International Capsules: Horton has lead after 1st day of U.S. championships
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Nothing is a sure thing in the world of gymnastics, especially not until everyone has made their way past the high bar — the most daring and mistake-prone event on the floor.
Except in this case, Jonathan Horton was.
Even with a fall on his evening-ending twirl above the bar, Horton was the class of U.S. championships Wednesday night. He moved a step closer to his second straight national title, scoring 90.35 points to leave him 1 point ahead of Danell Leyva with the finals scheduled for Friday.
"I've been hitting that routine about 75 or 80 percent of the time in the gym," Horton said. "Hopefully, I can come back Friday and do it."
Horton gets Thursday off when the women take center stage, with Rebecca Bross the favorite and defending champion Bridget Sloan expected to do only one event because of injuries.
Nationals will help determine this fall's world championship teams, making this the first big step on the road to the London Olympics, which are less than two years away.
Brandon Wynn was in third place after the first day of the men's competition with 88.7 points.
Horton came into nationals as a prohibitive favorite — the best male American gymnast this side of Paul Hamm, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist who is planning a comeback next year.
Horton built a 0.6-point lead over Leyva after five events, and Leyva's closing routine on the pommel horse — largely considered the toughest event — meant Horton only needed to score 13.2 on high bar. He can pretty much do that in his sleep, and even with the fall, he scored a 14.2.
That left him short of the 92 points he hoped to finish the night with, but he still finished with the lead. And he still deemed the evening a success, considering he got back up on the bar to successfully redo the trick he had just messed up.
"It's always a little scary to have to get up there and repeat something you just fell on," Horton said.
Like many top gymnasts, Horton has ramped up his high bar in hopes of pumping up his score and adding more life into an event that had focused more in recent years on intricate hand positions than high-wire release and flipping acts. Horton now packs three releases into his routine — as does Leyva, who is shaping up as his toughest competition.
"It's turning into a pretty extreme event," Horton said. "I want to push the limits of excitement."
He does that.
So does Leyva, who made it through his high bar unscathed. With his daring and the theatrics of his hyperkinetic dad and coach, Yin Alvarez — who practically goes through the routine with him — it figures Leyva and Co. could be the most entertaining American gymnastics act to watch for the next two years.
Leyva said he likes being in second with one day to go — an underdog, but one with a chance. Not that he was pulling for Horton to fall. They have a friendly rivalry that figures to keep getting better as the Olympics near.
"I was upset he fell," Leyva said. "I want both of us to do our best in a competition and for me to come out better. I actually told him, 'You better not fall on Friday.'"
Who are the other Olympic hopefuls?
Well, there's Hamm, who will probably compete in his first comeback meet early next year. There's also Wynn, an up-and-comer being coached by Miles Avery, who coached Hamm and his brother, Morgan, when they were at their peak.
Bryan Del Castillo was in fourth after one day and Jake Dalton was in fifth. Steven Legendre had the best vault of the night. He scored 17.05 and was the only gymnast to crack 17 on any event.
John Orozco, the three-time junior champion who was competing with the seniors this year, landed awkwardly on his vault and was taken to the hospital with a lower leg injury.
Then, there are 2008 Olympians such as Kevin Tan, who is trying to bring pommel horse back into his list of events — an attempt to become more versatile, which is necessary with teams being pared from six men to five for the upcoming Olympics.
Tan finished a respectable ninth on horse and fourth on rings, which has long been his specialty.
In the juniors competition, held earlier in the day, California's Sam Mikulak won going away — scoring 86.500 points to beat Jacoby Rubin by more than 4. Mikulak's finish makes him eligible for the senior finals on Friday.
Ten years later, U.S. gymnasts get their medals
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The bronze medals are beautiful. Clearly, though, they don't make all the memories go away.
Ten years after finishing fourth at the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. women's gymnastics team received the third-place prizes that were stripped from China because a member of that team was found to be underage.
The new bronze medalists are Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristin Maloney, Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert.
