The AT&T American Cup (also known just as the American Cup) is an annual international elite gymnastics event that gathers some of the worlds’ top all-arounders. It is also the third and final all-around World Cup of the gymnastics calendar, the other two being the Stuttgart World Cup and the Glasgow World Cup. This year, the American Cup will take place in the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on March 7, with the MAG competition starting at 11:30a.m. ET.

The complete field  of athletes on the men’s side includes some of the sport’s biggest current figures, all of them eager to compete and be named the 2015 American Cup Champion. It’s worth noting that although they were initially slated to compete in the pre-official draw, Fabian Hambuchen of Germany and Arthur Oyakawa of Brazil had to withdraw due to illness and injury respectively. Andrey Likhovitskiy of Belarus and Alexis Torres of Puerto Rico will take their places.

Representing the home nation are Olympian Sam Mikulak and 2014 Worlds team member Donnell Whittenburg. Both Sam and Donnell were the American all-arounders at last year’s World Championships so it comes as no surprised that they were selected to represent their country this year.

Mikulak is the defending American Cup champion, as well as the reigning national champion. After placing 6th in the AA at 2013 World Championships, Sam had a rough showing at the 2014 World Championships, dropping down to 12th. Mikulak, a technically-solid gymnast, is considered to be one of the top all-around gymnasts in the world, showing high difficulty across the board as well as clean execution and good form across the board.

Although he had a disappointing start to the season at the Winter Cup, sustaining a minor injury after hitting is knee against the parallel bars; he did post the highest AA score on Day 2 and told us over the phone that he considered the competition a warmup, with the American Cup where he was aiming to peak. While Sam’s best events are high bar, floor exercise and parallel bars, he shows great skill across the 6 apparatuses, being able to break the 90 mark if he hits. He does tend to struggle with consistency, so he’ll be hoping to have a clean meet without any major mistakes and be able to test some upgrades under the international competition scene.

Whittenburg is the other American joining Sam at the American Cup. An incredibly powerful gymnast, Donnell’s standout events are vault (where he competes a sky-high Dragulescu, as well as a Tsukahara double back 1/1), floor exercise, where he shows a wide variety of tumbling skills and still rings. Donnell has had success in the two previous World Cups where he’s competed and with that experience under his belt, as well as his high difficulty across the board, he’s a real threat for the podium.

Apart from the United States, Japan is the only country sending 2 athletes to this year’s competition and they’re sending Olympians Ryohei Kato and Yusuke Tanaka, both of them world all-around medalists in the last 2 years.

Ryohei Kato is the 2013 World AA silver medalist, placing just behind Kohei Uchimura. A very elegant gymnast, Kato has long lines that accentuate his execution. His stand out events are floor exercise, high bar and parallel bars (having made world EF in the three of them and even medaling on the latter on 2014), he can also put scores in the high 14’s on still rings and vault, but like many all-around gymnasts, he struggles with pommel horse, especially when it comes to consistency.

Kato will be seeking to reclaim the spot as Japan’s number 2 all-around gymnast after missing last year’s World AA final thanks to the 2-per-country rule. Joining him will be the reigning bronze AA medalist Yusuke Tanaka. Relying heavily on his execution, Tanaka exemplifies the Japanese gymnastics ideal of not only showing difficult skills, but executing them in the most precise and flawless way possible, and many remember him for the huge 9.466 execution score he received on parallel bars during the qualification round at the London Olympics.

He tends to score in the 15’s on almost every event, the two notable exceptions being pommel horse (where he can post a respectable score in the mid-to-high 14’s) and vault, where a lower start value leaves him lacking compared to other gymnasts like Whittenburg and Verniaiev. Don’t miss him on parallel bars and high bar, where he can put up some of the highest scores in the field.

Representing Colombia, Jossimar Calvo Moreno enters the competition as an underdog for a medal. Known for his incredible difficulty and original combinations, especially on the parallel bars where he shows a full-twisting double back from the end of the bars and on high bar where he performs the rare Liukin (Layout tkatchev 1/1). Although the Colombian tends to have issues with his form and execution, he has been improving and you shouldn’t be surprised if he wins a medal should he go clean on all 6 apparatuses.

On the other hand, Andrey Likhovitskiy is the complete opposite. The Belarusian has some of the lowest start values of the field but he maximizes his scores by performing with great execution. He’s been gaining momentum during the last two year, even making his first ever event final last year on pommel horse. Look out for him on floor exercise where he performs with great elegance, high bar where he shows unusual and original skills and pommel horse, where his long lines and attention to execution enhance his performance.

Puerto Rico’s Alexis Torres was a fundamental part of the gold-medal winning performance of his team at the 2014 Centro American and Caribbean Games, contributing scores on four apparatuses towards the team total. Although he will not be competing for a medal, the experience will serve him well in preparation for the upcoming Pan-American Games in Canada, as well as the World Championships later on. Look out for him on the still rings and vault, where he finished 5th on both of the event finals of the Centro American Games.

Representing Great Britain will be the Daniel Purvis. Daniel has been one of Great Britain’s top gymnasts for a long time and is still going strong, being the second British all-arounder at last year’s World Championships. Purvis is mostly known for his work on floor exercise, where he’s a World and European medalist, as well as on parallel bars where he won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Although Purvis has been one of Britain’s top all-around athletes for the past few years a talented crop of juniors will be joining the senior ranks both this year and on 2016 so he should be eager to prove that he’s still one of the ones to beat.

Finally, as amazing as all these gymnasts are, and as high as their difficulty is, the big favorite to win the competition for anyone who’s been following the World Cup circuit is Oleg Verniaiev. The Ukrainian won in Stuttgart and Glasgow, and he did it in an emphatic way, finishing over 1 point ahead of the runner-up and breaking the 91 mark both times. Verniaiev is a pretty balanced all-arounder, being able to break into the 15’s on every event. He does however, shine on the parallel bars where he’s the reigning world champion, and on vault where he shows a huge Dragulescu vault. Oleg’s main weakness is his consistency, especially on high bar where he can many times look nervy and unsure about his movements.

For more information about the American Cup, visit our event page, which has the schedule, links to streaming, and the full competitor’s list.

Article by Paul Ochoa