Conference call: Notes and quotes from the U.S. women's World team

Ivana Hong recently had a bout of the flu, but is ready to go for Worlds, she said. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Members of the U.S. men's and women's World teams took time out from practice Monday to participate in a conference call with reporters from around the country, sharing their thoughts on the upcoming World Championships.

Here are some of the things the women's team (Bridget Sloan, Ivana Hong, Rebecca Bross and Kayla Williams) and National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi had to say:

-- What a difference a year makes! In 2008, Bridget Sloan was the youngest -- and least experienced -- member of the U.S. Olympic team. But in 2009, it's a much different story: Sloan is now the reigning U.S. Champion, a favorite for all-around gold in London and the undisputed leader of the U.S. women's World team.

Going into the World Championships, Sloan said she's feeling poised and prepared, but that she's also working to keep her head "on the ground."

"Every workout is another step closer to where I want to be," she said. "I'm just trying to make my routines as clean as possible."

Does she feel like a target now? "I've never really thought about being a target," she said. "I just go in wanting to hit my routines and do the best I can."

Will she compete the Amanar vault that she's been training? Probably not, she said.

-- Martha Karolyi said she liked the blend of an Olympian (Sloan), Olympic alternate (Hong), a new senior with quality international experience (Rebecca Bross, who competed as a senior at the 2007 Pan American Games) and a newcomer to the National Team (Kayla Williams, whose first National Team camp was the World Team selection) in the 2009 World Team.

"Bridget is in very good shape," Karolyi remarked. "She was the leader on both days of competition [at the selection meet]. Her routines showed world class."

Karolyi also noted that the all-arounders in London would be Sloan and Bross, though nothing has been set in stone.

When asked about the withdrawals of Olympic team members Nastia Liukin, Samantha Peszek and Chellsie Memmel, Karolyi said: "The withdrawals were the decision of the girls...nobody was disappointed, nobody was unsatisfied." She added that she thought it was great that for the first time in U.S. history the entire Olympic team has tried to stay in competition (or, in the case of Shawn Johnson, at least has not definitively announced their retirement.)

-- Ivana Hong recently had a bout of the flu (not swine flu, just regular flu) as well as some ankle pain. Both ailments slowed her down some, she said, but she's feeling fine now and ready to go to Worlds. Hong stressed having a positive attitude as one of the things that helped her through the selection camps.

"We've been working hard, wanting to represent Team USA as best as possible," she added.

"Ivana's attitude is much more confident this year," Karolyi noted. "I can see that in her routines, getting better and better."

-- Kayla Williams confirmed that the vaults she's planning to do at Worlds are indeed an Amanar and a layout Rudi.

The last five months, in which she transitioned from J.O. (Level 10) National Champion to U.S. vault champion to World Team member, have been a "whirlwind," she said. A good whirlwind, though.

"This summer has been kind of crazy and hectic for me," she said. "I've loved every minute of it."

-- One reporter asked Karolyi how much stock she put in these World Championships, given that they're the first of the quadrennium. "You ever single time put up the best girls who are best prepared," she answered. "Anytime you go out there you want to do your very best...there is no such thing as an unimportant competition."

"I think these girls are international class," she added. "We will set the tone for this upcoming quadrennium."

-- Bross, too, has been dealing with ankle issues.

"My ankle was hurt at [Visa] Championships," she said. "But now it's very good."

-- Sloan on school: Her teachers have become accustomed to her periodic absences and are used to working with her about them, she said. This time she told them she may not be back until Oct. 20. "Their eyes got a little big," she noted.

-- Bross on nerves: "You have to use them to your advantage and put them to good use and not let them get you down." Sounds a bit like Johnson, who told the media in 2008 that she didn't believe there was such a thing as bad nerves.

-- Consistency is key, Karolyi stressed. "We want this to be a good experience," she added. How has the code of points changed? someone asked her.

"Preciseness in execution," Karolyi answered. "More technical execution, ability." There are a few deductions in the code of points for artistry that didn't exist before, she added.

-- I asked Sloan about college. (Is that breaking some sort of protocol, I wondered. Certainly we should just stick to talking about Worlds.) Fortunately, she answered the question.

"I've definitely been thinking about it," she said. But at the same time, she's a junior in high school, and very focused right now on the London Worlds.

Apparently, NCAA coaches have been thinking about her, too. Some have sent her some things, she said, and don't worry if she's slow to get back to them.

"They've been great with understanding what my goal is right now," she said.