Pommel Horse

The individual titles in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. men's gymnastics championships went to specialists, as usual, some of them the same ones who won last year. The only all-arounders to win were Houston Baptist's Miguel Rubio on high bar and Nebraska's Kevin Davis on parallel bars. In floor exercise, Temple senior Chris Wyatt beat the defending champion, New Mexico's Chad Fox, scoring a 9.90. Fox and Chris McKee of Illinois scored a 9.85. But you didn't need a score to separate them.

LONDON -- According to TiVo, the company that produces equipment that can be used on your television to back up and replay particular moments, the five most TiVoed moments on the first full day of Olympic competition Saturday included two swimming events and two from men's gymnastics. A TiVo spokeswoman, in an email, said that swimmer Ryan Lochte's gold win when Michael Phelps finished fourth was the most TiVoed, followed by men's gymnast Jonathan Horton's fall off the pommel horse; then John Orozco's well-done pommel horse routine; Phelps' loser's interview; and when Sun Yang became the first Chinese to win an Olympic swimming event.

HOUSTON -- When he landed, with a little buckle in his knees but with both feet planted safely on the mat, David Sender bent over and kissed the pommel horse. The routine hadn't been spectacular. But Sender's final score of 13.750 was just good enough. Sender, 22, of Arlington Heights, Ill., was a surprise winner Saturday night of the Visa National Championships men's gymnastics all-around gold medal. With the withdrawal of first-round leader Paul Hamm, who broke a bone in his right hand on his parallel bars routine Thursday, Sender provided two nights of steady performances, even on that contrary pommel horse.

LONDON -- The competition lineup for the U.S. men's gymnastics team has been set. The men begin team competition Saturday at the North Greenwich Arena and the U.S. men will start their competition on pommel horse. Four of the five men on the team can compete on each apparatus and the top three scores will count toward qualifying for Monday's team finals. On the pommel horse, Jonathan Horton, Newport Coast's Sam Mikulak, Danell Leyva and John Orozco will compete, in that order. On still rings the order is: Jake Dalton, Leyva, Orozco and Horton; on vault it will be Leyva, Orozco, Mikulak and Dalton; on parallel bars, Mikulak, Horton, Orozco and Leyva; on horizontal bar, Mikulak, Orozco, Horton and Leyva; and on floor exercise, Orozco, Leyva, Mikulak and Dalton to finish.

Kim Zmeskal of Houston, who won the world all-around title a year ago, took the gold medal in the floor exercise in the World Gymnastics Championships at Paris. Vitali Scherbo of the Commonwealth of Independent States won the rings, tied for first in the pommel horse and came in second in the men's floor exercise behind teammate Igor Korbuchinski. Scherbo, Pae Gil Su of North Korea and Li Jing of China tied for first in the pommel horse.

Brian Babcock of Southern Illinois won the men's all-around competition in the USA Gymnastics championships after exchanging the lead four times Saturday with runner-up Dan Hayden of Arizona State. Babcock scored a 9.7 on the pommel horse in the decisive round, while Hayden stumbled on several landings and took an 8.7.

LONDON -- The competition lineup for the U.S. men's gymnastics team has been set. The men begin team competition Saturday at the North Greenwich Arena and the U.S. men will start their competition on pommel horse. Four of the five men on the team can compete on each apparatus and the top three scores will count toward qualifying for Monday's team finals. On the pommel horse, Jonathan Horton, Newport Coast's Sam Mikulak, Danell Leyva and John Orozco will compete, in that order. On still rings the order is: Jake Dalton, Leyva, Orozco and Horton; on vault it will be Leyva, Orozco, Mikulak and Dalton; on parallel bars, Mikulak, Horton, Orozco and Leyva; on horizontal bar, Mikulak, Orozco, Horton and Leyva; and on floor exercise, Orozco, Leyva, Mikulak and Dalton to finish.

Japanese gymnasts won five men's events and the Chinese one whereas Japan and China won two events each in the women's division of the one-day TBS Cup International Invitational gymnastics meet Sunday. Phil Cahoy of the United States placed third in the floor exercise, the pommel horse, the long horse and the horizontal bar. Lisa Lazar of the United States was third on the uneven bar and tied for second in the balance beam.

