INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – USA Gymnastics has decided to incorporate men’s artistic gymnastics into the competition program for the 2007 Visa Championships, scheduled for Aug. 15-18 in San Jose’s HP Pavilion, rather than have separate events for the men and women. The 2007 Visa Championships, the sport’s national championship, will bring the country’s top gymnasts in men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics to San Jose as they begin the final year leading to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Plans for the men’s competition had not been finalized when USA Gymnastics originally awarded the Visa Championships to San Jose last summer. The organization was considering holding the men’s and women’s national championships individually in different cities. After careful consideration, USA Gymnastics has decided the Visa Championships in San Jose will feature men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics, as well as the national team trials for acrobatic gymnastics.

"When we announced our plans to come to San Jose last year, we were still evaluating several options for men’s gymnastics," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. vSan Jose and the HP Pavilion are going to host an outstanding event, and we believe having both men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics along with rhythmic gymnastics in San Jose is the best showcase for our sport."
"We are thrilled to add the men’s event to what will be a spectacular Visa Championships in San Jose," said Michael Lynch, senior vice president, Visa USA. "The road to Beijing is a long one, and Visa is proud to support USA Gymnastics and its top athletes along this journey. We look forward to cheering on the nation’s top gymnasts while they compete in our own backyard."
The men will compete on Wednesday, Aug. 15, and Friday, Aug. 17. The women’s competition is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 16, and Saturday, Aug. 18. Artistic gymnastics includes competition in the all-around and individual events for both juniors and seniors.
"This is fantastic to have the men’s competition included in the Visa Championships in San Jose and to showcase the very best American gymnasts as they begin their pursuit of medals in Beijing," said Dean Munro, executive director of the San Jose Sports Authority.
NBC Sports will broadcast action from the event. In addition to the competition, San Jose is also hosting the USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show. Tickets for the 2007 Visa Championships will go on sale later this year.
San Jose previously hosted the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline in 2004 prior to the Athens Olympic Games. The San Jose Sports Authority is the sports marketing agency for the City of San Jose. Since its creation in 1991, the Sports Authority has brought 150 events to the city including six NCAA Championships, the NHL and MLS All Star Games and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Visit the San Jose Sports Authority on the Web at www.sjsa.org.
Visa USA is the nation’s leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance, and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payments systems – Members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 14,000 Member financial institutions, more than 463 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa’s processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.3 trillion in transactions with virtually 100 percent reliability. Worldwide, cardholders in over 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources – anytime, anywhere, anyway.