Former Illini gymnastics standout and four-time national champion Justin Spring added another honor to his list of accolades Tuesday. Spring was named to the 2006 USA Men’s World Championships team, which will be held Oct. 14-22 in Aarhus Denmark, USA Gymnastics announced.

Spring’s nomination to the team didn’t come easily though. The Nissen-Emery Award winner suffered an ankle injury while competing at the World Cup in Belgium in May and then sat out the U.S. Championships that wrapped up this week. In order to repeat as a member of the World Team, he petitioned for a spot on the six-member squad.

“Under the circumstances of not being able to compete at the U.S. Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota due to injury and having to petition for a spot on the team, this is a great honor,” Spring said in a press release. “It is a great feeling to know that the committee has that much faith and confidence in me.”

Spring is familiar with the petitioning process for the World Team. Last year, a minor neck strain forced Spring out of the second day of competition, but was chosen for the team based on his numbers from the previous day of competition. Spring said USA Gymnastics looks at each gymnast “in every possible way, from character to performance” when choosing its team.

The 2006 U.S. World Team includes U.S. all-around champion Alexander Artemov (Team Chevron), Guillermo Alvarez (Team Chevron), Jonathan Horton (University of Oklahoma), Clay Strother (Team Chevron) and Kevin Tan (Team Chevron). The alternates are David Durante (Team Chevron) and David Sender (Stanford University).

“Being named to the team has given me a lot more confidence and motivation to go out there and do my best,” Spring said in a press release. “I want to prove that they made the best choice in picking me for the team.”

After the World Championships, Spring, a 14-time All-American, will be back working with Illini Gymnastics as an intern coach during the 2006-07 season.