Photos from podium training

The U.S. men trained on the competition equipment and had a chance to experience the arena during today’s podium training at the 2011 World Championships at the Tokyo (Japan) Metropolitan Gymnasium, on Wed. Oct. 5.

The U.S. men drew the first of eight subdivisions and took to the floor along with gymnasts from Puerto Rico, Japan, Portugal and mixed groups of Vietnam, Peru, Kuwait, and South Africa.

I think everything went really well," said Jon Horton of Houston. "Podium is podium, and it is kind of your one opportunity to go out on the floor and test out the equipment. Nothing ever goes perfect in podium, but you kind of hope (it does go perfectly) in the team final. This is the fourth day here, and I’ve always said the third and fourth days are the hardest to get adjusted to the time. We have three more days until we compete."

The U.S. Men’s Team includes Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Horton, Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Academy); Steven Legendre of Port Jefferson, N.Y./Team Hilton Honors (University of Oklahoma); Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics); Alexander Naddour of Gilbert, Ariz./University of Oklahoma; John Orozco, Bronx, N.Y., U.S. Olympic Training Center; and alternate, Chris Brooks, Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Academy).

"I think it went really well today and we worked out some of the kinks and got adjusted for the first day (on the equipment)," said Leyva. "It went a lot better than I expected and I am happy about that. The whole team did really well and worked out some little faults and errors."

Video interviews after podium training



The World Championships get underway on Oct. 7, with the first day of women’s qualifications. The U.S. women compete on the second day, Oct. 8. Team USA’s men will compete on Oct. 9 in the first session of the first of two days of men’s qualification, which wrap up on Oct. 10. The finals schedule is: Oct. 11, women’s team; Oct. 12, men’s team; Oct. 13, women’s all-around; Oct. 14, men’s all-around; and Oct. 15-16, individual events.

Fans can follow the action at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships via the web, cable TV and network television. Universal Sports will carry a live webcast of the finals, as well as same-day coverage on its cable network. In addition, usagym.org will have photos and updates from Tokyo, with expanded coverage of "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T." NBC Sports will broadcast coverage of the World Championships on Oct. 15-16.

Here’s a quick overview of the various ways to watch and follow the U.S. Team’s performances at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo.

  • Live webcast. UniversalSports.com will have a live webcast of the team, all-around and individual event finals from Tokyo for $19.99. For U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings time, the live webcasts are scheduled for: Oct. 11 – women’s team final, 6 a.m.; Oct. 12 – men’s team final, 5 a.m.; Oct. 13 – women’s all-around final, 5 a.m.; Oct. 14 – men’s all-around final, 6 a.m.; Oct. 15 – individual event finals, 12:30 a.m.; and Oct. 16 – individual event finals, 1 a.m. (NOTE: Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York City; when it is midnight in Tokyo, it is 11 a.m. in New York.)

  • Cable TV. Universal Sports will show all of the finals on its cable network during prime time. At 8 p.m. ET each day, Universal Sports will show the men’s team final on Oct. 12; men’s all-around finals on Oct. 14; and individual event finals on Oct. 15-16. The women’s team final will air at 11 p.m. on Oct. 15, and the women’s all-around final, with men’s highlights, will air at 11 p.m. on Oct. 16.

  • NBC. NBC Sports’ coverage of the World Championships will broadcast the women’s team final at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, and the women’s all-around final at 2 p.m. on Oct. 16.

  • "Behind the Team." "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T" will provide expanded coverage from the World Championships, including John Macready’s take on the championships and Tokyo, interviews, and more. To enjoy this added coverage, you can go to att.net/teamusa or access it from usagym.org.

  • Usagym.org will provide enhanced coverage from Tokyo that will include results and exclusive photos from the competition, as well as daily video interviews. USA Gymnastics will also post event updates on Facebook and Twitter.