"To me, it feels very separate," Ray said after Wednesday's ceremony. "Everything we went through in Sydney is still very fresh. Today feels like a different time. The two emotions couldn't be more opposite."
Indeed, all said they were happy to be recognized for their efforts in 2000. But this was a team mired with injuries and controversy — and more than happy to take an unflinching look back on a night that was designated as a celebration.
"We were definitely the guinea pigs of the new system they were trying," Dantzscher said. "Whenever you're the guinea pig, it's not easy."
Problems on this team resulted from a decision, nine months before the games, to bring Bela Karolyi (who was absent from the ceremony) back into the fold after disappointing results in the years leading up to 2000.
The move was the first step in a renaissance of U.S. gymnastics that has produced the last two all-around Olympic champions — Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin — and a total of 50 international medals over the past 10 years.
But at the time, Karolyi's presence was divisive. The U.S. women had a terrible qualifying round that year — barely making it to the finals, where they hit all 20 of their routines, but still finished fourth.
It was a bittersweet ending to a difficult Olympic experience.
"It almost felt like 'Survivor,' a little bit," Schwikert said. "It was just, 'We'll just run you down, wait 'til we find the last man standing and we'll see what the team is.'"
Their half-hour interview session before receiving the medals featured a number of similar observations. It came off like a therapy session of sorts, and it was a bit surprising that some of the feelings remain so raw.
"It's hard for us. Honestly, the experience was not great," Dantzscher said. "It makes us sound like we're being negative, but it's just the truth."
It may have been worst for Dantzscher, Ray and Maloney — none of whom were on another Olympic team. Chow and Dawes had been on the 1996 gold-medal team and Schwikert went back as an alternate in 2004, after Martha Karolyi had taken over for her husband and many of the kinks had been smoothed out in America's semi-centralized training program.
"They were true pioneers," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "They worked hard. We're proud to recognize them, make them smile and put a bronze medal around their necks."
The medals were redistributed after the International Olympic Committee took the recommendation of gymnastics' governing body, which nullified the results of Dong Fangxiao after determining she was only 14 at the 2000 Games.
Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible.
Age falsification has long been an issue in gymnastics, though it drew unprecedented attention in 2008 when media reports and Internet records suggested some girls on China's gold-medal team in Beijing might have been underage. That led to an investigation, which resulted in no changes in the 2008 results but did raise questions about China's 2000 team.
The IOC made its decision in April, and the medals were given to the Americans on opening night of U.S. Championships — presented by Anita DeFrantz, an American IOC member.
The medals actually had to be recast because the originals had the Chinese girls' names on them. But they are the same design. And USA Gymnastics officials went so far as to get pictures from the medals ceremony in 2000 so they could present them with the same flowers that were handed out in Sydney.
"I want you to close your eyes, think back to the games, think about where you were and put yourself on that medals podium," DeFrantz said.
A nice notion, even if none of these women really want to go back there.
-- Eddie Pells
Shawn Johnson serious about London 2012 training
NEW YORK (AP) — Shawn Johnson hadn't gone out of town in more than a month, and when she finally left, she took a red eye then a quick flight back after a promotional event in Manhattan.
The days of traveling the country and dancing with the stars are over. The gold medal-winning gymnast is back in Des Moines, back in training mode, and focused on the 2012 London Olympics.
But for now those practices look little like the high-flying routines that earned her four medals in Beijing in 2008. Johnson is still recovering from February surgery to repair a torn ACL in her left knee.
So there's lots of running, lots of conditioning.
"It's more like cross country training right now than gymnastics," she said with a laugh.
Johnson is coming up on the six-month mark after surgery, and with it the clearance to resume full activities. She's been working on some gymnastics skills, but won't push it if she feels any pain. The goal is to be doing the toughest tricks again by the end of the year, then to be ready for elite competition by the U.S. championships next August.
But the 18-year-old isn't about to guarantee she'll be in London. It just depends on how her body responds to training.
