USA Gymnastics Names Teams for 2009 World Championships

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS (October 5, 2009) 2008 Olympic team silver-medalist and 2009 U.S. all-around champion Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind., Sharp's Gymnastics; Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics; Ivana Hong of Lovejoy, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics; and Kayla Williams of Nitro, W.V., Gym Nest Inc., will represent the United States on the U.S. Women’s Team at the 2009 World Championships, Oct. 13-18, in London, England.

The alternates are Kytra Hunter of Frederick, Md., Hill's Gymnastics and Mackenzie Caquatto, Naperville, Ill., Naperville Gymnastics Club.

The format for this year’s World Championships features all-around and individual event competition. The U.S. Women’s Team was selected based on performances at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas, and two U.S. Women’s Team Selection Camps, which were held at USA Gymnastics Women’s National Team Training Center in Huntsville, Texas.

Sloan, a member of the 2008 silver-medal winning Olympic Team, won her first U.S. all-around title, as well as the uneven bars and floor exercise crowns, at the 2009 Visa Championships in August. 2008 Olympic Team alternate Hong finished a close second in the all-around and won the U.S. balance beam title. 2007 U.S. junior champion Bross was third in the all-around. Williams won the vault title at the 2009 Visa Championships.

The competition will be held at the O2, the gymnastics venue at the 2012 Olympic Games. Qualification rounds determine advancement to the all-around and apparatus finals. The top 24 men and women compete in the all-around finals on Oct. 15-16. For individual events, the top eight on each apparatus from the qualification rounds advance to the finals (Oct. 17-18).

The U.S. Men’s Team for the World Championships was named earlier and is comprised of: Jake Dalton, Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Wes Haagensen, Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center; Jonathan Horton, Houston/Cypress Gymnastics Academy; Steven Legendre, Flower Mound, Texas/University of Oklahoma; Danell Leyva, Miami/Universal Gymnastics; and Tim McNeill, Falls Church, Va./University of California – Berkeley.