PITTSBURGH, Pa., June 23, 2014 – As part of the 2014 Olympic Day celebration and the world record attempt for most simultaneous cartwheels, USA Gymnastics announced that the 1984 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams for artistic gymnastics will be honored during the 2014 P&G Championships, scheduled for Aug. 21-24 at CONSOL Energy Center. 2014 is the 30th anniversary of the USA’s outstanding success at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where the United States collected 16 total medals, including five gold. This year is also the 10th anniversary of the 2004 Olympic Games, where the Americans garnered nine medals, including two gold.

“The 1984 Olympic Games were a breakthrough moment for USA Gymnastics and laid the foundation for the sport’s growth and the recognition that we enjoy today,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “Those athletes stole America’s hearts with their achievements – Mary Lou Retton, the first U.S. Olympic all-around champion; the men’s team and the first U.S. Olympic team gold medal; Bart Conner, Julianne McNamara and Peter Vidmar, the country’s first Olympic individual event gold medals.

“And, 20 years later, Carly Patterson and Paul Hamm gave the USA its first and only Olympics with both the men’s and women’s all-around titles,” said Penny. “Combined with the men’s and women’s team medals, along with individual event medals, this group sent the message that USA Gymnastics was back in the mix as a medal contender at the Olympic Games.”

On Thursday night, the men and women on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team will be recognized, and the 1984 team will be honored on Saturday night.

In Los Angeles, the U.S. men won the team title, and the women garnered the team silver. The members of the men’s squad were: Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, Mitch Gaylord, Jim Hartung, Scott Johnson, Peter Vidmar, and Jim Mikus. The women’s team featured: Pam Bileck, Michelle Dusserre, Kathy Johnson, Julianne McNamara, Mary Lou Retton, Tracee Talavera, and Marie Roethlisberger. Retton became the USA’s first Olympic all-around champion and also picked up the vault silver and uneven bars and floor exercise bronze medals. Vidmar, who was the men’s all-around silver medalist, won the pommel horse gold medal, and Conner took home the parallel bars gold. McNamara captured the uneven bars gold and the floor exercise silver. Gaylord picked up the vault silver medal, along with the bronze for both still rings and parallel bars. Daggett and K. Johnson earned the bronze medals for pommel horse and balance beam, respectively.

Hamm won the first Olympic men’s all-around crown for the USA in Athens at the 2004 Olympic Games, where Patterson collected the women’s all-around gold. Both the men’s and women’s teams won the team silver medals. The women’s team included Mohini Bhardwaj, Annia Hatch, Terin Humphrey, Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Patterson. On the men’s team were Jason Gatson, Morgan Hamm, Paul Hamm, Brett McClure, Blaine Wilson and Guard Young. In addition to her all-around gold, Patterson was the balance beam silver medalist. Paul Hamm also was second on the horizontal bar. Hatch earned the vault silver medal. For the uneven bars, Humphrey nabbed the silver, with Kupets claiming the bronze.

About the P&G Championships
Scheduled for Aug. 21-24, 2014, at CONSOL Energy Center, the four-day P&G Championships is USA Gymnastics’ national championships that features the country’s top male and female gymnasts competing in both the junior and senior divisions.

Single session tickets range in price from $20-$99. Ticket prices include facility fees and vary according to ticket location. Also available are: all-session tickets, which include all eight competitive sessions, $150-$500; men’s .package – all men’s sessions (junior and senior), Aug. 22 and 24, $85-$135; women’s first day of competition package – junior and senior women’s sessions, Aug. 21, $70-$125; women’s final day of competition package – junior and senior women’s sessions, Aug. 23, $85-$135; and men’s and women’s finals package – senior women on Aug. 23 and senior men on Aug. 24, $80-$130. A limited number of platinum VIP all-session tickets, located in the first five rows, are still available and include a commemorative gift, autographed poster and a meet-and-greet with an Olympian.

Tickets may be purchased at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Box Office at CONSOL Energy Center, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. For group (10+ people) sales information, please call Justin Leach at (412) 804-7904. Discounted tickets are also available through local gym clubs that are participating in the Club Ticket Sales Program.

