U.S. wins second gymnastics world championship gold medal

The winner, Jordyn Wieber, cried, a bouncy, athletic American astounded that her two mistakes on uneven bars and floor exercise didn’t relegate her to second place.

The loser cried too, an elegant Russian whose fingers and toes must have been pointed just so when she entered the world. Victoria Komova burst into tears after she finished her final event -- floor exercise -- with a routine that was done with some bent knees and maybe a turn that wasn’t quite completed.

The U.S. captured the second major women’s gold medal awarded at the 2011 World Gymnastics championships in Tokyo when 16-year-old Wieber of DeWitt, Mich., won the all-around gold medal by edging out 16-year-old Komova, who won silver.

The U.S. women already won the team gold medal and the U.S. men won team bronze.

Wieber, the U.S. all-around champion in her first senior world championship competition, finished with 59.382 points, 0.033 head of the saddened Komova.

“I was so surprised to see my name up on the top,” Wieber said, “but I was so happy at the same time. It was an amazing feeling.”

Speaking to International Gymnast magazine, Komova, who had suffered an ankle injury in July, said: “My vault was not as fully ready as it should have been. On beam I had mistakes and my bars were not very well done. My floor routine was mediocre.

"Today, on a beam I did not make some connections, therefore, that's why the lower score.”

Yao Jinnan of China won bronze and another American, Aly Raisman, finished fourth and, like Wieber, had a major mistake on uneven bars.

Wieber, coached by John Geddert, became the sixth American to win a world all-around title, joining Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller, Chellsie Memmel, Shawn Johnson and Bridget Sloan with the honor. Notable about that group, though? None followed up with an Olympic all-around gold.

Johnson dominated the 2007 world championships and beat out her American teammate Nastia Liukin. But it was Liukin who came back a year later and wowed judges with an elegance that seemed to trump Johnson’s more strength-based gymnastics.

The last reigning world champion to win the Olympic all-around gold was Lilia Podkopayeva in Atlanta in 1996.

With the win Thursday, Wieber and Komova automatically become Olympic favorites along with another Russian, Aliya Mustafina, who won the 2010 world title but who missed this competition with an injury. 

Also last week, Liukin announced she was making a comeback, and so is Olympic all-around silver medalist Johnson, who will show how far she’s come later this month in the Pan-American games.

After making a major error on the uneven bars where she almost came to a stop on a swing, Wieber was convinced she had lost the competition. But she recovered with the best balance beam routine of the night to cut Komova’s lead almost in half. But Wieber finished on floor exercise by taking a step out of bounds and it was after that when she buried her head in Geddert’s shoulder.

“I told her I was proud of her no matter what,” Geddert said. “She was mad because that mistake on bars was going to cost her and she knew it.”

Even Martha Karolyi, the U.S. women’s team coordinator, thought gold was gone after Wieber’s bars. “But Jordyn is such a strong person,” Karolyi said. “She’s just somebody with real special abilities who is able to fight back as strong as she did.”

-- Diane Pucin

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Shawn Johnson still looking toward 2012 Olympics

Russia finished; U.S. still leads at world gymnastics championships

Photo: Jordyn Wieber. Credit: Koji Sasahara / Associated Press.

Russia finished; U.S. still leads at world gymnastics championships

With two qualifying subdivisions left at the 2011 world gymnastics championships, the U.S. holds a slim lead over Russia. The U.S. has 234.253 points while Russia has 231.062. Defending Olympic champion China is third.

Among the teams left to finish the team qualifying round with a chance to move ahead of the top three is Japan.

The top eight after team finals on Tuesday automatically qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. The other four spots in the 12-team final will be decided next year at a test event in London.

“I am very proud of this very young team and how they pulled it together after Alicia Sacramone's injury,” said Martha Karolyi, national team coordinator for the U.S. women’s national team from Tokyo.  “They were very brave and fought for the United States and for Alicia.”

Sacramone ruptured an Achilles' tendon during training in Japan and flew home to Massachusetts for surgery. Sacramone, the defending world vault champion, was the sole member of the 2008 U.S. silver-medal team in Tokyo.

