2009 Tyson American Cup features mix of world’s top gymnasts and rising stars

Leslie King January 13, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Jan. 13, 2009 - The USA's 2008 Olympic medalists Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind., and Joseph Hagerty of Rio Rancho, N.M., 2008 U.S. all-around champion David Sender of Arlington Heights, Ill., and 2008 U.S. junior all-around champion Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich., have accepted invitations to participate in the 2009 Tyson American Cup at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Other confirmed 2008 Olympic medalists include Olympic all-around bronze-medalist Benoit Caranobe of France and Olympic horizontal bar bronze-medalist Fabian Hambuechen of Germany. A final field of six international and two U.S. athletes for both men and women will compete at the Tyson American Cup, one of the most prestigious international invitationals, on Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m.

"The Tyson American Cup will be a great showcase of gymnastics, featuring athletes from the 2008 Olympic Games and some of the new names to watch as we look forward to London in 2012," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "We are proud to support Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games by bringing this marquee event to the Sears Centre Arena in the Chicagoland area."

Sloan and Hagerty won team silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition to Hagerty and Sender, two more U.S. men will be named to the squad following the 2009 Winter Cup Challenge. Two additional U.S. women will join Sloan and Wieber following a February training camp. The U.S. women are sending both junior and senior level gymnasts, as are several other countries. As in the past, the U.S. athletes will demonstrate competition readiness prior to the event.

In addition to Caranobe, Hambuechen, Hagerty and Sloan, the other 2008 Olympians in the field are: Great Britain's Rebecca Downie, Japan's Koko Tsurumi, Puerto Rico's Luis Rivera, Romania's Flavius Koczi, Russia's Ksenia Afanasyeva and Yury Ryazanov, and Venezuela's Jose Luis Fuentes and Jessica Lopez. Seven of the 2008 Olympians were all-around finalists in Beijing: men - Caranobe, Hambuechen, Koczi, Rivera and Fuentes; and women - Downie and Tsurumi.

An additional international male and two female gymnasts are expected to accept their invitations in the near future. The field for the 2009 Tyson American Cup, as of today, is listed below.

Women
Brittany Rogers, Canada
Kim Bui, Germany
Rebecca Downie, Great Britain
Koko Tsurumi, Japan
Ksenia Afanasyeva, Russia
Bridget Sloan, USA
Jordyn Wieber, USA
Jessica Lopez, Venezuela
TBD: two U.S. and two international

Men
Benoit Caranobe, France
Fabian Hambuechen, Germany
Koji Uematsu, Japan
Luis Rivera, Puerto Rico
Flavius Koczi, Romania
Yury Ryazanov, Russia
Joseph Hagerty, USA
David Sender, USA
Jose Luis Fuentes, Venezuela
TBD: two U.S. and one international

On sale now, ticket prices range from $19.50-$125 and are subject to applicable fees. Tickets may be purchased charge by phone at 312-559-1212 or 1-888-SEARSTIX; online at www.ticketmaster.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; at the Sears Centre Arena Box Office; or through participating area gymnastics clubs. Visa is the preferred method of payment.

About the U.S. gymnasts
Hagerty was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for men's gymnastics that earned the team bronze medal. He finished first on the floor exercise and horizontal bar and second in the all-around in the combined, weighted results from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Gymnastics and the 2008 Visa Championships. He claimed his first-career U.S. title at the 2008 Visa Championships by winning the horizontal bar. Hagerty is the 2007-08 Winter Cup Challenge horizontal bar champion. He trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Sender is the 2008 U.S. all-around champion and a three-time U.S. vault titlist (2004, 2006 and 2008). He finished fourth on vault at the 2008 World Cup held in Doha, Qatar, and at the 2007 Good Luck Beijing International Tournament. Sender was a member of the 2006 World Championships Team and competed in the 2006 Tyson American Cup. He trains at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.

Sloan helped the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for women's gymnastics win the team silver medal. At the 2008 Visa Championships, Sloan finished third on the uneven bars and seventh on the balance beam. Also in 2008, she was a member of the U.S. Team that won the gold medal at the Italy-Spain-Poland-USA competition. Sloan won a silver medal on floor exercise and a bronze in the all-around at the 2007 Good Luck Beijing International Tournament, as well as two bronze medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise at the 2007 Toyota Cup. She was the replacement athlete on the 2007 World Championships Team that claimed the team gold medal. She trains at Sharp's Gymnastics in Indianapolis, Ind.

At the 2008 Visa Championships, Wieber won the junior all-around, vault and floor exercise, and finished second on the balance beam and third on the uneven bars. She led the U.S. Team to the gold medal in the junior division at the Italy-Spain-Poland-USA competition and also claimed the junior all-around crown. In 2007, Wieber finished second on the balance beam and vault at the Visa Championships, and she won five medals (gold in team, uneven bars and balance beam; silver in the all-around; and bronze on the floor exercise) at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships. She trains at Twistars USA in Dimondale, Mich.

About the international gymnasts
Men
Caranobe won the all-around bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, France's first Olympic all-around medal since 1920, and placed fifth on vault. Also in 2008, he earned the bronze medal on vault at the World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia. Caranobe competed in the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, finishing fifth on vault in 2002.

