Summertime? Summer Games

The 2008 Olympics are not so far away, and USA Gymnastics is already gearing up.

It has teamed with AT&T to do a series of online videos about the sport in the States. Three episodes are already linked up, and in the first one, you’ll notice a nice dose of Oklahoma flavor.

Olympic hopeful Jonathan Horton appears. The Oklahoma Sooner is one of the favorites to make the team and be on his way to Beijing next year.

By the way, the hopefuls who appear in the video are not identified, so you’ll have to make sure you know what Horton looks like before watching.

Also seen on the video, Shannon Miller.

Videos No. 2 and 3 focus on the women’s team. There are shots of Nadia Comanechi, now married to Bart Conner and living in Oklahoma, as well as Steve Nunno, who coached Miller.

The first video’s a little long — running time is around 5 minutes — but the other two are in the one- to two-minute range.

I hope the focus of the series turns eventually toward the men’s team. While Oklahoma’s deep gymnastic roots are strongly tied to Shannon Miller, the state has a more lengthy history in the men’s history. Plus, this might give some of you a first look at Horton, who is really amazing to watch.