Russia's Victoria Komova leads the all-around qualifying with 60.157 points over defending U.S. all-around champion Jordyn Wieber, who has 60.032 points. American Aly Raismann is fourth in the all-around with 58.432 points.

Also, 15-year-old McKayla Maroney of Laguna Hills is the leader on the vault with a score of 15.083, ahead of 36-year-old Oksana Chusovitina of Germany, who has a qualifying score of 14.833. Chusovitina was the vault silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The controversial Chinese gymnast He Kexin, whose age eligibility was questioned during the Beijing Olympics after evidence was found showing conflicting birth dates, failed to qualify for the uneven bars event finals. She had won gold on uneven bars in Beijing, edging out Nastia Liukin of the U.S.

-- Diane Pucin

Shawn Johnson still looking toward 2012 Olympics

USA Gymnastics women’s coordinator Martha Karolyi said Thursday she expects the three 2008 Olympians who didn’t make the 2011 team that will represent the U.S. at the world championships next month in Tokyo to shine at their assignment to the Pan-Am Games instead. She also is expecting good things from the relatively inexperienced group that will go to Tokyo and try to earn the U.S. team a spot at the 2012 Olympics.

The top eight teams in Tokyo will earn places for the London Games; the U.S. will be led by another 2008 Olympian, Alicia Sacramone.

Shawn Johnson, Chellsie Memmel and Bridget Sloan, also members of the 2008 team who are in various stages of returning from retirements, are still strong candidates for London, Karolyi said, even though they were named to the Pan-Am team on Wednesday night.

“Bridget, with another month to reach her potential, can win Pan-Ams,” Karolyi said. “Memmel had to stop in the middle of her bar routine at nationals because of shoulder problems -- and those problems kept her from her potential and [led to] her not being selected. She’s had to deal with this injury.

“Shawn, nice effort but same thing. She wasn’t in maximum shape on her preparation. She’s had to deal with a knee injury and couldn’t train 100 percent all these months leading up. For next year I think she’ll be a fantastic competitor for the Olympic team.”

Johnson, who won a gold medal on the balance beam in Beijing and silver medals in all-around, floor exercise and team competition,  was designated the “non-traveling” alternate for the world team, and if there is an injury before the team leaves for Tokyo, Johnson might still compete.

“It’s not a disappointment at all,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of progress in the last year. I’m here for the team and right now I’m not the best pick for the team. I think there’s always room for improvement. I’ll go home, work hard, put in the hours.”

Johnson said she isn’t certain she will do all four events at the Pan-Am Games. She may skip the floor exercise, which is most difficult on her knee.

Karolyi said that putting together the world team was made more difficult by recent injuries to former U.S. all-around champion Rebecca Bross, who dislocated her knee at nationals in August, and Mackenzie Caquatto, who severely sprained an ankle at the final selection camp in Texas this week.

Joining Sacramone on the world team are 15-year-old McKayla Maroney from Laguna Niguel, who finished second in the all-around at the 2011 nationals; former UCLA standout and uneven bars specialist Anna Li; 2011 U.S. all-around champion Jordyn Wieber; Alexandra Raisman, who was part of the 2010 U.S. world silver medalist team; and newcomers Gabrielle Douglas, who trains with Johnson in Iowa, and Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Shawn Johnson. Credit: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images.

Alicia Sacramone on USA world gymnastics team; not Shawn Johnson

USA Gymnastics announced the teams that will represent the U.S. at the 2011 world championships in Tokyo Oct. 8-16 and at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct. 14-30.

Three 2008 Olympians -- Shawn Johnson, Chellsie Memmel and Bridget Sloan-- were picked for the Pan Am Games team rather than the team that will aim to earn the U.S. a 2012 Olympic spot.

A fourth 2008 Olympian, Alicia Sacramone, will travel to Tokyo along with two gymnasts with Southern California ties. McKayla Maroney, a 15-year-old from Laguna Niguel who trains at All Olympia Gymnastics Center  in Los Angeles and Anna Li, an All-American when she was at UCLA from 2007-2010, will be on the Tokyo team.

