SAN JOSE, Calif., March 28, 2008 – The USA swept the gold medals in the men’s competition on the first day of the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus, held at the Event Center Arena at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif. The USA won the men’s team title and Paul Hamm of Waukesha, Wis., and Danell Leyva of Miami, Fla., won the men’s all-around titles in the senior and junior divisions, respectively. Alexander Artemev of Lakewood, Colo., rounded out the USA’s medal haul with the silver in the men’s senior all-around. The Pacific Rim Championships, which runs through March 30, continues tomorrow with the women’s team and all-around finals. The USA claimed the team title with a score of 367.750. China was second at 356.900, followed by Japan with 356.100. In addition to Hamm, Artemev and Leyva, the U.S. Men’s Team was comprised of: Raj Bhavsar of Houston; Glen Ishino of Santa Ana, Calif.; and John Orozco of Bronx, N.Y. “Today was a really good day, the best overall meet I’ve had,” Hamm said. “The five events I hit were great. I’m a little frustrated with my mistake on pommel horse, but I’ll go back and work harder.” “It went really well today,” Leyva said. “I had three goals for this meet and I made two of the three. I wanted to hit my high bar routine and get a score of more than 15.200, and I also wanted at least an 89.000 in the all-around. I wanted to do my second pass on floor, which I didn’t make. But overall, this is the biggest meet I’ve ever won.” Hamm posted an all-around score of 94.450, followed by Artemev at 92.300. China’s Lu Bo was third with a 91.350. Russia’s Maxsim Deviatovsky placed fourth with a score of 90.800. Bhavsar, who finished fifth with a 90.650 in the point totals, was not ranked in the all-around because there is a limit of two athletes per country.

 

“I added a 270 Russian in my pommel horse routine, and I’m happy with my routine and score,” Artemev said. “I hope to contend for a medal at the Olympic Games on pommel horse.” “I was very happy with rings,” Bhavsar said. “I qualified into finals in first place. I feel like I’m on the path in the right direction.” Leyva topped the junior division with an all-around score of 89.400. Russia’s Igor Pachomenko was second at 87.950 and Japan’s Genki Takeshita was third at 87.850. Ishino with 87.500 and Orozco at 86.900 ranked fourth and fifth place, respectively, in scoring totals but were not ranked in the all-around due to the two athlete per country maximum. The USA opened the competition on vault, taking the top three places in the senior and junior divisions after the first rotation. Hamm scored a 16.250 on his Kasamatsu one-and-a-half vault. Bhavsar and Artemev both earned scores of 16.100 on their vaults. Hamm and Artemev both stuck their double pike dismounts on parallel bars and earned scores of 15.900 and 15.600, respectively, while Bhavsar scored a 15.100. On high bar, Bhavsar earned a score of 14.550 on his routine that included a stuck kovacs triple back dismount. Hamm posted a 16.050 and Artemev earned a 15.350. Hamm’s floor exercise routine earned a 15.800 and included a second pass that ended with a front one-and-three-quarter dive roll. Both Artemev and Bhavsar closed their routines with triple full dismounts, scoring a 15.150 and a 14.550, respectively. After four rotations, Hamm and Artemev remained in first and second, respectively, followed by Lu in third. On pommel horse, Artemev wowed the crowd on pommel horse with a routine that scored a 15.850. Hamm posted a 14.500 and Bhavsar scored a 14.350. The USA ended the competition on still rings with scores of 16.000 by Bhavsar, 15.950 by Hamm and 14.250 by Artemev. For the juniors, Orozco took the early lead with his vault score of 15.700, while Leyva was second at 15.650 and Ishino was third at 15.150. Leyva moved into first place after two rotations and maintained his position throughout the meet. All three U.S. juniors earned their best scores on vault. The first half of the rhythmic all-around and team competitions were held today, with Lisa Wang of Buffalo Grove, Ill., in first in the senior all-around after two events. The all-around and team competitions conclude on Saturday.