By Jo-Ann Barnas

PITTSBURGH – This he knows: Tonight will be a special evening for Blaine Wilson at Consol Energy Center.

For the first time since he walked off the floor after coming back from retirement a second time in 2008, Wilson will be in attendance at the P&G Gymnastics Championships.

“It’s been a while,” said Wilson, who was among six individuals inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame this afternoon. “I haven’t been to a USA Championships since ’08 when I walked off the floor. It’s special being back.”

Wilson’s gymnastics career is studded with highlights. The former Ohio State gymnast won five straight U.S. senior men’s all-around titles beginning in 1996. He was a member of three Olympic teams – in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Wilson said Friday that probably his proudest moment in the sport came in 2004, when he helped the U.S. Olympic men’s team to a silver medal 4 1Ž2 months after tearing a left biceps tendon.

“Coming back after I blew out the tendon in 2004, and the adversity, I really pushed through it,” he said.

Today, Wilson is an owner and coach at Integrity Gymnastics in Marysville, Ohio.

“Trying to help others accomplish their goals,” Wilson said.