Gymnast D.J. Bucher, 18 of Mason practices for Queen City Gymnastics Friday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Twice DJ Bucher has been this close to making the U.S. Senior Gymnastics Team. Twice he has come up short, by a total of .6 of a point.

        “I would really like to make it this time,” said Bucher, Queen City Gymnastics' best hope at the U.S. Gymnastic Championships Aug.7-10 in Cleveland. “I went back and worked on my form, and I feel more comfortable with my routine now.”

        Bucher is arguably one of the best male gymnasts ever to come out of Cincinnati. He has competed in four international events for the U.S. junior team, including a fourth-place all-around finish at the Pacific Alliance Championships in Vancouver earlier this year. If he makes the U.S. team, he will be the first male gymnast from Cincinnati to do so, said Bucher's coach, Keith Pettit.

        Bucher, 18, who is entering his senior year at Mason High School, plans to delay college for at least a year so he can train for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

        “That was a hard decision because I had to turn down some college coaches,” Bucher said. “But I also didn't want to let down my current coach and go to the Olympics with another coach.”

        First he has to make the U.S. team, which he tried to do twice last year — the first time finishing .2 and one spot from that goal and the second finishing .4 and one spot away. He was one of three junior-level athletes trying to make the senior national team and finished first among them.

        Earning a spot on the U.S. team would enable Bucher to gain international meet experience and compete against more experienced gymnasts.

        “The senior level is all college athletes,” said Bucher's mother, Natalie Bucher. “If they're not in college, they usually reside at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and train.”

        A former gymnast, Natalie Bucher introduced DJ to gymnastics when he was 3 years old.

        “I noticed he had tremendous upper-body strength,” she said. “I didn't even dream of the things he's doing now, though. The coaches knew from the moment he walked into the gym that he would do great things. It amazes me.”

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