The American Cup, currently known as the AT&T American Cup through a sponsorship arrangement, is an elite senior level international gymnastics competition held in the United States, and is generally considered to be one of the first major competitions of the Gymnastics season, as it is held in March or February of each year. In 2011, it became a part of the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series. With the exception of 2005, it has been exclusively an all-around competition. Past champions have included Olympic all around champions Nadia Comăneci, Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, and Nastia Liukin. The American Cup has been controversial, with accusations of biased judging in favor of American gymnasts in the past (as well as the seemingly lopsided presence of top American women gymnasts with the rest of the foreign field not as high caliber). [1] Since becoming part of the FIG World Cup Series in 2011, the field of competitors is determined by FIG rules and is based on gymnast's placement at the previous World Championships or Olympic Games. It also features an international panel of judges.
Past women's champions
| Women's Champions |
| Year |
Location |
Gold |
| 1976 |
New York, NY |
 Nadia Comăneci (ROM) |
| 1977 |
New York, NY |
 Kathy Johnson (USA) |
| 1978 |
New York, NY |
 Natasha Tereschenko (URS) |
| 1979 |
New York, NY |
Stella Zakarova (URS) |
| 1980 |
New York, NY |
Tracee Talavera (USA) |
| 1981 |
Fort Worth, TX |
Julianne McNamara (USA) |
| 1982 |
New York, NY |
Julianne McNamara (USA) |
| 1983 |
New York, NY |
Mary Lou Retton (USA) |
| 1984 |
New York, NY |
Mary Lou Retton (USA) |
| 1985 |
Indianapolis, IN |
Mary Lou Retton (USA) |
| 1986 |
Fairfax, VA |
Kristie Phillips (USA) |
| 1987 |
Fairfax, VA |
Kristie Phillips (USA) |
| 1988 |
Fairfax, VA |
Phoebe Mills (USA) |
| 1989 |
Fairfax, VA |
Brandy Johnson (USA) |
| 1990 |
Fairfax, VA |
Kim Zmeskal (USA) |
| 1991 |
Orlando, FL |
Betty Okino (USA) |
| 1992 |
Orlando, FL |
Kim Zmeskal (USA) |
| 1993 |
Orlando, FL |
Shannon Miller (USA) |
| 1994 |
Orlando, FL |
Dominique Dawes (USA) |
| 1995 |
Seattle, WA |
Kristy Powell (USA) |
| 1996 |
Fort Worth, TX |
Kerri Strug (USA) |
| 1997 |
Fort Worth, TX |
 Elvire Teza (FRA) |
| 1998 |
Fort Worth, TX |
 Viktoria Karpenko (UKR) |
| 1999 |
St. Petersburg, FL |
Jennie Thompson (USA) |
| 2000 |
Orlando, FL |
 Elena Produnova (RUS) |
| 2001 |
Orlando, FL |
Elena Zamolodchikova (RUS) |
| 2002 |
Orlando, FL |
Tasha Schwikert (USA) |
| 2003 |
Fairfax, VA |
Carly Patterson (USA) |
| 2004 |
New York, NY |
Carly Patterson (USA) |
| 2005 |
Uniondale, NY |
VT: Alicia Sacramone (USA)
UB: Chellsie Memmel (USA)
BB: Zhang Nan (CHN), Nastia Liukin (USA)
FX: Patricia Moreno (ESP) |
| 2006 |
Philadelphia, PA |
Nastia Liukin (USA) |
| 2007 |
Jacksonville, FL |
Shawn Johnson (USA) |
| 2008 |
New York, NY |
Nastia Liukin (USA) |
| 2009 |
Chicago, Il |
Jordyn Wieber (USA) |
| 2010 |
Worcester, MA |
Rebecca Bross (USA) |
| 2011 |
Jacksonville, FL |
Jordyn Wieber (USA) |
| 2012 |
New York, NY |
Jordyn Wieber (USA) |
| 2013 |
Worcester, MA |
