Gymnastics Notebook
Spring Out in Front Through 5 Events
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Friday, June 20, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, June 19 -- Almost three weeks ago, Justin Spring awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. "I couldn't move," he said. But he moved well Thursday night at the U.S. men's gymnastics Olympic trials, taking a significant step to securing a spot on the team.
"I don't think I was in the mix until today," the Burke native said.
On Thursday, competing in five events -- everything but pommel horse -- he impressed, and in fact led the competition through five events. His score of 15.7 on parallel bars was best of the night. He was second on the high bar and floor exercise, his first floor routine since he sprained his left ankle three weeks ago.
"It was kind of a mind-blower for me," he said.
Spring, who competed for the University of Illinois and is now an assistant coach there, isn't unfamiliar with injuries. "I'm kind of desensitized to them," he said, given the four surgeries he has undergone in the past two years, including surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee nine months ago.
But when Spring temporarily found himself incapacitated a couple of weeks ago, he shook it off.
"The ER doctor was like, 'You're going to have to have emergency surgery,' " Spring said.
Turns out, his back problem resulted not from a major injury, but because he was compensating for a sprained left ankle as well as his balky knee.
"I was favoring both legs," he said, "which you can't really do."
They Will Meet Again
Earlier this month, Shawn Johnson beat Nastia Liukin -- narrowly -- at national championships.
"That," Liukin said, "is probably the happiest I've ever been finishing second."
Liukin, 18, will contend with Johnson and others Friday and Sunday when the women's portion of the Olympic trials begin. At nationals, she twice scored better than 17 points -- the highest total for a U.S. gymnast since the new scoring system was instituted in 2006 -- in her best event, uneven bars.
"That was one of my goals, and that's one of the reasons I was so happy with that meet," Liukin said. . . .
Tim McNeill of Falls Church, who competes for the University of California, fell off the pommel horse, his best event. He scored 15.4 on the horse during the second day of nationals last month, but managed just 14.05 Thursday.
