Horton finishes fourth in men’s all-around at 2007 World Championships

STUTTGART, Germany, Sept. 7, 2007 – Jonathan Horton of Houston finished fourth in the men’s all-around finals at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.  David Durante of Garwood, N.J., finished 17th, giving the USA two top-20 finishes. China’s Yang Wei won his second straight men’s all-around world title, followed by Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen in second and Japan’s Hisashi Mizutori in third.

Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, are competing today in the women’s all-around finals at 12:30 p.m. ET, which can be watched live at www.wcsn.com.

“Jonathan and David have demonstrated the mettle of our men’s program,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics.  “We continue to be proud of our accomplishments this year.”

Horton moved up 20 places from 24th after the first event to fourth at the end of the six events.

“I knew I would be playing catch up all day,” said Horton, who competes for the University of Oklahoma.  “I started on my worst event and I knew it was going to happen.  I had to work my way up, getting to my stronger events.  I knew I could be in the top five today, and I was only two-tenths out of third.  I need to get back to the gym and polish my gymnastics.”

Horton started the all-around finals on pommel horse, where he executed a solid routine despite being a little low on his dismount, to earn a 13.975.  He followed with a 15.250 on still rings, sticking his full-twisting double layout dismount.  Although he had a step on his landing, Horton performed a well-executed handspring double full vault and scored a 16.075, moving him to 13th place with a three-event total of 45.300.  He had a strong parallel bars routine and earned a 15.450 despite a small hop on his double-pike dismount.  His four-event total of 60.750 put him in a tie for eighth place.  Horton had the crowd cheering for his horizontal bar routine, which features three Kovacs – tucked, layout and full-twisting – and his triple-twisting double layout dismount.  His 14.825 gave him a five-event total of 75.575.  Finishing up on floor, Horton had a solid routine despite a few hops on his full-twisting, double-back dismount, earning a 15.625 for a six-event total of 91.200.

“The World Championships is going to be the fuel for my gymnastics,” said Horton.  “To come so close, to have two fourth-place finishes in two days gives me a lump in my throat.  To know that we were that close is a lot of motivation for me for the road to Beijing.”

Starting on still rings, Durante had a step on his full-twisting double layout dismount, but improved his A score by .5 from earlier in the competition and earned a 14.875.  He earned a 15.725 on his Kazumatsu full vault, and a 15.300 on one of his best parallel bars routine of the week.  After three events, Durante was ranked sixth at 45.900.  He hit all of his release moves on the high bar, including two Kovacs