San Jose -Josh Dixon gave supporters and training partners at a
Morgan Hill gym plenty to cheer about on his second day at the Visa
National Gymnastics Championships.
San Jose -Josh Dixon gave supporters and training partners at a Morgan Hill gym plenty to cheer about on his second day at the Visa National Gymnastics Championships.
After pulling down two gold medals in the Junior men’s Division Aug. 15, the San Jose resident who trains at Morgan Hill’s Champions Academy climbed the point-scale Friday and finished first in his age group of 16 to 18-year-old gymnasts.
“It was a great meet and I was able to prove to the men’s gymnastics officials that I am one of the top juniors in the country,” he said.
Dixon’s two-day performance earned him a 17th place finish overall among 36 athletes, a strong placement for a 17-year-old in a field that included many of the world’s top athletes.
Just hitting a set and the crowd going crazy was the best part of competition, said Dixon, who won gold medals in the vault and floor exercise competitions last Wednesday on the way to winning the Junior division.
Dixon bested his day-one score of 82 with another burst of success on Friday, when he earned an 85.2 while competing in the senior men’s division against the United States’ top gymnasts.
In the floor exercise, Dixon took eighth place overall with a day-two score of 14.75 and an all around score of 29.85.
While it was an exciting routine from the defending floor-exercise champion, Dixon was unable to top his day one high score of 15.1.
Though Dixon said he “stuck” the floor exercise routine, it was the only event in which he failed to improve his score from the first day of competition.
In the pommel horse competition, Dixon finished 24th with a day-two score of 13.8 and an all-around score of 26.05.
Dixon finished 25th in the still rings with a day two score of 13.9, and an all around score 27.3.
In the vault competition Dixon again improved on his day one score of 15.3 with a score of 15.7, and tied for 10th all around with a combined score of 31. His day-two vault score was the second highest amongst all competitors, a spectacular feat considering the Visa championships are a precursor to international competitions and eventually the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
“Fans were cheering for a bunch of the junior athletes who made it into the senior division,” Dixon said. “I noticed the crowd when I did vault and high bar cause they went crazy when I stuck. It was cool to compete in front of a packed arena.”
On the high bar Dixon tied for 21st place with two other gymnasts with an all-around score of 26.65. He outdid his day-one score of 13.1 with a day-two score 13.55.
“My day two performance went so much better,” he said. “I hit every routine with only a slight mistake on parallel bars.”
Still, Dixon finished 29th all around on the parallel bars with a two-day score of 26.35, improving his day one score of 12.8 with a day-two score of 13.5.
Dixon’s father Mike Dixon was amazed with his son’s performance, and proud of how he handled himself in the senior men’s division.
“That type of second day performance is rare … an 85 is an awesome number in juniors,” Mike said. “It was a performance that you put into the memory that you will always be able to recall.”
A San Jose native who trains in Morgan Hill, Dixon embraced the opportunity to perform at such a high level in front of a packed home crowd.
“There are few times that you get to compete in front of a local crowd,” Mike said. “On the first day he was probably a little tentative and cautious because of that, but he came out and stuck his dismounts on Friday.”
His vault and high bar were phenomenal and the whole crowd let out a resounding cheer when he stuck his dismounts, Mike said.
“It was pleasing as a parent, and I hope this experience has allowed him to see that his gymnastics are on par with the best in the nation,” Mike said.
Dixon, who is going into his freshman year at Stanford University, will also be a member of the U.S. Gymnastics junior national team.
“I’m excited that I did so well on Friday and that my score beat out all of the juniors,” Dixon said. “I feel confident that I can be the top junior in the country since my day two results prove it.”
