U.S. women gymnasts flirt with the idea of being a dynasty
If the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team is to remain a modern-day dynasty, does it require just a tweak or substantial modification?
The answers will start to become clear on Sunday when the women take the spotlight with team qualifications at Rio Olympic Arena. First up are the men on Saturday with London returnees Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva.
Not only are the American women long on star power, they possess substantial experience. Gabby Douglas, the all-around gold medalist in London, and Aly Raisman return from the gold-medal-winning team in 2012. The frontwoman, this time, happens to be Simone Biles, the three-time world champion.
Gymnastics icon Mary Lou Retton, the star of the 1984 Olympics, said that Biles was the best she had seen. “Especially with the way the sport has evolved with the code of points,” said Retton, referring to the scoring system that rewards greater degree of difficulty. “She is perfect for that. She’s going to have that Olympic title. She’s just gotta show up. It’s hers.”
Biles’ first order of business is the team event. The U.S. is heavily favored, attempting to become the first to go back to back since Romania did it in 2000 and 2004. Romania, which was third in London, did not qualify for the team event in Rio.
The natural turnover in team make-up, directed by national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, does not lend itself to the conventional definition of a dynasty. In addition to Biles, there two other newcomers in Rio: 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez and uneven bars specialist Madison Kocian.
“They just spit out new girls left and right,” said Mikulak, the reigning national men’s champion. “I don’t know how much of a dynasty it is. You could go with the dynasty of the Karolyis.
“It’s going to be the end of that dynasty now.”
Martha Karolyi will be retiring after the Olympics. The vaunted taskmaster, and wife of the legendary Bela Karolyi, is showing no signs of easing off or shying away from making a difficult call: possibly leaving Hernandez out of the all-around competition.
Hernandez, who was second to Biles at the trials and third at nationals, may be the odd one out on the uneven bars during the qualification round on Sunday. Karolyi said in the interview area after podium training that a decision had not yet been made.
More telling was that Maggie Haney, the coach of Hernandez, looked devastated in the interview area, which spoke volumes about the situation. Only two gymnasts, per country, can compete in the all-around event.
“As close as you can get to applying as much pressure as possible, that’s her plan,” Mikulak said of Karolyi.
“It works very well. It’s definitely big shoes to fill.”
Karolyi’s approach has worked well with the likes of Douglas, who struggled at trials in San Jose. Her past resume and big-event moxie were among the reasons Karolyi put her on the team. Karolyi seemed certain Douglas would prosper and hit another level after a recent nine-day training camp at Karolyi’s ranch.
“It really pushes us to do our best,” Douglas said. “She kind of has us in her little bubble. And we’re in our bubble. She just whips us into shape. I feel really good, especially knowing she believes in me.”
The day after trials, Douglas’ mother, Natalie Hawkins decided to go public that her daughter had a right knee injury before World Championships last year and had gone through “some pretty insane things.”
Douglas looked slightly miffed that her mother had given up that information. She quickly got over it but it was more difficult to deal with criticism on social media after making the team.
“Martha has definitely helped me a lot and believed in me,” Douglas said. “… I didn’t have my best at trials. Everyone makes mistakes. After trials, it was hard because there was a lot of negativity.
“I feel I always have to prove myself.”
Douglas is back for another shot at owning the podium. The U.S. women were wearing red leotards with an overload of sparkle during podium training.
“I like it,” said Douglas. “Shining bright and standing out.”
Why not? Just use that time-honored phrase to name the team: Bling Dynasty.
lisa.dillman@latimes.com
Twitter: @reallisa
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