LONDON -- According to TiVo, the company that produces equipment that can be used on your television to back up and replay particular moments, the five most TiVoed moments on the first full day of Olympic competition Saturday included two swimming events and two from men's gymnastics. A TiVo spokeswoman, in an email, said that swimmer Ryan Lochte's gold win when Michael Phelps finished fourth was the most TiVoed, followed by men's gymnast Jonathan Horton's fall off the pommel horse; then John Orozco's well-done pommel horse routine; Phelps' loser's interview; and when Sun Yang became the first Chinese to win an Olympic swimming event.

Boris Shakhlin, 76, who won a record six individual Olympic gymnastics men's gold medals, died Friday of cardiac arrest, the International Gymnastics Federation announced. Shakhlin, nicknamed the "Mask of Iron," won 13 Olympic medals overall as part of the Soviet gymnastics squads that battled Japan in the 1950s and 1960s in one of gymnastics' great rivalries. He also was the world champion in 1958. At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, Shakhlin helped the Soviets edge Japan for the team gold and won a second gold on pommel horse.

BEIJING -- Coming from nowhere, with its two top gymnasts injured, and with an inconsistent replacement who hadn't made the original team coming through at the best possible moment, the United States won an unlikely bronze medal in the Olympic men's gymnastics team competition Tuesday at National Indoor Stadium. China destroyed the field as expected, winning the gold medal with 286.125 points. Japan overtook the U.S. on the last rotation to win the silver with 278.875.

Boris Shakhlin, 76, who won a record six individual Olympic gymnastics men's gold medals, died Friday of cardiac arrest, the International Gymnastics Federation announced. Shakhlin, nicknamed the "Mask of Iron," won 13 Olympic medals overall as part of the Soviet gymnastics squads that battled Japan in the 1950s and 1960s in one of gymnastics' great rivalries. He also was the world champion in 1958. At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, Shakhlin helped the Soviets edge Japan for the team gold and won a second gold on pommel horse.

HOUSTON -- When he landed, with a little buckle in his knees but with both feet planted safely on the mat, David Sender bent over and kissed the pommel horse. The routine hadn't been spectacular. But Sender's final score of 13.750 was just good enough. Sender, 22, of Arlington Heights, Ill., was a surprise winner Saturday night of the Visa National Championships men's gymnastics all-around gold medal. With the withdrawal of first-round leader Paul Hamm, who broke a bone in his right hand on his parallel bars routine Thursday, Sender provided two nights of steady performances, even on that contrary pommel horse.

Blaine Wilson crash-landed near the end of his floor exercise? Forget it. What's that? Morgan Hamm landed on his head while attempting a dismount from the pommel horse? Never mind. He's fine, and the United States men's gymnastics team is too. The U.S. landed on its feet the rest of the way to finish first in preliminary standings after the second day of qualifying competition at the World Gymnastics Championships on Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond. "We're in first? Wow.

It's love at first sight. He's tall and long-legged, with a long, thick mane. Having spotted him through the crowd, you walk up to introduce yourself--and nearly melt when he focuses those big, dark eyes on you. This scenario plays out again and again as crowds pass through the entrance tent at the equestrian spectacular "Cheval."

The Greeks might have invented the discipline of gymnastics, but like the English with tennis, they haven't been the masters of their domain for decades. Ten decades, if you're scoring at home along with the Greeks. But Sunday night, Ioannis Melissanidis turned the men's individual floor exercise finals into his personal centennial celebration, winning the gold to give Greece its first gymnastics medal in a modern Olympics since the first.

Cal State Fullerton senior Scott Picquelle scored a 9.90 on the pommel horse Friday at the NCAA Division 1 men's gymnastics national championships to qualify first in that event in tonight's individual final. The Titans, who qualified 10th for the championship, finished ninth in the team competition with a 277.85. Penn State qualified first with a 286.55. The Nittany Lions will compete against Nebraska (285.35) and Ohio State (284.

The search party has reassembled here, somewhat surreptitiously, far outside the fringes of the spotlight soon to be trained on Dominique Moceanu, Shannon Miller and America's other famous (i.e., female) Olympic gymnasts. It has arrived under the working code name "United States Men's Gymnastics Team," but just in case, every member wears a photo ID and a name tag, just to prove it. In this country, it isn't easy being male, chalked and bounding toward the vault horse.