U.S. Gymnastics Teams Feature New Faces

SAN JOSE -- The U.S. gymnastics coaches constructed the teams for the World Gymnastics Championships less by selection than by process of elimination last weekend.

Injuries significantly whittled the number of qualified athletes, leaving men's and women's teams that heavily comprise self-described newcomers.

Many of the athletes now responsible for orchestrating a top-12 finish next month in Stuttgart, Germany -- and thereby qualifying the United States to take a full team to the 2008 Olympics -- have little international experience at the senior level. USA Gymnastics coaches surveyed the rosters for Stuttgart on Saturday and marveled at its duplicity. Rarely has a country arrived at the world championships with a team both so talented and so green.

"We're trying to do something here that nobody else has done, working with basically an entirely new team," said Ron Brant, coordinator of the men's team. "I'm very happy with this group. There's no question we have the physical talent. Now it's a matter of going over there and handling the circumstances."

Three men once considered locks to make the team -- Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm and Justin Spring -- will watch instead on television. Spring tore his anterior cruciate ligament when he landed awkwardly after a vault Friday, an injury that will require surgery. The Hamms competed solidly during the national championships, their first major competition since taking a three-year break after the 2004 Olympics. Brant said Saturday he tried to construct a world championship team around Paul Hamm, but Hamm was eventually left off because he said he's only prepared to compete in two of the six events.

"We might be a little inexperienced, but I personally am going to become the leader of this team and make sure that we all know what's at stake," said David Durante, who won the all-around gold medal at the national championships. "I feel like that's my role -- to help us finish on the podium."

The women's world championship team, announced late Saturday night, contains seven gymnasts whose average age is 16. The best of the group, Shawn Johnson, 15, cruised to an all-around gold medal this week in her first senior national championships. When she was asked how she felt about competing in Stuttgart, Johnson paused before answering.

"Well," she said, "I'm definitely going to be pretty nervous."

Nagging injuries kept veterans Chellsie Memmel and Jana Bieger from being selected, and seven-time world medalist Nastia Liukin said she's unsure how healthy she will be in Stuttgart.

Liukin competed in all four women's events for the first time in more than a year at the national championships, and she finished third in the all-around. Still, she complained at various moments during the two nights of competition about lingering pain from previous surgeries to her knee and ankle. She also over-rotated on a dismount Thursday and tweaked her back.

"I'm excited to go [to Stuttgart] because I know I'm in good enough shape to do well there," Liukin said. "Even if I'm not exactly 100 percent, I can help this team. I'm healthier right now than I was a few months ago. Every day, it will keep getting better."