INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 30, 2012 – The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has conducted the drawing of lots for the 2012 AT&T American Cup, an FIG World Cup event, which is scheduled for March 3 inside New York City’s legendary Madison Square Garden.
World parallel bars champion, Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics) will start off the competition on the floor exercise for Team USA in the second position, while teammate John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, fifth place in the all-around at the 2011 World Championships, will follow Leyva in the third spot. Two-time World Championships all-around silver medalist Philipp Boy of Germany drew sixth position for the competitive order.
For the women, the reigning World, U.S. and AT&T American Cup all-around champion, Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA, will compete sixth up on the vault. Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics, the World floor bronze medalist, is scheduled to compete in the eighth spot. World all-around finalist, Germany’s Nadine Jarosch, will compete second.
The complete draw order, which drops one athlete per rotation, is as follows:
Men:
- Marcel Nguyen – Germany
- Danell Leyva – USA
- John Orozco – USA
- Cyril Tommasone – France
- Daniel Purvis – Great Britain
- Philipp Boy – Germany
- Mykola Kuksenkov – Ukraine
- Oleg Verniaiev – Ukraine
Women:
- Rebecca Tunney – Great Britain
- Nadine Jarosch – Germany
- Georgia Simpson – Australia
- Diana Chelaru – Romania
- Larisa Iordache – Romania
- Jordyn Wieber – USA
- Lisa Hill – Germany
- Alexandra Raisman – USA
Gymnastics greats Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner, Tracee Talavera, Mary Lou Retton, Peter Vidmar, Carly Patterson, Jason Gatson, Nastia Liukin and Paul Hamm won American Cup titles in Madison Square Garden months before earning a combined 30 Olympic medals, including 13 gold.
Ticket prices range from $29.50-$225, plus applicable fees, and may be purchased charge-by-phone at 866-858-0008; online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; at the Madison Square Garden Box Office; or through participating area gymnastics clubs. In recognition of Visa’s long-time support of USA Gymnastics, Visa is the preferred method of payment. For more information, go to www.attamericancup.com.
The AT&T American Cup is the first of four artistic gymnastics all-around World Cups in 2012. The next stopovers are scheduled for April 14-15 in Tokyo, Japan; Dec. 1-2 in Stuttgart, Germany; and Dec. 8 in Glasgow, Scotland.
The AT&T American Cup has been staged 11 times at Madison Square Garden and this is the sixth time New York has hosted the event in an Olympic year. Madison Square Garden was the site of the inaugural American Cup in 1976 when the USA’s Bart Conner and Romania’s Nadia Comaneci won the all-around titles. Madison Square Garden played host to this event in 1976-80, 1982-84, 2004 and 2008.
The USA swept the titles at the 2011 AT&T American Cup –Wieber won the women’s title (her second), and Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics), won the men’s competition to bring his total American Cup titles to three.
Past sites for the American Cup include: New York City (1976-80, 1982-84, 2004, 2008); Ft. Worth Texas (1981, 1996-98); Indianapolis, Ind. (1985); Fairfax, Va. (1986-90, 2003); Orlando, Fla. (1991-94, 2000-02); Seattle, Wash. (1995); St. Petersburg, Fla. (1999); Uniondale, N.Y. (2005); Philadelphia (2006); Jacksonville, Fla. (2007, 2011); Hoffman Estates, Ill. (2009); and Worcester, Mass. (2010).
Background information
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