Santa Barbara, Calif. – Olympian and four-time defending national champion Blaine Wilson (Columbus, Ohio/Team Texaco USOTC) won the 2000 GymJam Men’s National Qualifier with a score of 57.550, this afternoon at the University of California Santa Barbara Robertson Gymnasium.
“It feels great to win this competition today,” said Wilson. “This event gets the summer started, and I was very ready for it to happen.”
Two-time Olympian John Roethlisberger, (Falcon Heights, Minnesota/Team Texaco-Minnesota Gophers) placed second, scoring 56.540 while Paul Hamm (Waukesha, Wis./Team Texaco Swiss Turners) finished third with a score of 56.400.
“This was a great competition,” said Ron Galimore, Senior Director of Men’s Program for USA Gymnastics. “Many of our athletes have made big improvements and this gives me confidence that we will put a great team on the floor in Sydney.”
Session One
The first session of today’s competition served two purposes. It gave the sixteen athletes who pre-qualified to the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships as a member of the 1999-2000 Senior National Team one more opportunity to perform new skills and combinations in their routines before competing in the events that select our Olympic team.
Secondly, the competition advanced the top six junior athletes, who will join the top twenty-four athletes who were pre-qualified from the results of the 2000 Junior Olympic National Championships, to the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. The junior division includes a total of thirty competitors who either qualified through today’s competition or the Junior Olympic Nationals.
Session Two
The second session of the GymJam Men’s National Qualifier rounds out the field of 33 senior athletes who will compete in the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Seventeen total spots were available, as sixteen athletes pre-qualified as a member of the 1999-2000 Senior National Team.
Highlighting session two was Jamie Natalie (Hockessin, Delaware/Ohio State University) who finished in first place with 55.55 points. Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./University of Michigan) finished in second place with 55.10 and Kris Zimmerman (University of Michigan) placed third with 53.60.