Durante's Win Leads To a Bold Statement

SAN JOSE, Aug. 17 -- David Durante never has lacked confidence, but he operated with amplified swagger Friday night at the USA Gymnastics national championships. After winning the men's all-around national title at HP Pavilion, Durante took the microphone and, over the arena's loudspeakers, issued a bold prediction for next month's world championships in Germany.

"Next up," he said, "I'm going to take the USA back onto the podium in Stuttgart. I'm going to take this team back where it belongs."

For one night, at least, Durante felt capable of accomplishing anything. A virtual non-factor since he made the 2006 world championships team as an alternate, Durante nailed all six of his routines and held off Guillermo Alvarez and Sho Nakamori to win by almost a point. Durante also took gold on the parallel bars.

"This feeling right now is unbelievable," Durante said. "I don't think I can even explain it, but it's the best thing I've done."

The anxiety for the best men's gymnasts in the United States hardly ended with the close of competition Friday night. Even by winning the all-around, Durant didn't necessarily guarantee himself a place on the world championships team. A group of administrators planned to hold meetings late into the night and possibly into Saturday afternoon before announcing the team of six athletes and one alternate that will compete for the United States.

That world championships team must place in the top 12 to qualify a full, six-man squad for the 2008 Olympics. Last year's U.S. team finished 13th in the world championships.

Spring Hurts His Right Knee

Justin Spring, who already has undergone two surgeries on his ankle and one on his shoulder in the last year, landed awkwardly on his right knee after vaulting. Spring, who had nailed his previous four routines during the finals and won gold on the high bar, fell to the mat and gripped his leg in agony. He had tried one of the most difficult vaults: a triple-twisting back flip in the straight-body position.

Doctors attended to Spring and then helped him off the floor. They called it a sprained knee, and Spring scratched from his last exercise and was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam Saturday morning.

Men Keep the Heat on the Chinese

Even though the U.S. men's gymnastics team has not yet qualified for the Beijing Games, athletes worked hard this week to increase the pressure on the Chinese team as the heavy favorite. On Tuesday, Paul Hamm sat in the bowels of HP Pavilion, smiled at reporters and said: "China is on top, and then we're right there with everybody else. And if China falls like they usually do, anything can happen."

Said Brant, the national team coordinator: "China is the team to beat, no question. They can only beat themselves at this point. They're the ones with all the weight on their shoulders."