Memmel, Liukin Finish on Top in Women’s All-Around
by Carla O'Connell - U.S. Olympic Committee

++ The depth of the U.S. women’s gymnastics program was apparent Monday night at the Pabellon de Gimnasia in Santa Domingo’s Parque del Este as talented young Americans earned the gold and silver medals and a fourth-place finish in the women’s all-around competition at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Chellsie Memmel (West Allis, Wis.) turned in the top performance of the evening with a 37.962 total to finish just ahead of teammate Nastia Liukin (Plano, Texas) at 37.874.
Daniele Hypolito of Brazil took the bronze with 37.149, while California native Allyse Ishino (Santa Ana) tallied 36.649.

Memmel’s floor exercise earned the highest score of the competition – a 9.700 – and her 9.625 on the uneven bars also ranked first. Her marks on vault and beam, 9.275 and 9.362 respectively, placed her second on those apparatus. Liukin was first on the beam with a 9.637 and Leyanet Gonzales of Cuba was best on the vault (9.362).
The gold was the second of the competition for the 15-year-old Memmel, who along with her five fellow U.S. gymnasts earned the team gold on Saturday.
On Tuesday the talented teen will try to add to her medal collection when she competes on the uneven bars and beam.
Liukin also will attempt to continue her success in Santo Domingo on Tuesday in the individual events of uneven bars, beam and floor. Courtney McCool (Kansas City, Mo.) will represent the USA on the vault and Tia Orlando (Macungie, Pa.) will attempt to earn her second medal on the floor.
“We are looking very strong for tomorrow [Tuesday’s individual event finals],” said head coach Stephen Rybacki. “We have the potential of taking gold in every event, so it should be good.”

The Pan American Games medal tally for the U.S. gymnasts now stands at two gold, two silver (David Durante of Garwood, N.J. earned one Monday in the men’s all-around) and a bronze (men’s team).
Bob Colarossi, president of USA Gymnastics, is in Santo Domingo to see the athletes’ compete and is obviously pleased with their performance. “We did a lot of work to get our program to this point,” Colarossi commented prior to Monday’s medal ceremony. “It’s so strong and so deep right now, but this is just the beginning. We are going to be like this for a long time.”
The abundance of talent created a dilemma of sorts for USA Gymnastics with the Pan American Games coming so close to the World Championships, which are scheduled to open in Anaheim, Calif., later this month.
“It was really hard to decide who to send to World Championships and who to send here, but it looks like we made the right decision, ” Colarossi said.
According to Rybacki, Memmel has been named an alternate on the U.S. World Championships Team.
“I think this has been great for her, it’s really building her confidence up,” the coach stated. “Hopefully nothing happens to the team at the World Championships, but if it does, she’ll be able to step right in and feel really good about herself.”
Source: US Olympic Committee

R E S U L T S
2003 Pan American Games
- August 4, Santo Domingo -
br> Women's AA
1. Chellsie Memmel (USA) 37.962
2. Nastia Liukin (USA) 37.874
3. Daniele Hypolito (BRA) 37.149
4. Allyse Ishino (USA) 36.649
5. Melanie Banville (CAN) 36.637
6. Lydia Williams (CAN) 36.375
7. Leyanet González (CUB) 35.886
8. Camilla Comin (BRA) 35.737
9. Caroline Molinari (BRA) 35.589
10. Brenda Maga?a (MEX) 35.199

Individual Event Scores:
Chellsie Memmel (West Allis, Wis.) - Vault: 9.275; Uneven Bars: 9.625 (first place overall); Balance Beam: 9.362; Floor Exercise: 9.700 (first place overall)

Nastia Liukin (Plano, Texas): Vault: 9.250; Uneven Bars: 9.462; Balance Beam: 9.637; Floor Exercise: 9.525

Allyse Ishino (Santa Ana, Calif.): Vault: 9.125; Uneven Bars: 9.375; Balance Beam: 9.012; Floor Exercise: 9.137.

Men's Team
1. Cuba 221.475
2. Brazil 216.375
3. USA 215.925
4. Venezuela 212.775
5. Puerto Rico 212.225
6. Argentina 206.950

The All Around Men's Final on Sunday finished with Erik Lopez holding onto the Gold medal with a score of 56.20. USA gymnasts David Durante finished with the Silver with 54.625 and Giovani Quintero of Columbia took Bronze with a 54.55.

1. Eric Lopez (Cuba) 56.400
2. David Durante (USA) 54.625
3. Giovanni Quintero (Colombia) 54.550
4. Jonathan Horton (USA) 54.250
5. Luis Vargas (Puerto Rico) 54.250
6. Dan Gill (USA) 54.125
7. Charles Leon Tamayo (CUB) 53.975
8. Caricel Briceno (VEN) 53.275
9. Danilo Nogueira (BRA) 52.375
10.Mosiah Rodrigues (BRA) 52.200

MEN's AA Qualification:
1. Eric LOPEZ (CUB) 56.200
2. Charles LEON (CUB) 55.775
3. David DURANTE (USA) 54.450
4. Danilo NOGUEIRA (BRA) 54.050
5. Lazro LAMELA (CUB) 54.025
6. Mosaih RODRIGUES (BRA) 53.975
7. Luis VARGAS (PUR) 53.700
8. Clayton STROTHER (USA) 53.625
9. Daniel GILL (USA) 53.425
10. Jonathan HORTON (USA) 53.375

Lopez is the three-time defending men's all-around champion, having won in Havana in 1991, Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1995, and Winnipeg in 1999.
Competition continues today with the apparatus finals.

