Are you experienced? Horton is. Not so much the other US men for gymnastics worlds

Horton leads US team for world championships

INDIANAPOLIS — Jonathan Horton’s leadership skills will get a workout at the world gymnastics championships.

Jake Dalton and Wesley Haagensen were added Sunday to the U.S. team for next month’s worlds, making the Olympic silver medalist the only American with experience at major international competitions. Dalton and Haagensen replaced Olympian Sasha Artemev, who is still recovering from a back injury, and 2008 national champion David Sender, who began veterinary school this fall.

Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva and Tim McNeill are also on the team for worlds, which begin Oct. 13 in London.

There’s always turnover after an Olympics, and this year is no different for the U.S. men, who won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics despite losing 2004 all-around champion Paul Hamm and his twin brother, Morgan. Horton and Joey Hagerty were the only Olympians to compete at last month’s national championships, and Hagerty failed to earn a spot on the world team.

That means the Americans will be relying heavily on Horton, one of the early ones to watch for the 2012 Olympics along with Kohei Uchimura of Japan, Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen and Britain’s Daniel Keatings.

Horton was fourth at the last world championships, missing a medal by a mere two-tenths of a point. He won the silver on high bar in Beijing despite retooling his routine between the all-around and event finals, unheard of in a sport where months are spent polishing a single routine.

But if there’s a worlds to test out new talent, this is it. There is no team competition, only the all-around and individual events.

And the Americans have high hopes for their newcomers. McNeill was second to Horton at the national championships and added the title on parallel bars. Legendre is the reigning NCAA champion, and he and Leyva were teammates on the U.S. squad that won the Junior Pan American Championships in 2007.

The women’s world team will be announced after a second selection camp.