Alexander Artemev and Jonathan Horton
© FIG Photo

BEIJING, Aug. 13, 2008 – Alexander Artemev of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Jonathan Horton of Houston will look to add individual medals to their 2008 Olympic team bronze medal when they compete in the men’s all-around finals tomorrow at 11 a.m. local Beijing time at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China.

Horton finished fourth in the all-around at the 2007 World Championships, becoming just the fifth U.S. man to finish in the top four in the all-around at an Olympic Games or a World Championships. Artemev is the 2006 U.S. all-around champion and the 2006 pommel horse world bronze medalist.

The world’s best all-around gymnasts also are looking to add an Olympic gold medal to their resumes, including: two-time defending world all-around champion Yang Wei of China; 2007 world all-around silver-medalist Fabian Hambuechen of Germany; and 2004 Olympic silver-medalist Kim Dae Eun of South Korea.

In the qualification round, Yang finished first in the all-around with 93.875 points, followed by Hambuechen and Kim with a 92.425 and a 92.400, respectively. Horton finished seventh and Artemev was 17th. The top 24 gymnasts in the qualification round, with a limit of two per country, advanced to the all-around finals. Scores from the qualification round do not carry forward.