Jonathan Horton
© FIG Photo

BEIJING, Aug. 14, 2008 – Jonathan Horton of Houston and Alexander Artemev of Highlands Ranch, Colo., finished ninth and 12th, respectively, in the men’s all-around at the 2008 Olympic Games, held at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, will compete in the women’s all-around finals tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. local Beijing time.

China’s Yang Wei won the all-around title with a score of 94.575. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura earned the silver medal with a 91.975 and France’s Benoit Caranobe claimed the bronze medal with a 91.925. Horton’s score of 91.575 was just four-tenths of a point shy from the silver-medal-winning score. Artemev posted a 90.675.

“There were a lot of incredible competitors out there who had a great meet,” Horton said. “Hopefully with some more time and experience in this sport, I’ll learn how to put together two incredible meets instead of just one (men’s team final). Today I was really calm and just stayed relaxed in my gymnastics. I definitely didn’t have that fired-up feeling that I had with the team, but I’m really happy with how I did. I don’t have any regrets with my competition today.”

“I had a bobble on floor that lowered my B score (execution score), but other than that, it was pretty good,” Artemev said about his performance. “I didn’t really hold back on anything. (Pommel) horse is getting better every day, so hopefully in finals, it’s even better.”

Artemev and Horton opened the competition on still rings and pommel horse, respectively, and posted scores of 14.275 and 13.675.

In the second rotation, Artemev jumped to 12th after scoring a 15.975 on his Yurchenko 2.5 vault. On still rings, Horton posted a 15.575 for his routine that included a full twisting, double layout dismount and moved into 19th place.

Artemev scored a 15.200 on parallel bars and remained in 12th place with 45.450 points. Horton jumped five spots to 14th with 45.350 points after earning a 16.100 on his handspring double front vault.

South Korea’s Yang Tae Young led the field halfway through the competition with 47.325 points, followed by Yang in second and Caranobe in third with a 47.150 and a 46.650, respectively.

After four rotations, Horton was 12th with a 60.625 after scoring a 15.275 on parallel bars. Artemev stuck his stretched double double dismount on horizontal bar and scored a 15.075 to move into 14th place at 60.525.

In the fifth rotation, Horton earned a 15.350 on horizontal bar for a score of 75.975, and Artemev posted a 14.625 on floor exercise for a score of 75.150. Horton ended the competition on floor exercise, scoring a 15.600. Artemev’s crowd-pleasing pommel horse routine that includes a full Kehr to flair sequence earned a 15.525.

Artemev is in the pommel horse finals on Aug. 17 and Horton will compete in the horizontal bar finals on Aug. 19. Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif., is the first reserve athlete for the still rings finals, and Joseph Hagerty of Rio Rancho, N.M., is the third reserve gymnast for high bar.

2008 Olympic Games
National Indoor Stadium
Beijing, China
Aug. 14, 2008
Men’s all-around final results

1. YANG Wei, China, 94.575
2. UCHIMURA Kohei, Japan, 91.975
3. CARANOBE Benoit, France, 91.925
4. TOMITA Hiroyuki, Japan, 91.750
5. KHOROKHORDIN Sergey, Russia, 91.700
6. DEVYATOVSKIY Maxim, Russia, 91.700
7. HAMBUECHEN Fabian, Germany, 91.675
8. YANG Taeyoung, South Korea, 91.600
9. HORTON Jonathan, USA, 91.575
10. MARTINEZ Rafael, Spain, 91.500
11. KIM Daeeun, South Korea, 90.775
12. ARTEMEV Alexander, USA, 90.675
13. BOY Philipp, Germany, 90.675
14. RIVERA Luis, Puerto Rico, 90.175
15. WONG Adam, Canada, 89.800
16. FOKIN Anton, Uzbekistan, 89.750
17. GAFUIK Nathan, Canada, 89.625
18. KOCZI Flavius, Romania, 89.575
19. POZZO Enrico, Italy, 89.375
20. KEATINGS Daniel, Great Britain, 89.000
21. BOUHAIL Thomas, France, 87.000
22. FUENTES BUSTAMANTE Jose Luis, Venezuela, 86.300
23. SAVITSKI Dmitry, Belarus, 82.175
24. CHEN Yibing, China, 74.225

USA Individual Scores

Jonathan Horton
PH – 13.675
SR – 15.575
VT – 16.100
PB – 15.275
HB – 15.350
FX – 15.600
Alexander Artemev
SR – 14.275
VT – 15.975
PB – 15.200
HB – 15.075
FX – 14.625
PH – 15.525