Men’s Visa Championships begins 6:30pm Central. The Juniors go at 1pm today.
Andy Thornton:
With the huge number of gymnasts in the men’s field (43), the wide range of various strengths and weaknesses among the competitors, and the complex nature of putting together a five-man team that best captures the three best on each event for London, it’s easy to feel a little lost in the year’s men’s Visa Championships.
There are some battles that are obvious to follow – like who will win the competition – but the real discussions among the Olympic selection committee members will center around a few “unspoken” battles …
Battle 1: The All-Around Race: Danell Leyva vs. John Orozco vs. Jonathan Horton.
Battle 2: The Pommel Horse Champion: Alex Naddour vs. Glen Ishino vs. Craig Hernandez
Battle 3: America’s Best Tumbler and Vaulter: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Eddie Penev vs. Sam Mikulak vs. Paul Ruggeri vs. Chris Brooks vs. David Sender vs. Alex Buscaglia vs. Joshua Dixon
Battle 4: The Best Rings Score Amongst the Tumblers and Vaulters: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Sam Mikulak vs. Chris Brooks vs. David Sender
Battle 5: The Strongest Ringsman Of All: Brandon Wynn vs. CJ Maestas vs. Scott Rosenthal vs. Jonathan Horton
Battle 6: The 4th Best All-Arounder: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Chris Brooks vs. Sam Mikulak vs. CJ Maestas vs. Brandon Wynn
Will USA carry a Pommel specialist? Ring specialist? … Or go with all all-arounders?
Click PLAY or watch Alex Naddour’s Pommel training on Gymnastike.
http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/OTY3NjQwMTU0?related=1
Watch more video of 2012 Visa Championships on gymnastike.org
related – Five men’s stories to watch at gymnastics Nationals
Gymnastics Coaching.com 