R E S U L T S:
Triple Meet: GERMANY _ SWITZERLAND - SPAIN:
- Artistic Gymnastics, Men, Elite -
Dresden /GER, 26-Jul-2003
>> Detailed TEAM RESULTS
>> Detailed Results, INDIVIDUAL AA

>> Special GYMmedia service: All Meets before Anaheim

----------------
>> Thomas Zimmermann from Austria competed as a guest in this event and scored his new personal and an Austrian record: 54,00!!

Zimmermann (30) will take part to his 12th world champs in Anaheim, and his biggest dream is an individual Olympic ticket to Athens 2004...

R E S U L T S :
Friendly Meet, Women`s artistic Gymnastics
GER - FRA - ESP - BUL
Dresden, 27-July-2003

>> Detailed Results

(>>... have a look toSpecial GYMmedia Meet Statistic.

Please notice, that the national and special conditions were very different at these different events, but we beliecve, it may be an interesting statistic, to check the nations this year before the coming highlight in Anaheim.

GYMmedia-Statistics: >> Meet results 2003 in comparison

... but the opponent Austrian team was not complete - also 2 seniors came to Brno, because some gymnasts started at International FICEP-Meeting, Tanja Gratt was ill (influenza) and also the best Austrian Sabine Hasenöhrl was not in the team....

AA individual, women:
1. Katerina Maresova (CZE) 35,475
2. Jana Sikulova (CZE) 35,425
3. Veronika Ozanova (CZE) 33,45
4. Michaela Radkova (CZE) 32,85
5. Adela Pavoukova (CZE) 32,725
6. Petra Sulcova (CZE) 32,375
7. Jana Mrkvicova (CZE) 31,5
8. Stephanie Praxmarer (AUT) 30,275
… Patricia Peking (AUT) 29 Pkt.
Jana Komrskova cancelled this competition and had a free weekend. The best Czech gymnast is nominated for Anaheim already.
Coach Stanislav Vyzina said: „ With Jana Komrskova in the national our target in Anaheim is to get more than 140 points!'

R E S U L T S
Dual Meet: Romania - Germany
Artistic Gymnastics, Men, Elite
Gheorge/Romania, 2003, July 19

>>Detailed Results

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2003 Japanese Junior International
September 14 - 15, Yokohama

Women's All-Around
1. Monette Russo AUS 37.350
2. Olga Scherbatykh UKR 36.100
3. Kasumi Ide JPN 35.725
4. Lorena Stancu ROM 35.100
5. Cheng Fei CHN 34.850
6. Yuu Minobe JPN 34.675
7. Julia Lozhechko RUS 34.575
8. Heike Gunne GER 34.525
9. Madison Ward CAN 34.050
10. Amy Lauren AUS 33.225
-. Shoko Furukawa JPN 34.800*
-. Mayu Kuroda JPN 34.750*
---------------------------------

Women's Vault
1. Cheng Fei CHN 9.350
2. Kasumi Ide JPN 9.150
2. Julia Lozhechko RUS 9.150
4. Olga Scherbatykh UKR 9.125
4. Monette Russo AUS 9.125
6. Madison Ward CAN 8.925
7. Heike Gunne GER 8.800
8. Lorena Stancu ROM 8.675

Uneven Bars
1. Monette Russo AUS 9.500
2. Heike Gunne GER 9.150
3. Olga Scherbatykh UKR 9.025
3. Lorena Stancu ROM 9.025
3. Julia Lozhechko RUS 9.025
6. Cheng Fei CHN 8.550
7. Kasumi Ide JPN 8.525
8. Yuu Minobe JPN 8.425

Balance Beam
1. Monette Russo AUS 9.375
2. Yuu Minobe JPN 8.900
3. Lorena Stancu ROM 8.825
4. Olga Scherbatykh UKR 8.800
5. Amy Lauren AUS 8.650
6. Cheng Fei CHN 8.575
7. Kasumi Ide JPN 8.500
8. Heike Gunne GER 8.050

Women's Floor Exercise
1. Monette Russo AUS 9.300
2. Kasumi Ide JPN 9.225
3. Yuu Minobe JPN 8.925
4. Julia Lozhechko RUS 8.875
5. Olga Scherbatykh UKR 8.825
6. Lorena Stancu ROM 8.675
6. Amy Lauren AUS 8.675
8. Madison Ward CAN 8.050

The women's Dutch team in Anaheim:
- Verona van de Leur,
- Gabriella Wammes,
- Laura van Leeuwen,
- Monique Nuijten,
- Renske Endel and
- Suzanne Harmes.

Dutch head coach Frank Louter said on this press conference, that the definitive team will be decided after the last training camp, which concludes next week (July 25th).
Also candidates are Berber van den Berg, Loes Linders, Shalina Groenveld, , Mayra Kroonen, and Evi Neijssen.
gymmedia

Winner of the Team competition was the A-Team of Brasilia(158,20). On second place came the favourites from Ukraine (156,60), on third the B-Team of Brasilia (151,70) and on the folowing places Netherlands A (151,20) and der Switzerland (150,25).
>> Complete Results, Teams

>> Complete Results individual all-around

(Info.: Manuel Costa / Porto, POR