Okino Among 7 Named to U.S. Team

Betty Okino, 17, of Houston and Michelle Campi, 15, of Carmichael, Calif., fought back from recent injuries and earned two of seven berths on the U.S Olympic women’s gymnastics team that was announced Thursday night.

The squad was named by a vote of the coaches of the participating gymnasts after a two-day training camp in Tampa, Fla. The six-member team and alternate will be decided before the team arrives in Barcelona.

Okino returned to competition at the training camp after recovering from a broken vertebra suffered in April. Campi had dislocated her elbow at the U.S. gymnastics trials in June.

Bela Karolyi, who trains three gymnasts on the team, was selected head coach. At his gym in Houston, Karolyi coaches Okino, world champion Kim Zmeskal, 16, and Kerri Strug, 14. Karolyi’s wife, Martha, and Steve Nunno, who coaches Shannon Miller, 15, of Edmond, Okla, will assist Karolyi.

Also making the team were Dominique Dawes, 15, of Silver Spring, Md., and Wendy Bruce, 19, of Orlando, Fla. If Dawes competes in Barcelona, she will be the first black American female gymnast to compete in the Olympics.