The Belarus trio of Andrei Kan, Svetlana Boguinskaia and rhythmic gymnast Eugenia Pavlina won the 1996 McDonald’s International Gymnastics Championships at the Omni in Atlanta, Ga., March 5.

The mixed trio of Diego Lizardi (Puerto Rico), Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan) and rhythmic gymnast Camille Martens (Canada) took second. </p<

Third place went to the mixed trio from Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Representing the team included Svetlana Zelepukina and Valery Goncharov from Ukraine and rhythmic gymnast Andrea Sebestova (Czech Republic).

The USA trio of John Roethlisberger (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kerri Strug (Tucson, Ariz.) and Jessica Davis (San Anselmo, Calif.) took fourth place. Roethlisberger scored a 9.10 on pommel horse, Strug scored a 9.60 on beam and Davis scored a 9.25 on her ribbon routine.

Strug said, “I was a little disappointed but I did my job. This event is a fun event so it’s ok to not advance to the final round.”

The other USA trio of Jair Lynch (Washington, D.C. ), Andree Pickens (Houston, Texas), and Lauri Illy (Virginia Beach, Va.) took sixth. Lynch scored a 9.05 on parallel bars, Pickens scored a 9.70 on floor and Illy scored a 9.0 in the rope event.

Lynch said, “I could have used a D dismount on parallel bars, instead I went for the E dismount in order to upgrade my routines for Atlanta.” Lynch fell on the dismount landing of parallel bars.

This unique competition utilized a men’s artistic, women ‘s artistic and rhythmic gymnast in a three-on-three format.

Eighteen pairs of men’s and women’s artistic gymnasts began in round one. The top eight pairs advanced to round two and a rhythmic gymnast joined the group to form a trio. The top three trios moved to round three, the gold medal round.

Athletes from 22 countries competed in the competition for prize money totaling $2,550.00.

The event will be televised on NBC Sports March 23.

Below are the results from the McDonald’s International Gymnastics Championships:

FINAL RESULTS
1. Andrei Kan, Belarus
Svetlana Boguinskaia, Belarus
Eugenia Pavlina, Belarus/Score: 57.450

2. Diego Lizardi, Puerto Rico
Oksana Chusovitina, Uzbekistan
Camille Martens, Canada/Score: 56.600

3. Valery Goncharov, Ukraine
Svetlana Zelepukina, Ukraine
Andrea Sebestova, Czech Republic/Score:56.200