US Women’s Gymnastic Team alternates to train in China

Thanks to the Chinese Gymnastics Association the women who are the alternates for the United States Gymnastic Team might get their chance to travel to China for the Beijing games this summer after all.

The US team has been given permission to use a gym located in Tianjin, China to practice at.  Given the news, the alternates have begun their process of applying for visas.  An earlier decision by the president of USA gymnastics, Steve Penny, had the alternates training at a gym in Tokyo due to concerns over visa applications.  Penny said "We are now working on making the final decision on the training location."

If an athlete is on the official Olympic roster that serves as their visa and they do not need to submit an application to obtain one.  Because the women are on the alternate team they are not listed on the roster and therefore need to file the application.

Penny spoke about the getting things settled for the alternate team.  He said "During the past few weeks, USA Gymnastics has been researching the most efficient process for obtaining visas for our replacement athletes.  We recently learned that they do not receive visas in the same manner as the rest of the official delegation.  USA Gymnastics has also been researching the best possible training locations for our replacement athletes, which includes a facility in Tianjin and the possibility of going to Tokyo.  We were waiting for approval from the Chinese Gymnastics Association regarding the facility in Tianjin, which we received earlier today."

www.usa-gymnastics.org