Toman Makes Claim for U.S. Olympic Team Berth
8/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
BOSTON, Mass. -- University of Michigan senior Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall HS) staked his claim for a spot on the 2000 United States Men's Gymnastics Olympic team by finishing in a tie for fourth in the preliminary competition of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Thursday (Aug. 17) at the Fleet Center.
Toman, who sat out three weeks in March with a knee injury, will head into the final night of competition on Saturday (Aug. 19) with an overall combined score of 76.750, putting him in 10th place overall.
Completing the preliminaries with a total score of 55.600, Toman performed well among the nation's elite. Toman, the 1999 and 2000 NCAA parallel bars champion, finished the apparatus with a mark of 9.800, earning him a second-place spot behind five-time U.S. all-around champion Blaine Wilson. Toman also achieved second-place honors on the still rings, with a score of 9.600.
Toman garnered an eighth-place mark on the pommel horse, finishing with a score of 9.050. He placed 10th and 11th on the high bar (8.900) and floor exercise (9.225), respectively. Rounding out the six events was a 13th-place finish on the vault, with a score of 9.025.
The 2000 Olympic team will be determined based on a variety of factors. The scores of the Olympic Trials will be weighted with the scores from the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Twenty percent will be derived from the U.S Championship prelims and 20 percent from the U.S. Championship finals. Thirty percent of the final weighted score will be determined from the Olympic Trial prelims, with the remaining 30 percent from the Olympic Trial finals.
The four gymnasts with the highest weighted scores will be automatically chosen for the Olympic Team. The remaining two spots, as well as two alternates, will be chosen by a committee, which includes the U.S. Olympic Team coaching staff and USA Gymnastics President.
Toman and the other Olympic hopefuls will conclude the Trials on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT from the Fleet Center in Boston, Mass.
| Results | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| Justin Toman | 9.225 | 9.050 | 9.600 | 9.025 | 9.800 | 8.900 | 55.600 |
U.S. Prelims (20%) -- 54.025
U.S. Finals (20%) -- 54.450
Olympic Trials Prelims (30%) -- 55.600
WEIGHTED TOTAL -- 76.750
Players Mentioned