Johnson won a gold and three silvers in Beijing, finishing second in the all-around. She spent the months after the games relishing the perks of Olympic glory. Johnson led the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention, hung out with Oprah, and accomplished the ultimate pop culture feat: winning "Dancing With the Stars."
She flew to New York for a "Got Milk?" event Wednesday but was on the ground only long enough to share a stage with Chris Bosh and Apolo Anton Ohno. The priority was minimizing the time away from the gym.
Before the 2008 Games, she never would have imagined still having this level of dedication to the sport two years later.
"I was like, 'The day after Beijing, I'm done,'" Johnson said. "But I couldn't stay away from gymnastics."
-- Rachel Cohen
Swimming
Calif. coach, USA Swimming sued over alleged abuse
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A California woman sued the governing body of U.S. competitive swimming and her former coach, claiming he sexually abused, humiliated and harassed her when she was a teenager training under his supervision.
The suit announced Wednesday is one of several around the country alleging USA Swimming covered up wrongdoing and allowed a culture of abuse to exist in coaching ranks. The lawsuit also names the West Valley Swim Club and Pacific Swimming, the West Coast branch of USA Swimming.
The lawsuit claims swim coach Norman Havercroft sexually abused Jancy Thompson over a five-year period in the 1990s, beginning when she was about 15.
The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse. However, the now 28-year-old has chosen to speak publicly.
Thompson, who graduated from police academy and does gang intervention for a nonprofit group, said she came forward to help affect change.
"I was robbed of my childhood and never performed to my full capabilities," she said. "I want to ensure that no one has to endure what I went through and carry such a burden the rest of their lives."
A telephone message left at a listing for Norman Havercroft in Corona del Mar was not immediately returned.
USA Swimming said it investigates misconduct complaints and revokes membership if behavior was inappropriate.
The alleged abuse took place at various locations in Santa Clara County, including a Los Gatos swim club where Thompson trained, the homes of Thompson and Havercroft, and at a school, according to the 44-page lawsuit first filed June 18 and amended Aug. 4.
Havercroft is accused in the lawsuit of groping, engaging in sexual acts, providing pornography and buying an Internet camera for "cyber" sex.
The abuse carried on after Thompson turned 18, even though she never gave consent, according to the suit filed in Superior Court in San Jose.
The suit also claims Havercroft abused another female and says USA Swimming knew about that case and did nothing to remove Havercroft from his position. It also says Thompson witnessed Havercroft inappropriately touch and massage several underage females.
"In the worst of ways we claim that he took advantage of the coach-athlete relationship, exerting his power and authority," attorney Robert Allard said.
Jane Weil, a lawyer for USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming, said the organizations had no "knowledge of unlawful conduct" by Havercroft, as alleged in the suit. Weil said the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County district attorney's office investigated claims of abuse by the other female and brought no criminal charges against Havercroft.
During the police investigation, detectives interviewed Thompson and her mother regarding the other case. Thompson said Havercroft never acted inappropriately with the swimmers, according to a 1997 police report provided to the AP by Weil.
A message left with a police spokesman was not immediately returned. A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, Amy Cornell, confirmed that office has never brought charges against Havercroft.
The alleged victim in the other case sued Havercroft and West Valley Swim Club in 2001. The case was settled confidentially. Weil said neither USA Swimming, nor Pacific Swimming were involved in that case.
A call to a phone number listed for the West Valley Swim Club said the number was no longer in use.
USA Swimming has come under fire for its handling of alleged abuse cases but has said it was taking steps to keep young athletes safe. At least 46 coaches and officials have been banned for life, mostly for sexual misconduct.
The organization will vote on measures at its national convention in September that include a new athlete protection policy, expanded background checks, and a requirement that all adults who interact with swimmers become members of the organization.
In the lawsuit, Allard called it a belated effort that demonstrates a "callous indifference to the health and safety of the young swimmers across the country."
In the Thompson case, simple steps would have prevented the alleged abuse, he said.
