Michigan sophomore Sam Mikulak and Oklahoma grad Chris Brooks were chosen to compete at next months Olympic Test Event in London. This is a great opportunity for both gymnasts to add to their resumes. Brooks is coming off his role as a World Team alternate. His stock is still rising. Mikulak, the defending NCAA all-around champion, is nearly fully recovered from [...more]
John Orozco's Wednesday night tweet posed a great question. "To go pro or not to go pro! #indecisive" Should John Orozco turn pro? Aly Raisman and Jordan Wieber made the headlines recently with their announcements of turning pro. Well, let's face it, the harsh reality is that there are far more money-making opportunities for female gymnasts than there are for [...more]
*** Update *** The early NCAA signing period is under way, and we'll update this list as soon as we learn of new developments. The '12-'13 class is impressive, and should be one of the better ones in recent years. [...more]
Team USA had a very successful trip to the Pan American Games in Guadalajara. After capturing the bronze medal in the team competition, the American men snagged four more medals in the event finals. Paul Ruggeri won half of those with his gold medal performance on high bar (15.65) and taking the silver on parallel bars (14.825). He won HB by almost a full point. Brandon Wynn added an [...more]
If the qualification round was any indication of how well the U.S. men will fare in team finals, a podium spot is looking pretty good right now. As expected, the Japanese men posted the highest team score (364.291), but the U.S. men were fairly close behind at (361.583). An injured Kohei Uchimura topped the field in the AA (92.256), and the Americans had three gymnasts place in the top 5. John Orozco was an absolute rock throughout the first round, putting up [...more]
Morgan Hamm posted a nicely produced video in support of his brother, Paul, who recently got himself into a little drunken legal trouble the other evening. As a result of the incident, in which he was charged with assaulting a cab driver, refusing to pay a fare & damaging a cab, Hamm was discharged from his assistant coaching duties at Ohio State. The arrest video was very damning and embarrassing for the '04 Olympic champion, and undoubtedly led to [...more]
A six-man U.S. contingent placed 2nd in the team competition at the Puerto Rico Cup. The host team captured the gold by a relatively slim margin (350.00-348.80). In the same meet, Brandon Wynn (87.15) took the all-around silver medal in a tight finish. Illinois' Tyler Mizoguchi (86.45) came in 6th, while Michigan-bound Adrian de los Angeles (83.90) placed 14th. Wynn won gold on rings (15.925) and silver on high bar (14.60), while Mizo added two more medals to the U.S. total with an outstanding [...more]
We finally got to see the list of summer international assignments, published by USAG late last week. No real surprises, and they should provide a good warm-up for VISAs. Headlining the assignments, are those for the Japan Cup. Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva will be joined by Alex Naddour, Steven Legendre and John Orozco. It's assumed that Horton, Leyva and Naddour will be [...more]
After days of speculation, new Ohio State men's gymnastics coach Rustam Sharipov made it official today that Orlando Metro coach Casimiro Suarez and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Paul Hamm are officially on board as assistant coaches. We don't need to elaborate too much about Hamm's background, of course, but it's assumed that he will also continue his training on the Buckeyes' campus. Most recently, Suarez is well known as the coach for [...more]
Here’s a young man who has had a charmed gymnastics career. While not heavily recruited in high school, Kent Caldwell chose to take his shiny academic credentials to the University of Michigan, where he was also given a chance to shine in the gym. Caldwell trained at the Charlotte Gymnastics Academy during his club years, and, known for being a floor and vault specialist, his contributions to Michigan gymnastics [...more]
