The Gymnasts of the 2013 AT&T American Cup

Feb 27, 2013 by Anne Phillips

The 2013 AT&T American Cup in Worcester, Massachusetts is scheduled for March 2 at 11:30 a.m. ET. at the DCU Center and Gymnastike is on-site for coverage!

Here's what you can expect to see throughout the weekend:

Thursday, February 28th - Men's and Women's Podium Training Videos and Pre-Meet Video Interviews

Friday, March 1 - 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup - LIVE Updates, Results, Recap and Post-Meet Video Interviews

Satruday, March 2 - AT&T American Cup - LIVE Updates, Results, Recap and Post-Meet Video Interviews

The 2013 AT&T American Cup marks the first major international elite competition since the 2012 London Olympic Games and we will see the senior debut of many exciting female gymnasts.

The roster has seen a few changes since the initial announcement, most recently on Tuesday when 2012 Olympic team gold-medalist Kyla Ross of Gym-Max withdrew from the competition due to a bruised heel.

Get to know the gymnasts of the 2013 AT&T American Cup!

Katelyn Ohashi, USA, WOGA

- One of the word's most anticipated first year seniors

- 2011 U.S. National Junior Champion for all around, bars, beam, and floor

- Made her senior debut two weeks ago at the 2013 WOGA Classic, winning beam with a massive 15.80 and looking ready to claim the 2013 World Title on the event

- 2012 Pacific Rim Junior All Around, Bars, Beam, and Floor Champion

- Routine to watch: Beam - let's hope she can repeat her WOGA Classic performance! She'll also be debuting a new floor routine for the 2013 season

Simone Biles, USA, Bannon's Gymnastix

- First year senior competing in her first international competition

- Made huge improvements from 2011 to 2012, particularly on uneven bars, to qualify to the U.S. Junior National team for the first time at the 2012 Visa Championships

- 2012 U.S. Junior National Champion on Vault and 3rd All Around

- Routine to watch: Vault! Biles has an Amanar that is on track of rivaling the almighty McKayla Maroney. Biles has incredible power. You'll also want to tune in for her floor routine where she's capable of huge tumbling. Last season she competed a double layout+split jump with ease. My guess is that she'll be pulling out a full twisting double layout for 2013, valued at an H in the newest code of points.

Vanessa Ferarri, Italy

- The 2006 World All Around Champion

- 2-time Olympian, finishing 8th all around in London and 11th all around in Beijing

- The oldest competitor in the field at age 22. She stated her plans to retire after London, but is still going strong!

- Routine to watch: Floor. Ferarri finished a controversial 4th place in the 2012 Olympic Floor Final after a tie breaker which gave Aliya Mustafina of Russia the bronze. Ferarri also has a leap on floor named for her.

Gabrielle Jupp, Great Britain

- First year senior making her senior international debut

- 2012 British Junior National Champion

- Finished 5th all around at the 2012 Junior European Championships

- Routine to watch: Beam, her best and favorite event

Victoria Moors, Canada

- 2012 Olympian who helped her team to the country's first ever team final and an impressive 5th place finish

- Won the Nadia Comaneci Invitational just two weeks ago, proving she's competition ready

- Moors got a skill named for her after the London Olympics, a toe on front layout half uneven bars dismount, valued at a D.

- Routine to watch: Floor. She masterfully blends compelling choreography with powerful tumbling, mounting with a double twisting double tuck in 2012. This skill is now valued as an H for 2013!

Elisabeth Seitz, Germany

- 2012 Olympian, finishing 10th all around and 6th on uneven bars in London

- Finished 2nd to Elizabeth Price in December's Stuttgart and Glasgow World Cup Meets

- Routine to watch: Uneven bars. Seitz is incredibly entertaining on this event with high-flying releases. She's been known to compete a Def (full twisting gienger) which is rarely seen in competition. She also has a skill named for her, a full twisting Maloney transition.

