Guard Young Wins Gold on Floor Exercise at 2000 International Challenge

Olympic Test Event Identifies Gymnastics Olympic Hopefuls
Indianapolis, Ind.- U.S. National Team Members Guard Young, Sean Townsend, Jeanette Antolin, Jennifer Parilla and Ryan Weston competed in the 2000 International Challenge at the Sydney Superdome, February 24-27. Known as the Olympic test event, it was the first artistic, rhythmic and trampoline competition to take place in the Olympic venue for gymnastics….

March 1, 2000

Olympic Test Event Identifies Gymnastics Olympic Hopefuls

Indianapolis, Ind.- U.S. National Team Members Guard Young, Sean Townsend, Jeanette Antolin, Jennifer Parilla and Ryan Weston competed in the 2000 International Challenge at the Sydney Superdome, February 24-27. Known as the Olympic test event, it was the first artistic, rhythmic and trampoline competition to take place in the Olympic venue for gymnastics.

Guard Young (Provo, Utah) won the floor exercise event final, scoring 9.537. Young also finished eighteenth in the all-around competition and sixth in the parallel bars and vault event finals.

Sean Townsend (Houston, Texas) placed sixth in the men’s individual all-around competition, scoring 55.200. He also placed fifth in the parallel bars and vault event finals.

Jeanette Antolin (Paradise, Calif.) competed for the U.S. women, placing fifteenth all-around with a score of 36.343. She also placed eighth in the vault and uneven bars individual event finals.

2000 Trampoline Olympian Jennifer Parilla (Lake Forest, Calif.) placed sixth in the women’s trampoline final. Parilla scored 37.00.

1999 U.S. Trampoline National Champion Ryan Weston (Chubbuck, Idaho) placed twelfth in the men’s competition. Weston is the second alternate for the 2000 Olympic Games.

The top ten countries from the 1999 World Championships were invited to compete in the International Challenge. The event was hosted by the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Australian Gymnastics Federation (AGF).