Alicia Sacramone plans to return for 2010 U.S. Championships

October 23, 3:39 AMGymnastics ExaminerBlythe Lawrence

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2008 Olympic silver medalist Alicia Sacramone hopes tocompete at the 2010 U.S. Championships, she told the Hartford Current this week.

Sacramone, who is from the Boston area, made an appearance in Hartford, Conn. Thursday to help promote the meet, which will be held Aug. 11-14 at the city's XL Center.

The 21-year-old also reflected on her disappointments in Beijing, where she fell on balance beam and floor exercise in team finals, despite being the oldest and one of the most experienced members of the 2008 Olympic Team. Sacramone rebounded well in the vault final, hitting both of her vaults, but finished fourth overall.

"It's still like a little wound you have," she told The Courant. "But it's a motivating factor now. I'm still proud of the performance I did. It wasn't my best, but that point in time, it was the best I could compete.

Sacramone announced plans to return just before the 2009 U.S. Championships in Dallas, where she worked as an in-house radio commentator with 2000 Olympian Steve McCain. "My body is so hating me for this," she said at the time.

Sacramone, who spent last summer interning with clothing design company Tank Farm in Los Angeles, said she was moving back to Boston to train with longtime coach Mihai Brestyan this fall. She also said she hoped to transfer from Brown University to somewhere closer to her gym.

Sacramone is likely heartened by Kayla Williams's 2009 World vault championship win last week in London, where Williams, 16, easily won using the same two vaults Sacramone competed during the last quad (double-twisting Yurchenko and layout Rudi).

However, Sacramone may find herself more challenged by up-and-coming vault specalists if 2012 is indeed her goal -- 13-year-olds McKayla Maroney landed an Amanar (2.5 twisting Yurchenko) at the 2009 U.S. Championships, Jordyn Wieber did it at the American Cup, and Williams and 2009 World all-aorund champion Bridget Sloan have both been training the vault. Sacramone was also working the vault in 2008.