WORLD SPORTS SCENE : Gymnasts Reluctantly Chase Gold

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team has never won a gold medal in the World Championships, and Coach Bela Karolyi doesn’t know if nine months before the Summer Olympics is a good time to do it.

Karolyi, who seems to have a strategy for everything, believes the women’s chances of winning the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta next summer may be jeopardized if they win in October at Sabae, Japan.

“If the team wins, there will be tremendous excitement and great pride, but it will put an incredible amount of pressure and responsibility to carry back here--a nightmare for the next nine months,” said Karolyi, who coaches U.S. champion Dominique Moceanu.

“But if we perform under average, it will be considered a weakness, a drop of our standards, and that could carry over to the Olympics.

“If I had a magic force, we would take second or third place in the [World] team competition and pick up the gold medals in the event finals.”

The American women finished second to the Romanians in the 1994 World Championships, but the Russians should not be counted out for the gold medal this time. Led by Svetlana Khorkina, the Russians’ artistry and precision has not diminished significantly since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

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The U.S. men will be without two of their top gymnasts in Japan. Bill Roth and UCLA’s Scott Keswick are injured.

Keswick has been recovering from back surgery, and his absence in the UCLA gym has been felt.

“Scott is always dedicated,” said Yefim Furman, who coaches the club at UCLA with Art Shurlock. “He complains if somebody is not doing something right. It’s a big factor that he’s not there. But I can’t explain what happened [in Austin, Tex.]. We were ready, we were prepared.”

Of the UCLA gymnasts who competed in the World Championship trials last weekend at Austin, only Steve McCain came close to making the seven-man team. He fell on his last event and finished 10th.

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In an unusual competition Friday at Pullman, Wash., three-time world champion Dan O’Brien won a one-hour decathlon by almost 1,000 points--7,958-6,962--over 1992 Olympic champion Robert Zmelik of the Czech Republic.

The only suspense was whether the third competitor, former California NCAA and Pac-10 champion Chris Huffins, would finish all 10 events within the allotted time. He did, by 10 seconds. He scored 5,910 points but might have challenged for the $10,000 second prize if he had posted a height in the high jump.

O’Brien won $25,000. He was scheduled to compete Thursday and Friday in the DecaStar at Talence, France, the world’s most prestigious invitational decathlon, but withdrew Tuesday because of an injured left knee.

World Scene Notes

Chinese swimmer Le Jingyi, the world champion and world-record holder in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles, lost at 50 meters to Na Chao in last week’s Chinese championships at Beijing. Although she returned to defeat Na in the 100, Le initially failed to qualify for the final, advancing only by default. . . . Former Olympic pairs skater Natalie Seybold, 29, is recovering from Aug. 24 surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. Doctors had to take apart cheek, eye and head bones to reach the tumor on her brain stem. She does not know whether she can resume skating. . . . Tim Leiweke, former president of the Denver Nuggets, was named head of U.S. Skiing.

The Humane Society of the United States wants Olympic officials to cancel the three-day equestrian competition next year or move it to a cooler climate. Humane Society officials believe the horses will be at risk because of the hot and humid conditions in Atlanta. . . . Sergei Bubka won his fifth world championship in the pole vault this summer and no doubt will be ranked No. 1 in the world for 1995, but he may not be the favorite for the Olympic gold medal next summer at Atlanta. South African Okkert Brits beat him for the second consecutive time Saturday in the Grand Prix final at Monte Carlo. “I have arrived,” said Brits, 22.

Times staff writer Randy Harvey contributed to this story.