Gymnastics Examiner:
The U.S. men’s team (Danell Leyva, Jonathan Horton, Jake Dalton, Steven Legendre, John Orozco, Alex Naddour and Chris Brooks, plus National Team Coordinator Kevin Mazeika) did a conference call with the media Wednesday afternoon. Optimism is high for this team, which is being touted as one of the best World teams the U.S. has put together in many years. …
Mazeika: “The goal is to win the team gold medal.”
Q: How good are the chances of that, on a scale of 1-10?
Mazeika: “I think our chances are very good. …
read more – A conversation with the U.S. men’s World team
Washington Post::
… Last month, Leyva won his first U.S. all-around title at the 2011 Visa Championships in St. Paul, Minn., topping two-time champion Jonathan Horton and positioning himself as a medal favorite not only for the Oct. 7-16 world championships in Tokyo, but also for next year’s Olympic Games in London.
When he secured the victory, Leyva grabbed his coach and stepfather, Yin Alvarez, in a joyous bear hug and hoisted him several feet into the air. That moment perfectly captured Leyva’s dogged pursuit of his youthful dream: Every step of the way, his surprising successes have swept his parents right off their feet.
“He’s going to be in the top three in the world championships and watch out — next Olympics, he maybe will win the next Olympics,” Yin Alvarez said. …
Danell Leyva aims to convert skeptics at world gymnastics championships
That’s an inspiring read.
No other nation approaches major competition with such brash confidence. One reason why team USA so often exceeds my predictions.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 