"Just a basic look into it, do something about it and remove the man from coaching," Allard said. "It's not hard."
-- Brooke Donald
France's Rouault wins 1,500 free at Europeans
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Sebastien Rouault of France earned his first major title by winning the 1,500-meter freestyle event at European swimming championships.
Rouault overtook Pal Joensen of the Faeroe Islands with less than three laps to go Wednesday and won in 14 minutes, 55.17 seconds. Joensen had led for most of the race but finished 1.73 seconds behind to take silver, while Samuel Pizzetti of Italy was 4.59 seconds back in third.
Paul Biedermann of Germany defended his title in the 200 freestyle, clocking 1:46.06. Nikita Lobinstsev of Russia was second and Sebastiaan Verschuren of the Netherlands was third.
Francesca Halsall of Britain won the 100 freestyle in 53.58 seconds, beating Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus and Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands.
-- Pablo Gorondi
Olympics
Snarky no more: UK issues Olympics etiquette guide
LONDON (AP) — Hold off from hugging an Indian, don't be alarmed if the French are rude and never mistake a Canadian for an American.
Britain's national tourism agency issued guidelines Wednesday on the etiquette of dealing with the hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors who will be coming to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Seeking to help the country's sometimes snarky citizens offer a warmer welcome, VisitBritain has updated its advice for anyone likely to work with travelers arriving from overseas — from hotel staff to taxi drivers.
Other tips: Don't go around asking Brazilians personal questions and never be bossy with visitors from the Middle East.
"Giving our foreign visitors a friendly welcome is absolutely vital to our economy," said Sandie Dawe, chief executive officer of the agency. "With hundreds of thousands of people thinking of coming to Britain in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, this new advice is just one of the ways that VisitBritain is helping the tourism industry care for their customers."
About 30 million people visit Britain each year, spending about 16.6 billion pounds ($26 billion). The 2012 Olympics is likely to bring in an additional 2.1 billion ($3.3 billion) in tourism revenue, according to a government estimate, and about 320,000 extra visitors from overseas during the games in July and August 2012.
VisitBritain said research it had conducted found tourists believe Britons are honest and efficient — but not the most pleasant. Britain is ranked 14th out of 50 in the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index on the quality of welcome offered to visitors, the tourism agency said.
The frank etiquette tips were written by agency staff about their own native countries.
Polish tourists are likely to be hurt by stereotypes that imply they drink excessively, while the French are notoriously picky in restaurants, the guidelines claim.
U.K. workers are told to brush off common Argentine jokes about a person's clothing or weight. Belgians take offense at people snapping their fingers while Australians are fond of coarse language. Japanese people consider prolonged eye contact impolite and smile to express a range of emotions — not simply to show happiness.
Tourism workers are advised to show extra patience when dealing with guests from India or the United Arab Emirates.
"Indians are in general, an impatient lot, and like to be quickly attended to," the guidelines claim. "The more affluent they are, the more demanding and brusque they tend to be."
Indians also don't like being touched by strangers and may be suspicious about the quality of British food, the guide said, without noting the latter might be a common concern.
Travelers from the Middle East are likely to be demanding with staff and "are not used to being told what they can't do," the guide warns.
Guests from China and Hong Kong may find winking or pointing with an index finger rude, while "mentioning failure, poverty or death risks offense," the advice claims. Chinese visitors may be unimpressed by landmarks just a few hundred years old, tourism staff are told.
Workers are advised against discussing poverty, immigration, earthquakes or the Mexican-American war with visitors from Mexico — who prefer to chat about history and art.
Canadian tourists are likely to be quite annoyed about being mistaken for Americans, the guide suggests — urging workers to keep an eye out for maple leaf pins or badges on tourists' clothing.
And Americans? They can appear "informal to the point of being very direct or even rude" and won't ever hesitate about complaining, the guide says.
-- David Stringer
Rogge has high hopes for inaugural Youth Olympics
GENEVA (AP) — International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge hopes the inaugural Youth Olympic Games will teach young athletes to embrace fair play and reject doping, racism and corruption.
