“I’ve been training a year for this,” Bilozertchev said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished something. It feels great.”

“I’m very proud of him,” said Dmitry Bilozertchev, Alexy’s father and coach, who is a former world and Olympic champion. “The goal today was to come in and do a good job and he did. He deserved it.”

Bilozertchev held the lead after three rotations with a score of 43.200, but fell to second with one rotation left. His 14.300 on pommel horse earned him the all-around title with a total score of 84.850, followed by Glen Ishino of Santa Ana, Calif., in second at 84.600 and Kyle Bunthuwong of El Cerrito, Calif., in third at 84.350.

Josh Dixon of San Jose, Calif., who was the 2006 U.S. junior floor exercise and vault champion in the 14-15 year-old division, won floor and vault in the 16-18 year-old division. His floor routine, which included an Arabian double front and a solid two-and-a-half punch barani, scored a 15.100, while his Kasamatsu one-and-a-half vault earned a score of 15.300. Bilozertchev posted a 14.300 on pommel horse to earn the gold medal, while Bunthuwong nailed a double pike dismount on parallel bars to win with a 14.900. Ishino’s still rings routine, which included a Jonasson immediate straddle planche, earned a score of 14.200 and the gold medal. Tyler Mizoguchi of Houston stuck a double layout dismount to win the horizontal bar with a 13.450.

In the 14-15 year-old division, Orozco won the all-around title with a final score of 83.900. Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif., led through four events and finished in second place with a final score of 82.150. Joshua Wokurka of Lombard, Ill., was third with a score of 81.900.

“I’m so happy; I’m ecstatic,” Orozco said. “I didn’t expect to win. It’s my first year here and my first year on podium. I fell on my first event, pommel horse, but I told myself I had to do my best and have fun.”

“It’s a long journey,” said Jason Hebert, Orozco’s coach. “He’s worked so hard. He has lots of difficulty and we’ve just been working on refining his form.”

Orozco took over the all-around lead after the fifth rotation with a 13.700 on high bar. His individual event titles came on: parallel bars (14.750); still rings (14.050); and horizontal bar, which included a stuck full twisting double layout dismount.

In addition to Orozco, the other gymnasts who claimed individual event titles in the 14-15 year-old division were: Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev., floor exercise (14.650); Mikulak, vault (15.450); and Donothan Bailey of Lake Forest, Calif., pommel horse (13.900).

Competition at the 2007 Visa Championships continues today at 7 p.m. with the first day of senior men’s artistic gymnastics. Tomorrow, women’s artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics competition begin.

Tickets are still available for the Visa Championships, the national championships for artistic, rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics. Tickets may be purchased at the HP Pavilion Ticket Office; all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at (408) 998-TIXS; or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Artistic gymnastics will be held at HP Pavilion at San Jose, and rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics are set for the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. The USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show, held in conjunction with the Visa Championships, will also be at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

At HP Pavilion, the artistic gymnastics competition schedule for the Visa Championships is: 7 p.m., senior men’s first day of competition; Thursday, Aug. 16 – 1 p.m., junior women’s first day of competition, and 7 p.m., senior women’s first day of competition; Friday, Aug. 17 – 7 p.m., senior men’s final day of competition; and Saturday, Aug. 18 – 1 p.m., junior women’s final day of competition, and 6 p.m., senior women’s final day of competition.

About HP Pavilion at San Jose
HP Pavilion at San Jose is the premier sports and entertainment venue in Northern California. Home to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League, SAP Open men’s professional tennis tournament and the annual Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament, HP Pavilion also hosts a multitude of events annually including concerts, family shows and civic events.

HP Pavilion at San Jose is an exemplification of architectural excellence and technological innovation. Outside, a shining stainless-steel facade supports a magnificent, glass pyramid entry, soaring 10 stories above the ground. Inside, first-class amenities and leading-edge seismic engineering contribute to the building’s reputation as one of the finest facilities in the United States.

HP Pavilion at San Jose is capable of accommodating a full-range of entertainment. State-of-the-art acoustics, plush seating and a video replay scoreboard add to the comfort and luxury for the venue’s patrons. In addition, the downtown location is easily accessible via several major freeways, light-rail and a regional train station, located across the street.

About San Jose McEnery Convention Center
Considered the hub for meetings and conventions in San Jose, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center opened its doors in April 1989. The facility has 432,000 square feet of function space, including a 22,000 square-foot ballroom and 30 meeting rooms.

About Visa USA
Visa USA is a leading payments brand and the nation's largest payments system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders – financial institutions, cardholders and merchants. In the United States, more than 521 million Visa-branded cards have been issued by our 13,320 financial institution customers.

Visa products generated nearly $1.8 trillion in total volume in the United States through March 2007 and enjoy unsurpassed acceptance around the globe. For more information, visit www.visa.com.

About the San Jose Sports Authority
The San Jose Sports Authority is a non-profit organization that serves as the sports marketing agency for the City of San Jose. Since their inception in 1991, they have worked with community partners to bring more than 150 premier events and programs to the San Jose area. For more information, visit www.sjsa.org.

About USA Gymnastics
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States, encourages participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. For more information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.