USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in the U.S., announced today that Peter Kormann was selected as the 1997 World Gymnastics Championships Team Coach.
Kormann, who is the head coach at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, also served as head men’s coach of the 1995 World Gymnastics Championships Team and the 1996 Olympic Team.
Kormann said, “1997 has been a great year for the U.S. men. Blaine Wilson won the Visa American Cup competing against gymnasts from 15 countries, and John Roethlisberger took fourth in the same competition. Also the U.S. men won the International Team Championships, a triangular competition between the U.S., China and Romania. The men’s international gymnastics scene currently has a lot of parity. For example, Romania was third at the 1995 World Championships and fell to ninth at the 1996 Olympic Games. The U.S. finished ninth at the 1995 World Championships and moved to fifth at the 1996 Olympic Games. We hope to do very well at the 1997 World Championships and improve our placement from the Games.”
The World Championships will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland, August 31-September 7. The John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Denver, Colo., August 13-16, will serve as the trials competition for the World Championships Team. Six gymnasts will make up the U.S. team and five will compete on each of the six events. Four scores will count towards the team total.