Also on the world team are Gabrielle Douglas, who trains with Johnson at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in Iowa; Alexandra Raisman, who is a training partner with Sacramone at Brestyan's American Gymnastics in Massachusetts; Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y., and new U.S. all-around champion Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich.

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-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Alicia Sacramone. Credit: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images

Fundraiser for aspiring Olympians will feature gold-medal lineup

Gymnasts, kayakers, rowers and swimmers seem to get their moments of glory every four years during the Olympics. The training to reach that moment can be expensive, and that’s where a group called Southern California Olympians and Paralympians comes in.

The group, comprised of athletes who took part in the Olympics or Paralympics, mentors kids and holds fundraisers to help aspiring Olympians realize their dreams. The group’s next fundraiser will be Sept. 13 at the Cannery in Newport Beach and will feature an illustrious roster.

Special guests will include the indomitable Louis Zamperini, a 1936 Olympian and subject of the best-selling novel “Unbroken”; swimmer turned motivational speaker John Naber; gymnast Peter Vidmar; four-time shooting medalist Kim Rhode, who has qualified for the 2012 London Games next summer; swimmer Brian Goodell; cyclist/speedskater Connie Paraskevin; 1948 and 1952 diving gold medalist Sammy Lee; and kayaker Cathy Marino. The event will feature a reception, three-course dinner and conversations with the Olympians.

Tickets are $275 per person or $1,500 for a table of six. Proceeds will go to the Koroibos Foundation, a nonprofit that provides financial aid to potential Olympians.

Naber, an accomplished master of ceremonies, will lead a question-and-answer session that should be the highlight of the event.

“Everyone there wants to do this to give back and help Olympic hopefuls who are training for London,” said Marino, an Olympic kayaker in 1988 and 1992. “We have athletes who are struggling to pay their airfare to events. We fill in the gap between what’s provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee and national governing bodies and what they need.

“We know what it takes. We’ve been there. We want to help.”

For more information, contact Marino at cathymarino@live.com. The Southern California Olympians and Paralympians also have a Facebook page that includes updates on activities of athletes and the governing bodies of Olympic sports. 

-- Helene Elliott

USC salutes Olympians in run-up to 2012 London Games

USC has begun a yearlong celebration of Trojan athletes who have participated in the Olympics with a salute themed “Cardinal and Gold Medal Heritage,” the school announced.

In the run-up to the 2012 London Games, USC will have displays and banners in Heritage Hall and introduce Olympians at sports events. Video vignettes to be displayed at stadiums and other events and programs also are planned.

Since 1904, 393 USC athletes representing 57 countries have competed in the Olympics, winning 122 gold medals, 76 silver and 60 bronze, the school said.

“We are extremely proud of our unparalleled Olympic heritage and, with the 2012 Olympic Games on the horizon, we felt it was important to salute and acknowledge that tradition,” USC Athletic Director Pat Haden said in a statement. “I know our fans will be as excited as I am to see our past and current Olympians and to relive the many successes that Trojan athletes have had in Olympic competition.”

-- Gary Klein

X Games: Garrett Reynolds makes it four BMX Street golds

When Garrett Reynolds gets on a BMX bike at the X Games, one thing seems to be for sure: He will win.

Reynolds claimed his fourth BMX Freestyle Street gold Sunday. Since it's only the fourth running of BMX Freestyle Street, he has claimed every gold medal since its beginning in 2008.

Reynolds was the only rider of the day to break 45 points, with a 47 in a qualifying run and two 46s in the finals. He bypassed a complete third run since he already had clinched the gold medal, and simply gave the fans a few thrills before accepting congratulations from his competitors.

For the second consecutive year, San Diegan Dennis Enarson finished second to Reynolds. Along with his silver medal in the BMX Freestyle Park competition Saturday, Enarson matched his haul from last year. Enarson’s total of 85 points in the final edged out Huntington Beach native Dakota Roche’s 84.

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Garrett Reynolds spins his handlebars while catching air on the BMX Freestyle Street course on Sunday afternoon. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images