International Gymnast

“Being right there close to Sam was awesome,”
Brooks said. “All I wanted to do was hit a floor set
for the team and it ended up that I barely edged him
out.”
The all-around bronze went to Japan’s Koji
Uematsu (87.20), who had competed in the first of
two subdivisions. (Seedings were based on the
2010 Pacific Rim meet, and Japan had not sent a
full team.) Uematsu, who placed eighth at the 2010
worlds, was headed for gold (consecutive O’Neills
on rings; Cassina, layout Kovacs, Kolman on high
bar) until his final event, pommel horse, where he
spun off on a single-pommel Russian and later fell
again ( 12.55).

Dalton ranked fourth, ahead of China’s Liu Rongbing and Aussie Joshua Jefferis (great rings).

Japan went 1-2 in the junior all-around with the extroverted Kaito Imabayashi, who played to the crowd a few times, and Koji Nonomura, whose 12. 25 on pommels cost him the gold. He had beaten Imabayashi on every other even but high bar. Modi grabbed the bronze. “First time, internationally, to come out with third place, it’s a dream come true,” Modi said.

Senior Liu Rongbing and junior Wu Guanhua led China in their respective divisions for the team bronze (343.250), and Australia was no doubt pleased to place fourth, ahead of Russia, 334.95- 332.00. Canada was carried by seniors Anderson Loran and Robert Watson, who ranked ninth and 10th.

Dalton won floor (layout double Arabian mount, triple twist dismount) and Brooks took rings and high bar (piked Tkatchev to cross grip), but a few other countries emerged in the senior finals. Liu was smooth on pommels for the gold there, and Hong Kong’s Wai Hung Shek won vault with a high double front and Lopez. On p-bars, the elegant Jorge Giraldo of Colombia grabbed the gold with sleek lines and a clean Bhavsar to glide.

Imabayashi won pommels (Wu, great extension)

and high bar (Kolman), and Melton landed a clean double front to win vault, and he followed that with the p-bars title (peach-half, stuck double pike).

Nonomura was the cleanest on floor (triple twist dismount), and Wu powered his way to the rings gold (good Maltese, stuck full-twisting double layout). Wu’s tiny teammate, Xu Kangye, ended rings with a layout double-double and later took the p-bars silver (excellent Bhavsar).

For the U.S., the meet provided another opportunity for someone like Brooks, an alternate to the 2011 world team, to make his case for Olympic-team selection later this year. “It was the right call,” Brooks said of his 2011 world team status. “But I think that I’m showing, at the American Cup and at this meet, that I can consistently compete with the best … and hopefully that will help push for my spot on the Olympic team.”

WOMEN’S COMPETITION

With the U.S. sending world champion Jordyn Wieber, upstart Gabrielle Douglas and a pair that has dominated the U.S. juniors the past three years—Kyla Ross (2009-10) and Katelyn Ohashi (2011)—the women’s competition was not a fair fight. And after the Americans posted a 60.70 on vault, which included three Amanars and three double-twisting Yurchenkos (one by accident), the rout was on. The U.S. won every event to score 239.70, with a B-team from China taking the silver (220.65). Wieber and Ross went 1-2 in the all-around with 61.050 and 59.20, respectively.

Led by Christine “Peng Peng” Lee, perhaps the most charismatic woman in the meet, Canada won the bronze with 219.00, having competed in the first of two subdivisions. Lee, formerly coached by Carol-Angela Orchard and now by Kelly and Sue Manjak, won the all-around bronze (57.80).