Fuentes placed eighth on pommel horse and competed in the all-around finals at the 2008 Olympic Games. He has competed in three World Championships (2005-07) and finished 10th in the all-around in 2007. He won the pommel horse at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Hambuechen claimed the bronze medal on the horizontal bar at the 2008 Olympic Games, where he also finished fourth on the floor exercise and parallel bars and seventh in the all-around. At the 2007 World Championships, he won the gold medal on the horizontal bar and the silver medal in the all-around, as well as helped Germany win the men's team bronze medal. Hambuechen won the all-around and vault world bronze medals in 2006. A 2004 Olympian, he finished seventh on the high bar. Hambuechen is the 2005-07 German national champion in the all-around and horizontal bar. Hambuechen returns to compete in his fifth straight Tyson American Cup.

At the 2008 Olympic Games, Koczi finished seventh on vault and 18th in the all-around. He placed fourth on pommel horse at the 2008 European Championships, and finished seventh in the all-around and vault at the 2007 World Championships. Koczi is the 2006 European pommel horse champion. He is making his third appearance in the Tyson American Cup.

Rivera placed 14th in the all-around at the 2008 Olympic Games. He finished third on vault at the 2008 World Cup held in Doha, Qatar. At the 2007 Pan American Games, he won the gold medal on pommel horse and the bronze medal on vault. Rivera has competed in three World Championships (2005-07), and finished 12th in the all-around in 2005.

Ryazanov was a member of the 2008 Russian Olympic Team and finished third on parallel bars at the 2008 World Cup in Moscow, Russia. He competed in the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, finishing 13th in the all-around in 2007 and 16th in 2006. Ryazanov won the bronze medal in the all-around at the 2007 European Championships.

Uematsu finished second on floor exercise at the 2008 Grand Prix held in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Women
Afanasyeva helped the Russian women's team finish fourth at the 2008 Olympic Games, and she also placed seventh on the balance beam. Bui was a member of the German World Championships Team in 2005-06.

Downie finished 12th in the all-around at the 2008 Olympic Games and eighth on the vault and uneven bars at the 2008 European Championships. She competed in the 2007 World Championships. Lopez competed in the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2007 World Championships.

Rogers earned three medals (silver in team, and bronze on vault and uneven bars) at the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus. She helped the Canadian women win the team bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. Rogers is the 2007 Canadian junior all-around and uneven bars champion.

Tsurumi helped the Japanese women finish fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games, where she also placed eighth on the balance beam and competed in the all-around finals. At the 2008 World Cup Final, she earned the bronze medal on the uneven bars and placed seventh on the floor exercise. Tsurumi was a member of the 2007 Japanese World Championships Team and is the 2006-08 Japanese all-around champion.

About the event
The 2009 Tyson American Cup on Feb. 21 features an all-around format with eight men and eight women, including two men and two women from the USA. The 16 athletes advance from a qualification round.

Some of the sport's biggest names are former Tyson American Cup all-around gold medalists, including: men - Paul Hamm, Jonathan Horton, Jason Gatson, Blaine Wilson, John Roethlisberger, Vitaly Scherbo (Belarus), Tim Daggett, Peter Vidmar, Mitsuo Tsukahara (Japan), Kurt Thomas and Bart Conner; and women - Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Carly Patterson, Elena Zamolodchikova (Russia), Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, Kristie Phillips, Mary Lou Retton, Julianne McNamara, Stella Zakarova (USSR) and Nadia Comaneci (Romania).

Past sites for the American Cup include: New York City (1976-80, 1982-84, 2004, 2008); Ft. Worth Texas (1981, 1996-98); Indianapolis, Ind. (1985); Fairfax, Va. (1986-90, 2003); Orlando, Fla. (1991-94, 2000-02); Seattle, Wash. (1995); St. Petersburg, Fla. (1999); Uniondale, N.Y. (2005); Philadelphia (2006); and Jacksonville, Fla. (2007).

About Sears Centre Arena
Sears Centre Arena is an 11,200 seat multi purpose family entertainment, cultural, and sports arena located in Hoffman Estates' Prairie Stone Business Park. Sears Centre Arena has hosted international events in the past such as the FIVB World League match up between Olympic Gold Medalist USA Men's Volleyball and Bulgaria. Coming events at the Sears Centre Arena include the 17 show run of Cirque Du Soleil Saltimbanco, the recently announced Eagles concert - Long Road Out of Eden Tour, and more! For more information regarding Sears Centre Arena and coming events, please visit the arena's new website at www.searscentre.com.

About World Sport Chicago
World Sport Chicago (WSC) is an Illinois not-for-profit working to enhance the image, awareness and participation in Olympic sports across Chicago and to extend Chicago's international outreach through and for sport and youth. Focused on promoting the development of recreational and competitive sport to the area's youth, WSC works closely with Chicago 2016 and Chicago's 2016's Athlete Advisory Counsel (AAC) to provide sport expertise and athlete insight to the execution of these sporting events. WSC intends to aid Chicago in developing a sustainable, international sporting legacy as a real agent of social change for the city. William Scherr, an Olympic medalist in wrestling, is chairman of the board and Scott Myers serves as the executive director.

About Tyson Foods, Inc
Tyson Foods, Inc., founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, is the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork, the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500 and a member of the S&P 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products and is the recognized market leader in the retail and foodservice markets it serves. Tyson provides products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 90 countries. The company has approximately 107,000 Team Members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.

About USA Gymnastics
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics. For more information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.