Who Will Be America’s Top Six Gymnasts in 2009?
Posted on 02 November 2008 by admin
Gymnast.com has a great post challenging readers to predict who will be America’s top gymnasts in 2009. The challenge was issued for both women and men, but StickItMedia will focus on the men. We agree with Gymnast.com about Jonathan Horton. He is now the de facto leader on the men’s side, especially after his great performance in Beijing.
2009 is going to be a great year for the men. We’ve got some great clubbers and incoming college freshmen who are going to make some serious waves. 2008 J.O. Nationals all-around champions Danell Leyva and Glen Ishino will challenge the nation’s best next year at the U.S. Championships. Incoming Cal freshman, Ishino, will also compete for the all-around championship at the 2009 NCAA championships.
As for our Olympians, Sasha Artemev is blossoming into one of the world’s top all-arounders. Joey Hagerty, aka the hardest working man in gymnastics, has plans to be in London in 2012. Justin Spring, likewise, has 2012 aspirations. Raj Bhavsar is giving no indications of hanging up his grips just yet.
Will David Sender defend his VISA all-around title? Nobody knows for certain. Sender came so close to making the ‘08 Olympic team that it would be a major disappointment for gym fans if he were to retire. He has many good years left if he decides to come back. Meanwhile, the college ranks are burgeoning with talent. Stanford’s Sho Nakamori is back, along with the Bunthuwong brothers from Cal. Oklahoma’s super soph, Steven Legendre, will be back to defend his floor and vault titles.
2009 will likely be a benchmark year that will provide great insight into who will end up being America’s best going into 2012. America has a great pipeline of club talent. Don’t be surprised if at least two current club gymnasts end up being among the six athletes who will make the trip to London.
November 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Don’t forget this is individual event worlds. Who in our country can medal on the world level? Floor I like the Legendre pick; but also Paul ruggeri of Illinois looked good last year. Pommel horse I like the pick of Sasha but don’t forget about Tim McNeil or even sof Daniel ribiero. Rings… did Keven Tan retire? Hortan and Sender def look good. Vault… do we have anyone in the USA that does two vaults? Pbars Justin Spring with a little more Difficulty could medal. High Bar obviously Horton, NCAA Champ ruggeri as well.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Medaling at the world level is a daunting feat. Paul Ruggeri is an often overlooked gymnast…thanks for mentioning him. Rings will again be a tough event for the Americans in ‘09. Really, the gist of the post is about America’s all-arounders. We believe it’s going to take a few years for the individual event contenders to sort themselves out. Already a formidable high bar contender, Horton could very well expand his horizons with improvement on rings and floor. As you point out, Spring could definitely improve on Pbars, and possibly on floor. Kevin Tan was chosen in ‘08, primarily for his rings talent. Legendre could become the next Kevin Tan-like pick, but he has 3 years to expand beyond his vault/floor expertise.