Male Gymnasts for the 2008 Olympic Games

The senior division men's gymnastics has some heavyweight stars and question marks too in the runup to the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. In the upcoming Olympics, the All-Around and team podium derby is a tight race between four nations: USA, Russia, Japan and China. The top 8 teams for 2008 male team gymnastics include Germany, Spain, Korea, and Romania. Each have highlight competitors. The United States Male Gymnastics Team ranked fourth in the world.

The 2007 World Championships of Gymnastics in Stuttgart decided the teams eligible to go the Beijing Olympics for team event competition. Individual high scorers in the individual events will determine the individual Olympic event competitors in Beijing. But nerves and scattershot deliveries spotlit the tension of high stakes male gymnastics. While many performers can specialize in individual events, these performers will shine during team competition qualified to attend the 2008 Olympic Games.

Recent changes in scoring allow less wiggle room in judging. Subjectivity elements have been removed. The increase in difficulty and the precision required of the top tier of male gymnastic competitors will make for a nail-biting summer Olympics. Male gymnasts carry 6 events. The finish and scoring requirements have grown more stringent and hitting positions and postures while mainting fluid performance dynamics will count for more point value than ever before.

The men's team finals were conservative in that instead of pushing for the high risk tricks, team finalists chose C level dismounts and discounted beginning gymnastic code skills to guarantee safe rankings. Many D elements in competition were discounted due to steps taken after landing on the dismount or form breaks on pommel horse or swinging rings. The top 12 teams in Stuttgart qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, France, Italy, Canada and Belarus. Australia and the United Kingdom did not qualify.

1. Alexander (Sasha) Artemev (USA)