USA Gymnastics has just announced the lineups for the 2012 AT&T American Cup. Gymnastike will be on hand for coverage of the event, the first major competition of the Olympic year. The Russians are noteabley missing from the roster. 

Courtesy of USA Gymnastics:
The 2012 AT&T American Cup field includes six World medalists and two former Olympians. The gymnasts expected to compete in New York City are:

 

Men

USA: Danell Leyva, Miami/Team Hilton HHonors

USA: John Orozco, Bronx, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center

Canada: Jackson Payne (replacing France's Cyril Tommasone)

Japan: Ryuzo Sejima (replacing Germany's Philipp Boy)

Germany: Marcel Nguyen

Great Britain: Daniel Purvis

Ukraine: Mykola Kuksenkov

Ukraine: Oleg Verniaiev

USA, alternate: Christopher Brooks, Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics)

Women

USA: Aly Raisman, Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s Gymnastics

USA: Jordyn Wieber, DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA

Australia: Georgia Simpson

Germany: Lisa Hill

Canada: Victoria Moors (replacing Germany's Nadine Jarosch)

Great Britain: Rebecca Tunney

Romania: Diana Chelaru

Romania: Larisa Iordache

USA, alternate: Gabrielle Douglas, Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance

For the men, the USA brings a strong duo with Leyva, the reigning U.S. all-around and World parallel bars champion, and Orozco, who had a breakout year in 2011 after finishing fifth in the all-around at the World Championships and third at the Visa Championships.

 
Purvis, fourth in the all-around at the 2011 Worlds, recently recorded the highest all-around score at the 2012 Visa International Gymnastics (the Olympic test event) at the North Greenwich Arena, the gymnastics venue at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.  Kuksenkov and Nguyen finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the all-around at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. Sejima competed at the 2011 World University Games, helping the Japanese to the team gold medal and winning the individual bronze medal on the floor exercise. 

Jackson Payne of Canada will replace France's Cyril Tommasone, who withdrew from the event due to personal reasons. Payne was a member of the Canadian team at the 2009-11 World Championships and helped Team Canada to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 Visa International Gymnastics competition earlier this year.

 

 

On the women’s side, Wieber is the reigning World, U.S. and AT&T American Cup all-around champion. She and teammate Raisman helped the USA win the team title at the 2011 World Championships. Raisman, fourth in the 2011 World Championships all-around final, also won the bronze medal at the 2011 AT&T American Cup, as well as the World floor exercise bronze medal.

 

Tunney, a newcomer to the British squad, is the reigning English junior all-around champion and finished sixth on the uneven bars at the 2012 Visa International Gymnastics event.  At the 2011 World Championships, Chelaru was a member of Romania’s fourth-place team and finished eighth in the floor finals, while teammate Iordache, the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival all-around champion, is a first-year senior competitor.  Simpson, who competed in the all-around at the 2012 Visa International Gymnastics event, served as Australia’s World team alternate in 2010. Hill was a member of the German team at both the 2010 and 2011 World Championships, finishing 46th in the all-around during qualifications in 2011. Moors, the 2011 Canadian junior national champion, was a member of Canada’s team that finished second at the 2012 Visa International Gymnastics competition and secured a team berth to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

 

Christopher Brooks of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics), and Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, the U.S. Team alternates, have the opportunity to participate hors concours (outside of competition). This means Brooks and Douglas may perform exhibition routines, performing first on each apparatus. While they will receive scores, they will not be included as part of the event's results.

 

Gymnastics greats Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner, Tracee Talavera, Mary Lou Retton, Peter Vidmar, Carly Patterson, Jason Gatson, Nastia Liukin and Paul Hamm won American Cup titles in Madison Square Garden months before earning a combined 30 Olympic medals, including 13 gold.

Click here to watch Gymnastike's videos of the 2012 American Cup