Name Your Favorites for the 2008 USA Olympics Women Or Men's Team

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I thought it would be fun to name our picks or "dream team" for the 2008 Olympics... My faves for the womens USA team right now would be:

Shawn Johnson
Ivana Hong (if she is old enough)
Shantessa Pama
Nastia Liukin
Shayla Worley
Jana Bieger


*** my very favorite up & comer is Jordyn Wieber, she is an amazing little powerhouse, but she is too young for the 2008 Oympics & if they raise the age requirements to 18yrs next year she will be too young for the 2012 Olympics as well :(.
 
I really like Shantessa Pama and ivana. I have grown weary of Nastia. She is a wonderful athlete but she is over done. she may wind up like the Michelle Kwan of gymnastics, All titles except the gold!!!
Danielle
 
danielle, I tend to agree with you on Nastia - (and I actually feel this way about jana as well)... I do think she is a beautiful gymnast but she does not have as much power as most of the others... that said I feel that nastia & jana have done their time and deserve a spot just the same + tons know them already, great for ratings... but I feel they will limit the team as a whole - make sense? nic
 
I hope Chellsie is able to come back for Beijing, but it may be long shot. My team would be:

Shawn Johnson
Nastia Liukin
Chellsie Memmel
Alicia Sacramone
Shayla Worley
Sam Peszek
 
18? I thought they moved it from 16 to 15....do you have any info? That would be a huge mistake.
 
just a rumor? perhaps, but it is no secret that FIG president bruno grandi has wanted to raise the minimum age... his bid to raise the min age to 17yrs was rejected in the past, however it is currently my understanding - boy oh boy don't quote me lol - that at the very least from 2009 a gymnast will have to be 16 yrs to compete @ Worlds, no exceptions.... which seems to leave little room for a 16 yr old to compete at the Olympics... ok so now the IOC wants to introduce the youth olympic games in 2010 - for ages 14yrs -18yrs ... why not 14 - 16 yrs??? well, my guess is that the objective here will be to raise the min age all the way to 18 yrs for the actual Olympic games.
 
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Nastia Liukin
Chellsie Memmel
Shawn Johnson
Jana Bieger
Shayla Worley
Alicia Sacramone
 
I tend to agree with Gracefulone's "team." Maybe Natasha Kelly if one of those girls are injured or just not hitting routines. I don't think we'll see alot of "unknowns" on the US team at this Olympics. I think they'll go with the girls who have international experience and ranking. As much as Nastia may be overhyped, she has gorgeous lines on bars and the Russian style in working beam/floor that pleases many of the international judges. Still a year to go, but I think if the girls who have been mentioned here are healthy, then it will be a close call who ultimately goes.
 
I believe you have to be 16 or 18 to compete in the olympics, but don't quote me on that. I'm not sure exactly who I'd vote for to be on the team; sadly I haven't been able to keep up with it very much. So, please feel free to fill everyone in and what not!
 
I don't think we'll see alot of "unknowns" on the US team at this Olympics. I think they'll go with the girls who have international experience and ranking..

actually all of the gymnasts mentioned by everyone that responded are all international elites... all incredible gymnasts and none are "unknowns". The US has a lot to choose from.:)
 
US sweeps 2007 Pan Am games

How very exciting for the US... Shawn Johnson took Gold, Rebecca Bross Silver and Ivana Hong Bronze AA


... I was a little disappointed in Ivana'a bars :(.. she seems to be using the low bar less and less, but great job!!!:D
 
another article I found about the "junior" olympics from a San Diego newspaper & a discussion of the current age limits for world competitions ... it would be such a shame to change the current age limits.


DOING IT FOR THE KIDS: The IOC's decision to start a Junior Olympics is causing some head scratching in gymnastics circles.
The Junior Olympics, which will begin with summer games in 2010, are geared toward elite athletes ages 14-18, about the same age span in which female gymnasts hit their prime in the senior circuit.
In 1997, FIG ruled that girls must turn 16 during the calendar year of the competition to compete in senior events, including the Olympics. The only exception is the year before the Olympics, when girls who turn 15 – and thus, will be 16 during the Olympic year – can compete at the world championships to get experience.
All other years, girls who turn 15 cannot compete as seniors.
Now, FIG has to conjure up a plan to mesh with the IOC's decision to include gymnastics in its Junior Olympics program.
“If an athlete at the Junior Olympics is 14, are we going to say to them the following year, 'You're the Junior Olympic champion but you're only 15, so you can't compete?'â€￾ said Slava Corn, vice president of the International Gymnastics Federation. “We haven't had time to go through all the stages and the discussions yet, but it's ongoing.â€￾
 
Shawn Johnson (!)
Nastia Liukin
Shayla Worley (she has personality)
Alicia Sacramone
Chellsie Memmel (maybe)
Ivana Hong
 
My 2008 Team

What a great thread!

Alicia Sacramone (she is a must! If only she could get a bar routine, she would be a great all arounder)
Shayla Worley
Shawn Johnson
Nastia Liukin
Chelsie Memmel
Jana Bieger

I wish Tessa Pama were an option but with her injuries and lack of international exposure...I just don't think it's going to happen.

Go Team!
 

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