GYMNASTICS : Moceanu Leads Women, but Men Very Dismal

After the 1996 Olympics there will be no compulsory exercises in gymnastics, those boring, pre-fabricated routines that are about as entertaining as lawn bowling. The U.S. women, having somewhat perfected the requirements, performed them well overall in the first round of competition Friday night at the World Championship team trials at the Frank Erwin Center, though it was Dominique Moceanu who performed them best.

Moceanu, of Houston, leads Shannon Miller of Edmond, Okla., by less than .1 of a point. The score is weighted using 30% from the national championships, where Moceanu beat Miller by .2 of a point. Veterans Dominique Dawes of Silver Spring, Md., and Kerri Strug of Tucson also are in good position to make the team.

Jaycie Phelps of Cincinnati withdrew because of an injury but can still make the team with her score from nationals. After that, it will be a dog fight. The top seven after tonight’s optionals for the men and women will advance to Sabae, Japan, Oct. 1-10 for the world championships.

“It’s a long way over there but I’m happy to get to go and represent the U.S.,” said Moceanu, 13, the youngest national champion.

It has been speculated, however, that Coach Bela Karolyi won’t let Moceanu compete in Japan. It is a strategy he used in 1983 when he kept Mary Lou Retton out of the world championships and saved her for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Apparently, it was a good move.

But Karolyi said he cannot do that this time, even though he sees the situation as a potential nightmare.

“I will not hold her back, because I cannot see a valid replacement for her on the team,” Karolyi said. “But I strongly feel this could be a difficult thing. If she doesn’t do well, there can be some backlash. And if she does well, there may be too much visibility for her going into Atlanta. But this is different than in 1983. We [the women’s team] had no prestige then. Now we have prestige, so that makes it different.”

The men need another strategy altogether. Their performance Friday was dismal. They started falling off the apparatuses early and never recovered.

Mihai Bagiu of Gold Cup Gymnastics won the compulsories, but still trails John Roethlisberger of the University of Minnesota in the weighted scored by a more than a point. The UCLA trio of Chainey Umphrey, Steve McCain and Chris Waller finished last, respectively, out of the group of 16.

Waller is still recovering from an injury. But the men’s program seems to be running out of excuses. They have to finish in the top 12 at the world championships to qualify for the Olympics.

“If we don’t qualify for Atlanta, it will be the end of men’s gymnastics in this country,” said Paul Ziert, former coach at Oklahoma and publisher of International Gymnast magazine.