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Moldauer, Modi will compete in 2017 AT&T American Cup


INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Feb. 19, 2017 – By finishing first and second at the 2017 Winter Cup Challenge, Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma, and Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./Stanford University, will represent the USA at the 2017 AT&T American Cup, which is the USA’s most prestigious international invitational and part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s all-around World Cup series that is slated for March 4 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Based on performances at the 2017 Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., the Men’s Program Committee of USA Gymnastics also named the two men who will compete in the two remaining events in the FIG’s all-around World Cup Series in Stuttgart, Germany, and London, Great Britain.  

The men’s spring international assignments are as follows:

AT&T American Cup, March 4, Newark, N.J.
Yul Moldauer, Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma
Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J./Stanford University

World Cup, Stuttgart, Germany, March 19
Allan Bower, Mesa, Ariz./University of Oklahoma

World Cup, London, Great Britain, April 8
Donnell Whittenburg, Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center

For the AT&T American Cup, Moldauer replaces Sam Mikulak of Corona del Mar, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center, who was injured at the Winter Cup.  Modi is filling a wild card spot in the field of nine men. 2016 Olympic replacement athlete Ragan Smith of Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams, is also representing the USA, and the second U.S. woman will be determined following the upcoming national team training camp.  All U.S. athletes are expected to show competitive readiness prior to the event.

The field for the AT&T American Cup is below.

Men
China: Sun Wei
Great Britain: Sam Oldham
Germany:  Lukas Dauser
Japan:  Ryohei Kato
Netherlands:  Bart Deurloo
Switzerland:  Eddy Yusof
Ukraine:  Oleg Vernaiev
USA:  Yul Moldauer, Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma
USA:  Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J./Stanford University

Women
Australia: Emily Whitehead
China:  Xie Yufen
France:  Melanie De Jesus dos Santos
Great Britain: Rebecca Tunney
Germany:  Kim Bui
Japan:  Asuka Teramoto
Netherlands: Tisha Volleman
USA:  Ragan Smith, Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams
USA:  Wildcard, to be determined

AT&T American Cup tickets range in price from $39-$255. The platinum ($255) ticket also includes a reserved seat for the Nastia Liukin Cup and Elite Team Cup. Tickets may be purchased through Prudential Center’s box office, ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, or at all Ticketmaster outlets. For group sales (10+ people) information, please call Prudential Center’s Group Sales department at 973-757-6250. For additional information, please go to attamericancup.com. Tickets for the Nastia Liukin Cup and Elite Team Cup are on sale now also.

The AT&T American Cup is the USA’s most prestigious international invitational, and this is the second straight year the one-day all-around competition will be at Prudential Center. This marks only the second time since 2002 that the AT&T American Cup will be held at the same arena in consecutive years. Prudential Center has also hosted both the 2016 and 2012 Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions.

The impressive list of former American Cup champions includes: Simone Biles, Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, Gabby Douglas, Paul Hamm, Jonathan Horton, Shawn Johnson, Danell Leyva, Nastia Liukin, Sam Mikulak, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Mary Lou Retton, Kurt Thomas, Peter Vidmar, Jordyn Wieber and Kim Zmeskal-Burdette. Past sites for the American Cup include: New York, N.Y. (1976-80, 1982-84, 2004, 2008, 2012); Ft. Worth, Texas (1981, 1996-98); Indianapolis, Ind. (1985); Fairfax, Va. (1986-90, 2003); Orlando, Fla. (1991-94, 2000-02); Seattle, Wash. (1995); St. Petersburg, Fla. (1999); Uniondale, N.Y. (2005); Philadelphia, Pa. (2006); Jacksonville, Fla. (2007, 2011); Hoffman Estates, Ill. (2009); Worcester, Mass. (2010, 2013); Greensboro, N.C. (2014); Arlington, Texas (2015); and Newark, N.J. (2016-17).