NEW WAVERLY, Texas — Now it’s official: Chellsie Memmel, Alicia Sacramone and Samantha Peszek are going to the Beijing Olympics. And they’re bringing Bridget Sloan with them on Team USA.
Considered all but locks after strong showings at last month’s nationals and Olympic Trials, Memmel, Sacramone and Peszek looked even better Saturday night to earn spots on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Sloan, the alternate on last year’s world championship team, upgraded herself with an impressive performance at the two-day selection camp.
The four join Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, who secured spots with their 1-2 finish at the Trials, on the last China-bound U.S. team to be finalized.
Now it’s on to Beijing, where the Americans will be favorites to add Olympic gold to the one they won at last year’s world championships.
“We don’t even want to be Olympians. We want to be Olympic champions,” Peszek said.
Their biggest competition will come from the home team, China.
World champs in 2006 and runners-up last year, the Chinese have made no secret that they want to win gold at home.
Romania, Russia and Australia also are expected to contend for a medal.
“I am very happy with this team. Very, very happy,” national team coordinator Martha Karolyi said. “We know we’ll have obstacles we have to pass, because it’s hard to fight with the home team. We have to choose the toughest team, because we need the toughest girls because it will not be an easy job.”
Jana Bieger, Ivana Hong and Corrie Lothrop were named U.S. alternates.
Memmel, the 2005 world champ whose comeback from a devastating shoulder injury has been the feel-good story of the summer, and Peszek finished third and fourth at nationals and the Trials. Sacramone has been the U.S. backbone the last four years, one of the best in the world on floor and vault. Had the full Olympic team been named after the Trials, Karolyi said the three would have been on it.
But Karolyi likes to wait as long as possible to ensure she is taking the best and healthiest team to the Olympics, so 10 women trooped down to her ranch for one last competition, hoping to use Friday’s all-around and Saturday’s event finals to make a good impression.
“What I said at Trials, that was the truth. They just needed to prove they are at the same level they were at,” Karolyi said. “It’s almost like we had one spot to fill.”
