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Making history U.S. men win first team medal at worlds since 1979
GHENT, Belgium (AP) -- After Olympic disappointment, the U.S. men's and women's teams took medals Wednesday at the World Gymnastics Championships, the first time both finished in the top three. Sean Townsend led the U.S. men's team to its best showing ever at the worlds, taking the silver behind Belarus, 169.622 points to 166.845, and beating the traditional powers from China and Russia. The women's team then won the bronze, behind Romania and Russia. The United States missed the women's silver by less than a point. The men's showing topped the 1979 bronze medal team performance of Bart Conner, Jim Hartung and Peter Vidmar. Five years later they were Olympic champions in Los Angeles. "There is a tremendous potential for these guys," said Conner, watching the crucial performances from Paul Hamm and Townsend. "This is just beginning," Townsend said. "We're like legends now." Tasha Schwikert, the 16-year-old national champion from Las Vegas, led the women's team to the bronze, capping a remarkable comeback from a poor showing at the Sydney Olympics just over a year ago. The men's team finished fifth at the Summer Games and failed to win an individual medal for only the second time since 1976. The women's team, which dominated the 1996 Games in Atlanta, barely made the finals in Sydney. The Americans arrived here with plenty of confidence but little knowledge of what would happen under new rules and points systems where all performances of the three gymnasts in the final count. Under the old system, five gymnasts performed and the top four scores were counted. They had shown plenty of poise during qualifying but in the final, jitters showed early among the men. Hamm, just 19, botched his opening pommel horse, and the U.S. team immediately dropped to sixth. Yet, from there on, they came together as a team. "We just do so much better under pressure," Townsend said. "We just do our job. Go out there and have fun." As the United States made it up the standings as the six events progressed, a buzz grew within the team. "We all knew and talked about it," Hamm said. At that crucial time, Hamm was up at the high bar needing a stellar performance. Hitting every swing, grip change and flight just right, he earned 9.737 points - the highest score on any apparatus that day - drawing wild cheers from the crowd and intensifying the momentum. The U.S. men off Ukraine by 1.362 points. Romania won the women's gold with 110.209, ahead of Russia with 109.023 and the United States with 108.514. China, which was going for a fifth straight world title, faltered with a young and inexperienced team, and took fifth place in the men's competition. The Russians had their worst placing ever at seventh.
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