USA WINS GOLD!!!

The fifth World Championships occurred May 29th through the 31st, 2003 at the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The championships took place in Hakon Hall and were sponsored by Fjall Raven, Rica Vitoria Hotel, and Brodrene Dahl AS. Thirteen nations (Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, Finland, Israel, Japan, USA, Iran and Norway) were represented by 85 gymnasts. The USA had four competitors in this championship.

Jermaine Dotson (USA) did exceptionally well in the junior boys division with a tie for 1st place in the vault competition with a score of 8.80 and 2nd place in the all around competition with a combined score of 25.90. His performance marks the first medals that the USA has won in any wheel gymnastic world championship. Jermaine also did quite well in spiral and straight-line competitions.

Nicole Buchmann, a veteran wheel gymnast who has represented the USA in several international competitions, did quite well in the senior all around competition. She competed very well in both straight-line and spiral disciplines.

Lisa Burns competed for the first time in international competition and completed her senior straight-line routine with grace and perfection. Although her exercise was unique and elegant, it was far from easy. Lisa shows a lot of promise and we look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

Craig Sherwood also competed in senior straight-line. After competing in the "Challenge" competition held in Fallersleben, Germany prior to the World Championships, Craig showed great determination in his exercise. His routine contained several difficult maneuvers, but this didn't stop him from completing successfully. We also look forward to seeing Craig in future competition.

For the official scores of these, and all gymnasts, go to http://www.wcwheelgym.no/

On another note, Evan S. Brown, who competed in senior spiral competition in the last World Championships in Liestal, Switzerland, was the first international judge from the USA. If you are interested in becoming a judge, it is necessary to take judging courses held every other summer at the international wheel gymnastic camp. In the summer of 2004 the camp will be held in Turku, Finland. The camp is very educational and in addition to judging courses, you can also learn elements in spiral, straight-line, and vault from many highly qualified instructors. Contact Taija Torvela at ttorvela@abo.fi for more information on the summer camp.

All competitors, USA and otherwise, competed very well. For the first time at an international wheel gymnastic championship, the USA flag was flown and the Star Spangled Banner was played. We are very proud of all the USA competitors and look forward to even more competing in the next World Championship to be held in Aachen, Belgium in 2005. For more information on competition either nationally or internationally, feel free to contact Evan S. Brown at wheelgymnast@hotmail.com or at (309) 723-6435.