are a “lock” for the A-team: Paul Hamm and Jon Horton.
What will Paul Hamm bring to the USA Men’s team?
Most of all, he’ll eliminate the need to use up an entire spot on a pommel horse specialist. Prior to Paul’s announcement, it was looking like the USA men’s team would need at least one pommel horse specialist, as most of our top all-around gymnasts are quite weak on this event. …
Ideally, we need a couple of guys who could potentially do rings AND pommel horse. They’re few and far between, but here are four I can think of (besides Paul Hamm):
Chris Cameron
Tim McNeill
Wes Haagensen
Kevin Tanread more – American Gymnast – Andy’s Angle – What will Paul Hamm bring?
14 comments ↓
I thought he was talking about the USA teams for 2011 and 2012. Since I believe Paul isn’t competing until Wintercup 2011?
It’s hard to evaluate Andy’s comment without some scores for the gymnasts listed. Also, how about Brooks? He does rings kinda OK and I bet (but don’t know, haven’t checked scores) his PH is better than Tan or Horton.
Thanks for the shout-out Rick…actually, though, this projection was for NEXT year, as Paul is not slated to return to competition until at least the Winter Cup in February. I would love if he were shooting for worlds this year, but with this post I really just wanted to look at how Paul will likely affect the team when he does return. I expect Horton to still be one of our locks next year, and although there of course may be some surprises, most of the contenders will be the same as they are this year.
And Poly…as for Brooks, I see him as a four-event guy (FX, V, PB, HB), and thus he is very valuable. I don’t see us using him on PH or SR, though, which is why some guys like Cameron, Haagensen, McNeill, or possibly Tan might be used to complement him.
Andy you are biased. It is a fact. Chris Brooks has beaten Horton twice recently. Horton has looked horrible every time he has competed since Nationals last year. What he did at worlds was pathetic. Call it like it is NOT like your giving an opinion on your friend like you are
Oops. Sorry Andy.
I made the fix to my error on that post.
Thanks Britnie. My mistake. I made the fix to the original post.
Ouch! I’m actually a huge fan of Chris Brooks…that’s why I included him as one of the potential spots on four out of the six events. I love the fact that he is pushing Horton so much now, and I would love to see a heated race between the two of them at nationals. However, despite Horton’s history of inconsistency, he has proven himself a whole lot longer than Chris Brooks has…Horton has been a major player for the past 4-5 years, while Chris Brooks has just emerged as a legitimate contender in the last six months. And like it or not, Horton’s performance in Beijing was one of the greatest by an American male ever…it’s hard to forget that even when he has had some struggles since. If Chris Brooks continues to prove himself this year and next, I’ll consider him more of a “lock” for our world teams. I definitely think he is capable of being a leader, but I need to see him prove it just a little longer. He’s got some really exciting stuff.
Chris Brooks has not beaten Horton twice recently. It was once – Winter Cup. Horton beat Brooks at SCAM.
Horton is currently the only US man who is strong on five events. Everybody else I can think of has at least two or more weak events. True, he doesn’t always hit his strong events, but neither does a lot of his competition.
I would not use the word “pathetic” to describe Horton’s World’s performance. A more accurate description is “extremely unlucky”.
Tan was about a 14 on PH before the Olys. When we looked at Nats and Trials. Pretty sure Brooks is better than that. Heck Horton was only .1 less than Tan on PH. I want some numbers. I think you have some misplaced Tan love that needs to be fixed like the Shapiro love I bullied you out of. Plus Tan is old. And hasn’t done anything in a while.
I agree with you, Andy.
Jon scares me every time he competes. He missed so many routines in NCAA competition all those years. But after Beijing, I’m calling him to HIT under the greatest pressure.
What Horton did was TWO YEARS AGO. That doesn’t make him a lock 2 YEARS from now.
Vanessa ATler was once a lock.
Sorry what Jon did at Worlds was pathetic. He thought he could train half hard and still do well because he won Nationals training that way.
I like Jon Horton as much as the next person (not as much as Andy’s crush.lol) but calling him a lock is not true.
Tan is a bit of a mystery right now…at Winter Cup he certainly wasn’t his former self on rings, but far from a slouch either. He did score a 14.35 on pommel horse on Day 1 (5.7 D-score), which Team USA would gladly welcome on that event in team finals at worlds. Granted, he scored an 11.7 the next day, but his Day 1 score plus his history on rings has to at least put him on the table. We really won’t know until next week just how legitimate his comeback is. I would say if he isn’t back to top form on rings next week, it isn’t going to happen for him. As for his age, he’s 28, soon to be 29. Don’t forget that Jordan Jovtchev is 37!
Horton did well in team finals but his AA was hardly anything to write home about. I am sorry but you are confusing your personal opinion of a friend (like you did with Hamm) with actual facts. Fact is Horton has never proven himself. He almost cost the US team a medal with her PH as did everyone but Sasha.
I’m not friends with Horton, and I don’t have a crush on Horton. In fact, I could probably crush Horton if I sat on him. But I agree with Andy.
I still think he has a good shot to be a “lock” for Worlds IF he’s healthy. He was pulled from the AA at Japan Cup at the last minute, so there may be some doubt about that. Time will tell.
According to the USAG selection procedures, to be “lock” a guy has to finish first or second in the AA AND be in the top three on three events. Horton may not be able to do that (He did not at the 2008 Olympic Trials), but of all the American males, he has the best shot to pull this off.
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