Alvarez, Artemev advance to finals at 2006 World Championships

AARHUS, Denmark, Oct. 15, 2006 – Guillermo Alvarez of Denver and Alexander Artemev of Morrison, Colo., both qualified for the men’s all-around finals on Oct. 19 at the 2006 World Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. Artemev also qualified for the individual event final for pommel horse, scheduled for Oct. 20.

After the preliminary round, the top 24 gymnasts, with a maximum of two per country, advance to the all-around finals. The top eight, with a maximum of two per country, for each apparatus in the prelims advance to the individual event finals. Artemev was sixth in the pommel horse standings at the conclusion of the preliminaries. In the all-around prelims, Alvarez and Artemev moved into the top 24 when the two-athletes-per-country rule was applied.

The U.S. Women will make their first appearance at the World Championships when they compete in Subdivision 5 in the preliminary rounds on Oct. 16. The U.S. Women’s Team is led by three defending world champions, Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis., Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, and Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., and also includes 2005 World Team member Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla.; Natasha Kelley of Katy, Texas; and Ashley Priess of Hamilton, Ohio. Jacquelyn Johnson of West Chester, Ohio, is the alternate.

The 2006 World Championships features men’s and women’s competition in the team, all-around and individual apparatus (men—floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar; women – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise). The format for the team competitions is: preliminaries, five gymnasts on each apparatus and top four scores count; and finals, three gymnasts compete and all three scores count. The top eight countries after the prelims advance to the team finals. For the all-around, the top 24 gymnasts (maximum of two per country) in the prelims advance to the finals. For individual event finals, the top eight from the preliminary rounds (maximum of two per country) advance to the finals.

The women’s prelims wrap up on Oct. 17. The men’s team finals are Oct. 17 and the all-around is on Oct. 19. The women’s team finals are Oct. 18, with the women’s all-around finals on Oct. 19. The individual event finals for both men and women are Oct. 20-21.