American Cup DCU Center - Worcester, MA

My boyfriend surprised me with tickets to the American Cup Gymnastics event, which was being held in Worcester, Massachusetts at the DCU Center this year. I am a huge gymnastics fan and have never been to a competition before, so I was really excited. I was disappointed that Kyla Ross (Olympic medalist and one of the Fierce Five) did not compete due to an injury. However, she did do a balance beam routine for the audience before the awards ceremony.

I was impressed by the talent of the 2 winning competitors (Katelyn Ohashi and Jake Dalton – both from the US) as well as several other competitors including: Vanessa Ferrari from Italy, Elizabeth Seitz from Germany, and Victoria Moors from Canada). The other US competitor: Simone Biles is a powerful gymnast. She made a few mistakes, but still came in second due to the difficulty of her routines.

I preferred the women’s gymnastics over the men’s. I find the pommel horse and men’s floor routines quite boring. However, it was a great time watching the men’s high bar (wow the release moves are incredible) and parallel bar routines up close (our seats were right behind the bars! Plenty of TV time too!).
American Cup gymnastics men's high bar

The DCU Center – Great place to watch an event!

Unfortunately, 2 of my favorite events the women’s beam and men’s rings were on the other side of the center – we could still see okay, but not enough to observe precise movements. The DCU center is nice because of the small size – almost every seat is decent. There weren’t any horrible seats, so even people sitting in the upper level had a great time. I am happy that we had seats in the 1st level because it was more exciting being located so close to 2 of the events.

There were special appearances by Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman which really got the crowds excited. It was such a great experience to be able to see the athletes from all the countries compete, over just watching it on TV and only seeing the competitors from your home country. I enjoyed watching the athletes compete on all events in all rounds of the competition. The meet ran about 3 and a half hours (compared to the edited 2 hour TV version).

Not all sporting events are worth attending in person; in fact, some you are better off watching at home. The American Cup Gymnastics is worth seeing in person – the routines really are even more incredible in person. Plus, it is fun to see all the international gymnasts compete as oppose to just a few of the top competitors.

American Cup Competitors - Women

2013 AT&T American Cup Final Results

Men’s Results

1st place – Jacob Dalton (USA)

2nd place – Oleg Verniaiev (Ukraine)

3rd place – Marcel Nguyen (Germany)

4th place – Hiroki Ishikawa (Japan)

5th place – Kristian Thomas (Great Britain)

6th place – Danell Leyva (USA)

7th place – Sergio Sasaki Junior (Brazil)

8th place – Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez (Columbia)

Women’s Results

1st place – Katelyn Ohaski (USA)

2nd place – Simone Biles (USA)

3rd place – Victoria Moors (Canada)

4th place – Elisabeth Seitz (Germany)

5th place – Vanessa Ferrari (Italy)

6th place – Gabrielle Jupp (Great Britain)

7th place – Asuka Terramoto (Japan)

8th place – Maegan Chant (Canada)

More to do in Worcester

While you are in the vicinity, be sure to explore the wonderful Worcester Art Museum. Also, for great local dining check out O’Connors Restaurant and Pub, serving some of the best Irish food in the state.