AMERICANS COME UP SHY OF MEDAL U.S. MEN FIFTH AS CHINA CLAIMS GOLD.Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer SYDNEY, Australia - His athletes tumbled, but coach Peter Kormann was determined to take the fall. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. men's gymnastics gymnastics, exercises for the balanced development of the body (see also aerobics), or the competitive sport derived from these exercises. Although the ancient Greeks (who invented the building called a gymnasium team, primed to vault vault, ceiling over a room, formed in any one of a variety of curved shapes. Nature of Vaults A vault is generally composed of separate units of material, such as bricks, tiles, or blocks of stone, so shaped or cut that when assembled they form a into a medalfinish in the Olympic team competition for the first time since 1984, started poorly and ended worse Monday, finishing fifth at the Sydney Games. ``I thought we could win a medal, for sure,'' Kormann said. ``We could have, easy.'' He insisted it was his responsibility the Americans finished ahead only of Romania in the six-nation final at the SuperDome. ``They did everything they were asked to do,'' Kormann said of his athletes. ``The training went well and it wasn't enough, so I can blame the coaches, not the guys. ``The guys were awesome. Obviously, my coaching plan wasn't good enough for them in this meet. ``The buck stops here.'' China won the gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize , its first in team competition. Ukraine and Russia won silver and bronze, respectively. Kormann's contract is up at the end of this month and he is expected to retire. He is generally credited with returning the U.S. men's program to the top five or six in the world during his four years as national coach. He also was under personal pressure here; his mother suffered a near fatal stroke four days before the team left for Sydney and he considered not traveling to Australia. U.S. veteran John Roethlisberger, 30, was in tears after his final performance, insisting the competition should be viewed as an American success. ``I'm so proud of this team,'' he said after scoring a fine 9.737 on the high bar, his final event. ``They're awesome. I know we didn't medal, but I measure our success by my standards and they're A-1 all the way.'' He suggested being recognized as an international force is a significant breakthrough. ``I told them pride and respect is something that takes a long time to earn,'' Roethlisberger said of his teammates. ``It's a lot more difficult to earn that than it is to earn an Olympic medal. They have tremendous respect from the world.'' The Americans fell behind immediately with a shaky effort in the floor exercise; three of the five performers stepped out of bounds during their performances, a simple error with a compulsory score deduction deduction, in logic, form of inference such that the conclusion must be true if the premises are true. For example, if we know that all men have two legs and that John is a man, it is then logical to deduce that John has two legs. . The U.S. was sixth (and last) until the fifth of the six events, the parallel bars parallel bars Event in men's gymnastics in which a pair of wooden bars supported horizontally above the floor at the same height is used to perform acrobatic feats. Competitors combine swings and vaults with stationary positions requiring strength and balance, though swings , when Sean Townsend's 9.787 score led a strong effort that pushed the Yanks to fifth place - and within 0.8 points of Russia in third. But Paul Hamm Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Waukesha, Wisconsin) is a US gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. Career In 2003, he became the first American man to win the all-round title at the world championships. fell twice in the final event, the high bar, and team star Blaine Wilson Blaine Carew Wilson (born August 3, 1974) is an American gymnast from Columbus, Ohio. Wilson won his first World Championships medal at the 2003 Worlds when he helped the team to a silver-medal finish. fell, as well, ending slim U.S. hopes of moving up. ``We talked about how we had to go out and hit every high-bar routine, and we didn't do that,'' Kormann said. ``Not only did we not hit every one, we missed two, and you can't do that on the last event.'' Wilson was the top U.S. performer, compiling com·pile tr.v. com·piled, com·pil·ing, com·piles 1. To gather into a single book. 2. To put together or compose from materials gathered from several sources: the eighth-best all-around score in the competition, but more was expected from him and he seemed to acknowledge it when he stormed past reporters with the single sentence, ``I'll talk to y'all when I'm done with the all-around'' competition on Wednesday. Stephen McCain, a former UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX standout, might also retire, leaving the team in the hands of the 17-year-old Hamm twins, Paul and Morgan; Sean Townsend, 21, and perhaps Wilson, 26. |
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