Katelyn Ohashi (USA) |
| 2014 |
Greensboro, NC |
Elizabeth Price (USA) |
| 2015 |
Arlington, TX |
Simone Biles (USA) |
| 2016 |
Newark, NJ |
TBD |
Past men's champions
| Men's Champions |
| Year |
Location |
Gold |
| 1976 |
New York, NY |
Bart Conner (USA) |
| 1977 |
New York, NY |
 Mitsuo Tsukahara (JPN) |
| 1978 |
New York, NY |
Kurt Thomas (USA) |
| 1979 |
New York, NY |
Kurt Thomas (USA) |
| 1980 |
New York, NY |
Kurt Thomas (USA) |
| 1981 |
Fort Worth, TX |
Bart Conner (USA) |
| 1982 |
New York, NY |
Bart Conner (USA) |
| 1983 |
New York, NY |
Peter Vidmar (USA) |
| 1984 |
New York, NY |
Peter Vidmar (USA) |
| 1985 |
Indianapolis, IN |
Tim Daggett (USA) |
| 1986 |
Fairfax, VA |
Alexei Tikhonkikh (URS) |
| 1987 |
Fairfax, VA |
Brian Ginsberg (USA) |
| 1988 |
Fairfax, VA |
Marius Toba (ROM) |
| 1989 |
Fairfax, VA |
Vitaly Marinitch (URS) |
| 1990 |
Fairfax, VA |
Alexander Kolyvanov (URS) |
| 1991 |
Orlando, FL |
Trent Dimas (USA) |
| 1992 |
Orlando, FL |
Jarrod Hanks (USA) |
| 1993 |
Orlando, FL |
 Vitaly Scherbo (BLR) |
| 1994 |
Orlando, FL |
Vitaly Scherbo (BLR) |
| 1995 |
Seattle, WA |
John Roethlisberger (USA) |
| 1996 |
Fort Worth, TX |
John Roethlisberger (USA) |
| 1997 |
Fort Worth, TX |
Blaine Wilson (USA) |
| 1998 |
Fort Worth, TX |
Blaine Wilson (USA) |
| 1999 |
St. Petersburg, FL |
Blaine Wilson (USA) |
| 2000 |
Orlando, FL |
 Eric Lopez Rios (CUB) |
| 2001 |
Orlando, FL |
Blaine Wilson (USA) |
| 2002 |
Orlando, FL |
Eric Lopez Rios (CUB) |
| 2003 |
Fairfax, VA |
Blaine Wilson (USA) |
| 2004 |
New York, NY |
Jason Gatson (USA) |
| 2005 |
Uniondale, NY |
VT: Jeffrey Wammes (NED)
HB: Yann Cucherat (FRA)
PB: Kazuya Ueda (JPN)
FX: Jeffrey Wammes (NED)
SR: Yuri Van Gelder (NED)
PH: Alexander Artemev (USA) |
| 2006 |
Philadelphia, PA |
Jonathan Horton (USA) |
| 2007 |
Jacksonville, FL |
Jonathan Horton (USA) |
| 2008 |
New York, NY |
Paul Hamm (USA) |
| 2009 |
Chicago, Il |
 Fabian Hambuechen (GER) |
| 2010 |
Worcester, MA |
Maxim Devyatovskiy (RUS) |
| 2011 |
Jacksonville, FL |
Jonathan Horton (USA) |
| 2012 |
New York, NY |
Danell Leyva (USA) |
| 2013 |
Worcester, MA |
Jake Dalton (USA) |
| 2014 |
Greensboro, NC |
Sam Mikulak (USA) |
| 2015 |
Arlington, TX |
Oleh Vernyayev (UKR) |
| 2016 |
Newark, NJ |
TBD |
In recent years the USA Gymnastics National Championships has been sponsored by various companies, and the event is typically named for the sponsoring company. Below is a list of past and present sponsors of the event, as well as the official name of the event during the period of sponsorship
| Year |
Sponsor |
Event Name |
| 1978-1979 |
Dial |
Dial American Cup |
| 1982-1996 |
McDonald's |
McDonald's American Cup |
| 1997-2004 |
VISA |
VISA American Cup |
| 2005 |
T.J. Maxx |
American Cup |
| 2006-2010 |
Tyson Foods |
Tyson American Cup |
| 2011-Present |
AT&T |
AT&T American Cup |
Nastia Liukin Cup
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Since 2010, the American Cup weekend has also seen the inclusion of a new event open exclusively to Level 10 J.O. female athletes, the Nastia Liukin Cup, named after Nastia Liukin.
See also
References
