After hitting every routine in their compulsory round of competition, the U.S. men are in third place behind Japan and China, respectively, at the 1995 World Gymnastics Championships in Sabae, Japan. The U.S. women are leading their compulsory round of competition. Two more days of compulsory competition remain, and the U.S. teams must now wait and see where the other countries finish around them.

The U.S. men’s head coach Peter Kormann exclaimed, “I feel awesome! It’s the best feeling a U.S. (Men’s) Team has had since 1984. Every guy went out and did his best. We’re going to do well in optionals, too. We’ll be aggressive and confident.”

Bela Karolyi, the women’s head coach, commented, “Overall, I’m pleased with their performance. They had a shaky start on beam, though. We didn’t bring our number one team to this competition due to injuries; Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow and Amanda Borden are all at home. With the team we have, I’m satisfied with their performance.”

Two-time World Champion Shannon Miller (Edmond, Okla.) is the top female competitor at this point in the competition. The U.S. women occupy the first four spots thus far; Miller is followed by Dominique Moceanu (Hollywood, Calif.), Jaycie Phelps (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Kerri Strug (Tucson, Ariz.), respectively.

John Roethlisberger (Minneapolis, Minn.), the top performer for the U.S. men, is currently in fifth place all-around, while Jair Lynch (Washington, D.C.) is in 15th and Blaine Wilson (Columbus, Ohio) is in 18th.

Men’s Team Compulsory Results (after round one of three):
(Rank, Country, Score)
1., Japan, 282.060
2., China, 282.048
3., USA, 280.336
4., Romania, 279.974
5., Bulgaria, 278.174
6., France, 277.225
7., Italy, 276.249
8., Canada, 274.762
9., Argentina, 262.350
10., Kazakhstan, 260.825
11., Chinese Taipei, 199.700
12., Ireland, 190.425

Women’s Team Compulsory Results (after round one of three):
(Rank, Country, Score)
1., USA, 191.722
2., Hungary, 184.745
3., Greece, 182.857
4., Bulgaria, 180.196
5., Brazil, 178.807
6., Uzbekistan, 177.695
7., Korea, 177.419
8., Israel, 176.621

Compulsories will conclude on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and the optional round of the team competition will conclude for the men on Oct. 6 and for the women on Oct. 7. The top thirty-six men and women will qualify for the all-around competition which takes place Oct. 8, while the top eight gymnasts on each event will qualify for the individual event finals on Oct. 9-10.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES:

U.S. Men’s Team:

  • Mihai Bagiu, Albuquerque, N.M.: “I’m very happy. It’s good to have everyone hit their sets.”
  • Jair Lynch, Washington, D.C.: “We came out and performed at the highest level. That’s what we came here to do.”
  • John Roethlisberger, Minneapolis, Minn.: “I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve come off the floor at a World Championships and felt awful. This is the most underrated team I’ve been on and the best! I’m so happy; I know we could do it. We’ve been criticized for so long, but I always believed! We’d love to be in the top six for optionals.”
  • Josh Stein, Houston, Texas: “I feel really good. It’s my first World Championships , and it really felt like a team effort.”
  • Blaine Wilson, Columbus, Ohio: “It feels pretty darn good. I’m elated! We didn’t have one miss.”

U.S. Women’s Team:

  • Shannon Miller, Edmond, Okla.: “The team did great! We had a lot of newcomers, and Doni (Thompson) started us off great on beam.”
  • Jaycie Phelps, Cincinnati, Ohio.: “I felt really good. I’m just coming back from surgery, so I felt really good about my performance.”
  • Kerri Strug, Tucson, Ariz.: “I got through all of my routines, but they could have been better.”