Rogge will declare the inaugural games open in Singapore on Saturday, fulfilling his longtime wish to create a global, multi-sport event for young athletes.
"It's a preparation for their later Olympic life," Rogge told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "In a very modern and human way we are going to tell them things that are important that they have to acquire. I think that is the added value of the Youth Olympic Games."
The event will feature about 3,600 athletes — aged 14-18 and representing more than 200 nations — competing in the same 26 sports on the current Summer Olympics program.
Rogge said the athletes' village — "what I call this magical atmosphere" — will double as a large classroom for the Aug. 14-26 games.
"I believe I can say we are experts in staging major sports events," Rogge said. "But we are entering now a new field, the education field. We might make some errors in the beginning, but we will learn from them."
The IOC has sought to learn from groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides movements, schools, child experts in the academic world and United Nations agencies.
Rogge hopes all this expertise will equip athletes for a lifetime of learning.
"We are not going to force-feed them with precooked information," he said. "Education is not only about the transfer of knowledge. It is about acquiring things, adopting them and executing."
Workshops will be held in the athletes' village to promote positive values and healthy lifestyles.
"Prevention of doping. Prevention of illegal betting because this is something that is coming up very much. Prevention of racism that unfortunately we see too much of in sporting fields," Rogge said. "And the Olympic values of pursuit of excellence and fair play."
Athletes also will receive advice on diet and warm-up and training techniques to prevent injuries.
"They also should not abandon their education," Rogge said. "There is a time when they will not be competing any more, at the age of 30, 35, and they need to reinsert into professional and social life."
Yelena Isinbayeva, the Russian pole vault world-record holder and Olympic champion, will be the star presence in Singapore, supported by athletes in 26 sports leading workshops.
Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps have been featured in pre-games publicity, promoted through a dedicated YouTube channel and social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
"We want to work as much as possible in the language and the tone that young kids expect," said Rogge, who has seen his personal vision for the games realized in a world different from the one he imagined 21 years ago.
In October 1989, Rogge was elected president of the European Olympic committees with a mandate to create a youth event that would break through the barriers of Cold War-era communism.
"East and West were totally divided by the Iron Curtain. There were exchanges between athletes ... but only at adult level, there was nothing for the youth," Rogge said.
Three weeks later, by "an irony of history" he says, the Berlin Wall fell and the idea "was almost made redundant."
However, his native Belgium hosted a youth festival in 1991 and Russia staged an IOC-endorsed World Youth Games in 1998.
When Rogge was elected to lead the IOC in 2001, he was able to revive the project.
"Then I think the time was right to do it on a world and Olympic level," he said.
Days before the start of the games, Rogge said he has the same pre-competition nerves he had when competing in sailing at three straight Olympics from 1968-76.
"It's the same feeling, which is nice after such a long time," Rogge said. "You have a goal, you have worked hard to achieve it and you cannot wait for the competition to begin."
-- Graham Dunbar
London 2012 Olympic tower needs design tweaks
LONDON (AP) — Plans for the 377-foot spiraling tower the London mayor wants to stand next to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium have been criticized by the British government's architectural advisory body and must be altered before it can be built.
Boris Johnson commissioned the country's largest sculpture this year but the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment says the design of the $29 million project is "not yet resolved in sufficient detail to receive planning approval."
CABE says that work is required on the entrance pavilion, viewing platforms, elevator and stairs of the twisting ArcelorMittal Orbit, or its shortcomings "will severely compromise its artistic integrity."
Cycling
Tour de France winner Contador to race in Denmark
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will take part in a street race in western Denmark.
Organizers said Wednesday the Spanish rider will participate in the flat 40-mile loop race on Friday, along with a handful of Danish professional and amateurs. Contador signed a deal this month to compete for Danish team Saxo Bank-SunGard next season, after deciding to leave Astana.
The 41st edition of street race takes place in Herning, which is Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis' hometown.
