San Jose has been awarded the 2012 U.S. gymnastics trials, landing one of the premier events before the London Games while also increasing Silicon Valley's Olympic sports profile.

USA Gymnastics officials made the announcement Monday in a news conference at San Jose City Hall, saying the men's and women's trials are scheduled for June 28-July 1, 2012 at HP Pavilion, site of the 2007 Visa national championships.

The event will help put the South Bay on the Olympic sports map considering HP Pavilion also is the site of the 2012 figure skating national championships. San Jose State was used as the "processing center" for American Olympians sent to Beijing in '08.

But the city has never held an Olympic-related event of this magnitude. The gymnastics trials are considered one of the United States' three major selection meets with swimming and track and field.

"It is our crown jewel," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "You want to be working with partners who understand that and who know how to handle the crown jewels."

San Jose officials won the bid because of their work on events such as the 2004 Olympic trials for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline, the 2008 Pacific Rim gymnastics championships and the 2003 Titan Games involving a handful of Olympic sports.

Also, the Visa championships in '07 — a year before the Beijing Games — produced record ticket sales.

"That was a huge statement about the level

of support we'd get from the community," Penny said. "What makes this great is when you've worked together a few times already it makes it easier to take it to the next level."

The bid involved officials from the city, the San Jose Sports Authority and Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, which runs the Sharks and HP Pavilion.

Greg Jamison, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, said bringing the trials to San Jose is a complement to the city's ability to produce big events.

USA Gymnastics plans to turn the Olympic trials into a community affair similar in feel to a Final Four or Super Bowl.

"We're going to take a few tricks out of the Olympic Games bag and make it special for San Jose," Penny said.

The drama, however, will be focused on a gymnastics meet that comes less than a month before the opening ceremonies in London. Coaches selected the previous two Olympic women's teams at a training camp after the trials. With so little time between the trials and the Olympics it's possible the full team will be named after competing in San Jose.

While 2012 selection procedures haven't been finalized, "we understand the value of selecting as many athletes as we can at the trials," Penny said.

Some of the contenders might have local connections as Stanford and Cal have become collegiate powers in men's gymnastics. Five from the schools have been members of recent senior national teams: Cal's Kyle Bunthuwong and Glen Ishino and Stanford's Alex Buscaglia, Tim Gentry and Sho Nakamori.

Competition to make the teams should be fierce because the International Gymnastics Federation has reduced Olympic squads from six athletes to five. The change will make the trials much more pressure-packed as coaches try to figure out who will best help the United States remain a world leader.

U.S. women have won more Olympic and world medals than any other country with 50; Romania (29) is second.