The competition schedule for men’s and women’s gymnastics is: Thursday, Aug. 21 – women’s gymnastics, juniors (1 p.m.) and seniors (7:30 p.m.); Friday, Aug. 22 – men’s gymnastics, juniors (1 p.m.) and seniors (7 p.m.); Saturday, Aug. 23 – women’s gymnastics, juniors (2 p.m.) and seniors (7:30 p.m.); and Sunday, Aug. 24 – men’s gymnastics, seniors (1 p.m.) and juniors (7:30 p.m.).

Simone Biles, 2013 World all-around champion, and Sam Mikulak, a 2012 Olympian, are the defending men’s and women’s all-around champions. The roster of former U.S. all-around champions is a veritable who’s who of gymnastics, including: women – Jordyn Wieber, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Carly Patterson, Courtney Kupets, Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Kim Zmeskal and Mary Lou Retton; and men – John Orozco, Danell Leyva, Jonathan Horton, Paul Hamm, Blaine Wilson, John Roethlisberger, Mitch Gaylord, Peter Vidmar, Tim Daggett and Bart Conner.

2014 will be the first time the U.S. Championships have been held in Pennsylvania since 2001 and just the fourth since 1973. The U.S. Gymnastics Championships traces its history back to 1897 for the men and 1931 for the women.

The USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show will be held in conjunction with the 2014 P&G Gymnastics Championships at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The annual USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show is a three-day event open to the entire gymnastics community. Held in conjunction with the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, National Congress provides a unique opportunity for presentations, demonstrations and educational seminars on a variety of topics and a large exhibitor’s hall with additional business opportunities.

In addition to VisitPittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Penguins, AEG and CONSOL Energy Center were instrumental in bringing the event to the city. The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are also helping support the championships.

Background information

  • VisitPittsburgh. VisitPittsburgh is the official tourism promotion agency for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to generating convention, trade show and leisure travel business for the Pittsburgh region.

  • CONSOL Energy Center. CONSOL Energy Center, operated by AEG Facilities, is Pittsburgh’s premier indoor site for sports and entertainment. In addition to being home to the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, the arena hosted the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball second and third rounds as well as the 2013 NCAA Frozen Four and will host the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball second and third rounds.

  • David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Completed in 2003 and owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County (SEA), the DLCC is located in downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, within steps of theaters, museums, sport venues, galleries and restaurants. The dynamic architectural design is like no other – breath-taking views, open terraces and a suspended roof structure. As the first LEED Gold certified convention center under the LEED for New Construction rating system, some of the "green" features include: a natural ventilation system, abundant natural daylight, a water reclamation system, and an extensive recycling program. The DLCC continues to adhere to the slogan; "Built Green. Working Green. Every Day" and has now achieved LEED Platinum certification under the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance rating system. The DLCC is the first convention center to receive certification under both rating systems.

  • AEG Facilities. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, is the leading sports, entertainment and venue operator in the world. AEG Facilities, a stand-alone affiliate of AEG, owns, operates or consults with more than 100 of the industry’s preeminent venues worldwide, across five continents, providing complete venue management, as well as specialized programs in operations, guest services, ticketing, booking, sales and marketing. AEG Facilities also provides resources and access to other AEG-affiliated entities, including live event producer, AEG Live, AEG Global Partnerships, AEG Development, AEG 1Earth, AEG Encore and AEG Creative to support the success of AEG venues across the globe. The Los Angeles-based organization owns, operates or provides services to the world’s most elite venues, including STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, Calif.), The Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.), Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.), XL Center (Hartford, Conn.), KFC YUM! Center (Louisville, Ky.), AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami, Fla.), Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.), Target Center (Minneapolis, Minn.), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, Texas), O.co Coliseum and Oracle Arena (Oakland, Calif.), CONSOL Energy Center (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), The O2 Arena (London, England), O2 World (Berlin, Germany), O2 World Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany), Ahoy Arena (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Pernambuco Stadium (Recife, Brazil), Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), ULKER Sports Arena (Istanbul, Turkey), Ericsson Globe Arena (Stockholm, Sweden) and the Qatar National Convention Centre (Doha, Qatar). For more information, please visit www.aegworldwide.com.