Gymnasts to vie for Winter Cup honors

The nation's top men's gymnasts will compete for six open spots on the 2004 United States National Team today and Saturday in Las Vegas in the 2004 Men's Winter Cup Challenge, which will take place at the Sport Center, formerly the All-American Sports Park, located at 121 East Sunset Road.

"The Men's Winter Cup Challenge is the first step toward making the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team," said Ron Galimore, the USA Gymnastics Men's Program Senior Director. "The Winter Cup is the first competition of the year for the top athletes and up-and-comers to show their physical preparedness, and to demonstrate their desire to represent the United States in 2004. It's a highly competitive, elite caliber event."

Six gymnasts will be named to the 2004 U.S. National Team based on Friday's all-around sessions and will become eligible to represent the United States in international competitions leading up to the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, scheduled for June 2-5 in Nashville, Tenn.

The Las Vegas event will feature members of the U.S. Senior and Junior National Teams, along with top NCAA athletes and National Championships hopefuls.

The Winter Cup Challenge also serves as the final tune-up for the four athletes scheduled to represent the United States at the 2004 Visa American Cup, slated for Feb. 28 in New York -- Jason Gatson, Morgan Hamm, Paul Hamm and Blaine Wilson.

The men's program is coming off one of the country's most successful seasons. Paul Hamm won the nation's first-ever men's all-around gold medal at the 2003 World Championships, along with a floor exercise gold medal.

The men's team also captured its second straight team silver medal, with help from Gatson's eighth-place all-around finish and event finals appearances by Gatson and Wilson.

The all-around session I competition is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday, while all-around session II is slated for 8 p.m. Friday, with individual event finals slated for 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets for the event are available at the Sport Center, starting Thursday. Those interested in more information can visit usa-gymnastics.org.


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