Minneapolis will be the center of the USA Gymnastics universe this week.
The country’s best gymnasts will be competing at Target Center, vying for a spot on Team USA’s men’s and women’s Olympic gymnastics teams.
Among the competitors are St. Paul native Suni Lee, who was one of the stars of the last Olympic games, and Shane Wiskus of Spring Lake.
The two are competing in competitive men’s and women’s trials, which will begin on Thursday.
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In the days leading up to the competition, athletes will be training on the floor and perfecting their routines.
The men and women both compete in several events. Both men and women compete in the floor exercise and the vault.
Women also compete on the uneven bars and the balance beam, while men compete on the pommel horse, the high bar, parallel bars and the rings.
Each of these events are judged on two things: execution and difficulty.
“Every event is a little bit different in what they’re looking for. But really, there’s two scores,” said Jenny Hansen, the head coach of the University of Minnesota Women’s Gymnastics team. “One is their difficulty, you know, how difficult are the elements in their routines and then they have an execution score. So that’s how well they do them, how good is their form and their artistry and the level in which they perform the elements.”
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Shane Wiskus of EVO Gymnastics celebrates after he performs on the pommel horse during Day 2 of the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 1, 2024.
Jerome Miron / USA Today Sports
While the routines are judged for scores, there are other elements that the Olympic coaches will be watching for, including who their best and most consistent athletes are and who can help round out their team.
The highest scoring all-around score will automatically qualify. The men and women
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each have guidelines of how the teams are picked. For women, the top scorer in the all-around qualifies automatically.
Then the others are picked based on this competition and recent competitions. Coaches will try to pick one or two more athletes who are strong on the all-around to be able to compete.
“And then from there, if you get to these amazing all-rounders, it’s really just finding strength on the other events,” Hansen said. “Because they don’t need everybody to compete (in) every event. They don’t put up five athletes in each event. So then they’re just kind of looking to round out who are the strongest in the other events.”
The men have a similar process, with the top all-around scorer (if he’s in the top three of the events), with coaches picking out the rest of the team based on strengths and performances in this and recent competitions.
Tickets are
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available online at AXS.com
.
For those going in person, the events are as follows
Thursday: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. — Men’s Day 1
Friday: 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. — Women’s Day 1
Saturday: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. — Men’s Day 2
Sunday: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. — Women’s Day 2
You can watch online or on television on USA, NBC and Peacock.
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CHICAGO (WLS) — A United Airlines flight that left Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Friday was diverted due to an unruly passenger, officials said.
United flight 2005 from Chicago was headed to Minneapolis but landed in Madison, Wisconsin.
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“United flight 2005 from Chicago to Minneapolis landed safely in Madison, Wisconsin to address a security concern with an unruly passenger,” the airline said in a statement. “The flight is expected to continue to Minneapolis later on Friday.”
An ICE agent facing several assault charges in connection with a January shooting involving two Venezuelan people in Minnesota has been arrested in Texas, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said.
Christian Castro was charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
CNN is working to determine whether Castro has an attorney and has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Castro faces those charges in connection with the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man shot in the leg through the front door of a Minneapolis home. The incident took place during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement blitz in the Twin Cities.
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Originally, Sosa-Celis and his cousin Alfredo A. Aljorna were facing federal charges after DHS said they had attacked an agent, prompting him to fire a defensive shot.
But the Justice Department dropped the charges in February, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two of its agents, who made false statements about the incident under oath, were placed on administrative leave.
FOX 9’s Erika Mrazik has your Thursday evening and extended forecast. Our temperatures continue to feel more like July than May, and we’ll continue to see plenty of sun.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for the Twin Cities starting Friday.
Air quality alert in Twin Cities
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What we know:
MPCA says that ground-level ozone will be at unhealthy levels in the Twin Cities on Friday. An air quality will be in place from noon to 9 p.m.
An air quality alert in the Twin Cities. Graphic courtesy of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. (Supplied)
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Sunny skies, low humidity and warm temperatures make for favorable conditions pollutants to react with sunlight to make ground-level ozone. MPCA says the ozone will subside as the sun sets.
Who is most affected by poor air quality?
Dig deeper:
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People with asthma or other breathing conditions like COPD, chronic bronchitis and emphysema will be affected by poor quality. They can experience symptoms like difficulty deep breathing, shortness of breath, throat soreness, wheezing, coughing and unusual fatigue.
Additionally, children, teenagers and people of all ages who are doing heavy physical activity outside.
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What you can do:
MPCA recommends taking it easy while outside and limiting physical activity.
To help reduce pollution, use public transit or carpool when possible, fill up your car’s tank at dawn or dusk and avoid backyard fires.
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The Source: A press release from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
