“The team stood up today and demonstrated that their talent and determination are real,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “There is a great sense of pride in their performance today and optimism about what lies ahead.”

What a difference a year makes. Just one year ago, a young, but talented U.S. Men’s Team narrowly missed finishing in the top 12 at the 2006 World Championships, suffering from a series of misfortunes. This year, with four members of last year’s team returning, the U.S. men put in an impressive performance on all six events to finish third after their subdivision and fourth overall.

The six members of the team are: Guillermo Alvarez of Denver; Alexander Artemev of Morrison, Colo.; David Durante of Garwood, N.J.; Sean Golden, Camden of N.J.; Jonathan Horton of Houston; and Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif. Sho Nakamori of Albany, Calif., is the team alternate. Alvarez, Artemev, Horton and Tan were members of the 2006 squad.

“These guys were absolutely awesome,” said Kevin Mazeika of Houston, head coach. “Our goal was to count all hit routines and this is what we did. I am so proud. It was a tremendous team effort.”

“Anything can happen in the finals,” said Durante, who recently won the all-around title at the 2007 Visa Championships. “We knew what we were capable of, and today we got to show the naysayers that we can compete with the rest of the world. We showed we can hit under pressure, and going for a medal is not out of question. ”

The top eight teams advance to the team finals on Thursday, Sept. 6, with the top 12 in the standings qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition to qualifying for the team competition, the qualification round also determines who advances to the all-around and individual event finals, as well as which countries qualify for the Olympic Games. Scores from the qualification round do not carry forward.

Those who are advancing to the all-around and individual event finals are: Horton, all-around; Alvarez, floor exercise; Artemev, pommel horse; Tan, still rings; and Durante, reserve athlete for the all-around. All-around finals are Sept. 7, with the individual event finals on Sept. 8-9.

“I am really excited about the team because no one believed in us but us,” said Horton. “I am also excited about how I competed because I get to go to the all-around finals. My high bar routine is one of the best I have ever done. I was a little sloppy in some other areas, but I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Starting on vault, Golden and Artemev both performed a two-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko to earn the team’s two highest scores on the apparatus. Golden posted a 16.000, edging by Artemev’s 15.950. The other U.S. scores were Alvarez, 15.650; Durante, 15.625; and Horton, 15.375.

Horton earned the team’s highest parallel bars score for a very well-executed routine at 15.500. Artemev, despite a low landing on his double pike dismount, earned a 15.400 for his solid routine. Tan also had a small step on his dismount, but still claimed a 15.300. Durante came in at 15.075 and Alvarez finished with a 14.675.

On the horizontal bar, Horton nailed his routine that features his high-flying layout Kovacs, Kovacs, full-twisting Kovacs and his triple-twisting, double layout dismount to score a 15.075. The USA’s other scores were: Artemev, 14.825; Durante, 14.625; Alvarez, 14.000; and Tan, 12.825.

After an excellent floor exercise rotation, the U.S. men moved into third place in their subdivision and never looked back. Alvarez turned in the USA’s top floor routine at 15.700, which featured his double layout dismount, along with some really good tumbling passes. Horton included a double-twisting, double in his second pass and scored a 15.475 for his routine. The remaining U.S. scores were: Golden, 15.200; Artemev, 14.750; and Durante, 14.225.

Artemev wowed the crowd with his pommel horse routine, which earned a 15.375. Featuring flairs that flew above the horse and a 360 Kehre (a full spin on a pommel), Artemev’s routine showed why he was the 2006 world bronze medalist. The other U.S. pommel horse scores were: Tan, 14.575; Durante, 14.500; Horton, 14.150; and Alvarez, 13.500.

The men finished with five solid performances on still rings. Tan, the reigning U.S. champ, earned the USA’s top rings score at 16.050. The remaining scores were: Horton, 15.325; Golden, 15.225; Alvarez, 14.650; and Durante, 14.625.

“We have been on the other side of it, watching the men’s finals from the seats,” said Tan, “and that helped us focus on what we had to do (so it wouldn’t happen again this year). The guys stepped up and competed. We knew we could do it last year, and this year we knew we could do it. This time we showed the world we can do it.”

“What a change from last year,” said Ron Brant, men’s national team coordinator. “As I have said in the past, we could make one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the sport. Lots of congratulations go to our athletes and coaches for their performance today.”

In the team competition for the qualification round, five men competed on each apparatus, with the top four counting toward the team score. In the team finals, three men will compete on each apparatus and all scores count. For complete results of today’s competition, visit www.usa-gymnastics.org.

The women’s team finals are Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 2 p.m. The men’s team finals are Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. Both all-around finals are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 7, with the men at 2 p.m. and the women at 6:30 p.m. The individual event finals are split between Sept. 8 and 9. All times are local Stuttgart time.

U.S. gymnastics fans have three ways to follow the action from the 2007 World Championships. “USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team presented by AT&T” will have video clips from Stuttgart, including athlete media interviews after competition, at www.attblueroom.com/teamusa. WCSN is offering a free, live and on-demand Web cast of the men’s and women’s team, all-around and individual event finals at www.wcsn.com.

CSN.com’s daily, live coverage of the medal rounds begins with the women’s team finals on Sept. 5 and concludes on the last day of the individual event finals on Sept. 9. The on-demand coverage will be posted approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live Web cast. For the first time since 2003, gymnastics fans can enjoy coverage of the 2007 World Championships on network TV. NBC Sports is broadcasting a two-hour broadcast on Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. ET. Sponsorship by AT&T has made these three avenues of coverage available to gymnastics enthusiasts.

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.

2007 World Championships
Stuttgart, Germany
Sept. 4, 2007

Men’s qualification round
Team standings (going into finals; scores do not carry forward; top 8 advance to finals)
1. China, 374.275
2. Japan, 370.725
3. Germany, 364.350
4. United States, 364.00
5. Russia, 362.175
6. Romania, 361.625
7. Spain, 360.725
8. Korea, 360.400
9. France, 359.900
10. Italy, 358.300
11. Canada, 357.700
12. Belarus, 356.675

All-around standings (going into finals; scores do not carry forward; top 24 in the qualification round advance to finals)
1. Wei Yang, China, 93.925
2. Hiroyuki Tomita, Japan, 93.625
3. Hisashi Mizutori, Japan, 92.575
4. Fabian Hambuechen, Germany, 92.375
5. Maxim Deviatovski, Russia, 91.600
6. Fuilang Liang, China, 91.250
7. Dorin Razvan Selariu, Romania, 91.125
8. Rafael Martinez, Spain, 90.925
9. Jonathan Horton, USA, 90.900
Other U.S. finishes
27. David Durante, USA, 88.675
35. Guillermo Alvarez, USA, 88.175