Jordyn Wieber
and
Jonathan
Horton
both claimed close
victories at the American Cup
Story & Photos by
Debbie Poe
;
T
HE 2011 AT&T American Cup featured one of the best rosters in years, thanks to its inclusion as one of four FIG World Cup all-around competitions. And two former champions—Jonathan Horton in 2006 and ’07, Jordyn Wieber (shown here) in ’09— returned, hoping to reclaim the Cup. And in front of a vocal crowd at the Jacksonville (Fla.) Veterans Memorial Arena, March 5, both American gymnasts did so, barely. However, the meet was not without controversy. Great Britain’s Nicole Hibbert and Russia’s Sergei Khorokhordin, both of whom withdrew with injuries shortly before the com- petition, were replaced by Americans Wieber and 2011 Winter Cup champion Jake Dalton, respectively. But, according to the FIG’s Rules for the World Cup, neither was eligible to compete since the field was drawn from the 2010 world championships all-around finalists. The FIG appeared to revise the rules after the competition with a news release stating that “in case of gymnasts’ with- drawal or in case places remain ‘empty,’ the Organizing Member Federation is entitled to nominate gymnast(s) from their country or a country of their choice to fill these ‘empty’
places.”
In any event, Wieber and Dalton were worthy competitors
who held their own against a strong field.
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