Wow.
Where to start.
My heart goes out to the many American gymnasts who have sacrificed so much for a shot at the Olympics. But only 14 will go forward to the next stop in Philadelphia.
There are many, many ways to put together the US Team. Without the Hamms, it would be a hodgepodge. With the Hamms, the team is a strong contender.
Online you will see a great deal of analysis of this meet. Speculation on who should make the final team.
From what I saw tonight …
#1 Paul Hamm – All-Around
#2 Kevin Tan – the USA needs his Ring routine to be doing the same sport as China. And Kevin can contribute on other apparatus.
#3 Morgan Hamm – Looked good, especially considering how little time he has spent on routines.
#4 Sasha Artemev – the USA needs his Pommels. But he missed them tonight. Had a bad meet, actually. In danger of not moving on. Awesome gymnast on several apparatus.
#5 David Durante or Joseph Hagerty. Or David Sender. Or even Yewki Tomita.
Thank God I am not on the selection committee. Looking at the options for contributing scores hurts my brain.
Official RESULTS – USAG
Certainly Raj Bhavsar will go forward to the Olympic Trials. He had a great meet tonight. Justin Spring the selectors will love — but he looks like he hasn’t competed in a year. He hasn’t.
Jonathan Horton everyone loves. He finished 3rd on Floor, 2nd on Rings and 6th of Vault. But he’s very inconsistent. Missed Horizontal Bar again. Jon’s looking forward to the second day of competition.
Raj Bhavsar
The last time I saw Raj he was being led away, having been randomly selected for drug testing. This is standard procedure at these meets. I recall TKO commenting some weeks ago that Raj looked “juiced”. Of course that is ludicrous. But the testing will tell for sure.
Related:
In His Own Words: Raj Bhavsar – Inside Gymnastics
The Flip Side with Raj Bhavsar – video profile on Gymnast.com
Note: Blaine Wilson looked bad. Withdrew from the meet after 3 events.
Paul Hamm fell on his last routine, Parallel Bars. And may have hurt his hand though he finished the routine.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 