While he still has a long way to go, Justin Spring can breath a little easier now.

Spring’s spot on the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team was retained Tuesday by the Men’s Program Committee (MPC), USA Gymnastics announced in a press release.

The decision lifts a weight off Spring’s shoulders, as he has been rehabilitating his right knee for nearly a year after tearing his ACL at last year’s Visa Championships.

He was named to the team after the 2007 Winter Cup Challenge, but faced the possibility of losing it after this year’s Challenge.

“I had my spot until this Winter Cup,” Spring said on Tuesday. “My spot was up and we submitted a petition showing where I’m at with my events, just saying I’ll be ready in three months. I think I deserve a spot. Fortunately, there are some strong believers on the MPC who make choices who think that I’m strong enough and talented enough and will be ready in time to be a good contender for the Olympic team.”

The MPC chooses both the Senior National team and the Olympic team. The committee’s decision marks the second year in a row that Spring has been selected to the team while dealing with an injured knee.

He will continue to rehabilitate until May when he will head back to the Visa Championships and then to the Olympic trials. The two events combined determine the eight-person Olympic team, which includes two alternates that Spring calls “the worst spots in the world.”

“You train so hard and get ready, it’s almost better not to be a part of it if you are an alternate,” he said. “You get to be up close and personal with everything you want to be a part of, but you aren’t.”

Spring admits that he isn’t ahead of where he would like to be in the rehabilitation process but had a “breakthrough” practice on Monday, doing “full-on tumbling” for the first time in 6 1/2 months.

“That was a big mental and physical barrier for me,” he said in a more deliberate, serious tone while rubbing his right knee. “Doing some of the things that are the worst for your knee, I was worried about that, but it was something that I broke down yesterday. But there seems to be a lot of that happening lately.”

Such progress would seem enough reason for anyone to breathe a sigh of relief.