Horton Aims to Match Conner
July 27, 2008 NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- They competed in different generations, but one significant factor links Bart Conner and Jonathan Horton - their alma mater, the University of Oklahoma. Horton, the most successful gymnast to come out of the university since Conner, has broken a good number of Conner's school records and would love to match the man he grew up following when he competes on the U.S. team during next month's Olympics in Beijing. "People are always comparing me to guys like Bart Conner," Horton said Friday while training inside Oklahoma's Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center. "Talk about legacy. That guy, he accomplished everything. He won national championships at OU and represented this school like nobody else has ever done by going to the Olympics and winning a gold medal. "He's got that on me right now ... I look at a guy like him and I (say), 'OK, now I've got to get a gold medal like him.' Knowing that I've taken a walk in his shoes, representing the school the way he's done it, feels incredible." Horton was picked for the U.S. team after a strong showing in last month's Olympic trials in Philadelphia. He and other team members spent 10 days earlier this month training in Colorado Springs, Colo. Horton returned to Oklahoma earlier this week to begin his final preparations. Click the links below from OU's "Bound for Beijing" page to read more on Horton and the 2008 Olympics.
 • Jonathan Horton might have hit his face on the high bar one too many times. You see, if you ask him about injuries, the Olympic gymnast says he's been blessed. • The 2008 Summer Olympics are set to be begin in less than three weeks and former Sooner Jonathan Horton met with local members of the media one last time in Norman before the U.S. Men's Gymnastics team departs on July 29 for Beijing.  • Horton and head coach Mark Williams are interviewed as Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics holds a going-away party for the Olympian.
  
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