Asuka Teramoto, Japan

- 2012 Olympian, finishing 11th all around in London

- Fun fact: Was the smallest and lightest 2012 Olympian at 4'6" and just 66 lbs.

Maegan Chant, Canada

- First year senior

- Finished 2nd all around, vault, and bars at the recent 2013 Elite Canada

- Coached by Christina Bontas, Romanian World and Olympic medalist. Bontas the 1989 World Floor title with a perfect 10.0

MEN

Jake Dalton, USA

- 2013 Winter Cup Champion

- 2012 Olympian, finishing 5th in the London Floor Finals

- 2012 and 2011 U.S. National Vault and Floor Champion

- 2012 NCAA All Around Champion for the University of Oklahoma; decided to go professional, giving up his final season of NCAA eligibility with the Sooners

- Also competed in the 2011 American Cup, learning he would be competing the morning of the event

- 2011 World Bronze medalist with Team USA

Routine to Watch: Floor. He performs huge tumbling with excellent execution. His first pass, laid out double arabian is especially exquisite.

Danell Leyva, USA

- 2012 Olympic All Around Bronze medalist, also finished 5th in the London High Bar Finals

- Defending American Cup Champion

- 2012 USA Olympic Trials Champion

- 2011 World Parallel Bars Champion and Team Bronze medalist

- 2011 U.S. National Champion for All Around, Parallel Bars, and High Bar

- Routines to Watch: His specialties, parallel bars and high bar, where he continuously competes among the most difficult routines in the world

Marcel Nguyen, Germany

- 2012 Olympic All Around and Parallel Bars Silver Medalist, making history for Germany as the first all around medalist since 1936.

- Won 2012 Stuttgart and Glasgow World Cup titles in December

- 2012 & 2011 European Champion on Parallel Bars

Routine to Watch: Parallel Bars. He's known for competing an incredible, rarely seen full twisting double back dismount.

Kristian Thomas, Great Britain

- 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist with Team GB

- Finished 7th all around in the London All Around Finals

- Nicknamed "Mr. Consistency" by his British teammates

- Has been on every British World/Olympic team since 2009

Routine to Watch: Vault. He competes a huge yurchenko double pike. He stuck this vault cold in Olympic team competition, helping his country secure their first Olympic medal in 100 years.

Sergio Sasaki, Brazil

- 2012 Olympian, finishing 10th all around as the first Brazilian gymnast to qualify for all around finals

- Has a skill named after him on parallel bars, beating American Sam Mikulak to a competition routine. Mikulak competes the same skill in his routine.

Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez, Colombia

- 3-time Olympian (2012, 2008, and 2004)

- The oldest competitor in the field at 33 years old

- Competed in American Cup in 2000 and 2010, finishing 8th and 7th all around respectively

- Fun fact: He has a sports coliseum named for him in Colombia and has the most international titles of any Colombian gymnast

Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine

- 2012 Olympian, finishing 11th in the London All Around Finals and 4th in the team competition

- 6th all around at 2012 American Cup

Routine to Watch: Vault. He competes a powerful Dragulescu vault (handspring double front, half out)

Hiroki Ishikawa, Japan

- 10th All Around at 2012 Japanese nationals

- The American Cup will be his biggest individual all around competition to date

- Part of Japan's gold medal-winning team at 2011 Summer Universiade.

The American Cup, one of the most prestigious international invitationals, features many of the world's top all-around gymnasts. The reigning champions are Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts' Twistars USA, who was a member of The Fierce Five (2012 Olympic team champion), and Leyva who returns to defend his title. The American Cup was held in Worcester in 2010 when Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA, won the women's title and Russia's Maxim Devyatovskiy took top honors for the men.

The list of former champions comprises some of the sport's best-known names, including Bart Conner, Paul Hamm, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Mary Lou Retton, Peter Vidmar, Leyva and Wieber.

Click here to jump to the 2013 AT&T American Cup Coverage Page

Click here for the list of 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup qualifiers.