No Petition Process for Men

While Shannon Miller and Dominique Moceanu sit and wait, hoping to petition their way into the Olympics, all the top American male gymnasts are entered in today’s opening round of U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in Boston because for them, it’s the only road that leads to Atlanta.

No petition process is available to the men, according to men’s program director Ron Galimore, because “our committee decided this was the best way to ensure a solid, competitive Olympic team. . . . The fact that the Games are so close, we had concerns about gymnasts with injuries [now] not being physically prepared for Olympic competition.”

Or, as U.S. men’s Coach Peter Kormann put it, “You cannot petition onto the men’s team--you have to make it.”

Thus, four-time national champion John Roethlisberger is in Boston, along with 1996 national champion Blaine Wilson and 12 others bidding for seven spots on the men’s Olympic team. Men’s compulsory competition will be held tonight at the FleetCenter, with optional competition scheduled for Saturday.

Women’s compulsories will be held Friday night, with optionals Sunday. Miller, the 1996 national champion, and Moceanu, the 1995 U.S. titlist, will not compete because of injuries, availing themselves of the women’s petition process. Instead, their national scores--78.38 for Miller, 78.22 for Moceanu--will be entered among the results. If their scores rank in the top seven, Miller and Moceanu will earn berths on the women’s Olympic team.