Scherbo Not One to Watch, He’s Just Glad to Be Watched

Where were the traditional post-meet cigarette and beer? Where was the customarily brash, after-the-fact analysis, which has been known to rankle opponents and teammates in a multitude of translations?

More to the point, where was Vitaly Scherbo, defending gymnastics king of the Summer Olympics?

Monday night, Scherbo was in no mood to critique, assess, jab or joke for the benefit of the international sporting media, so, uncharacteristically, he blew off all interview requests.

Uncharacteristic, yet understandable.

It had been a rough go for Scherbo, winner of an unprecedented six gymnastics gold medals at the 1992 Olympics, in Monday’s optional team finals. The country for which he now competes, Belarus, failed to win a medal. Scherbo himself fell off the pommel horse and failed to qualify for two of the six individual apparatus finals.

And, in tonight’s all-around competition, Scherbo is no longer considered the man to beat, or fear. Russia’s Alexei Nemov, who had the best individual score during compulsory exercises, is the touted new young gun of these Games. And China’s Li Xiaoshuang, the world champion, won his title last October by beating Scherbo by more than half a point.

But Scherbo suffered the worst indignity in the aftermath of those 1995 World Championships, when Li anointed Nemov as his new chief threat and rival, advising Scherbo to go back into the gym and work on his rings routine.

Scherbo’s arid response then was: “I still have a year until the Olympics.”

And, now, there are different priorities.

Just before these Games, Scherbo said, “I don’t care about this Chinese guy and I will not be even caring if he will win. I will not be angry.”

Because no matter how many times he falls from the pommel horse or fails to dazzle on the rings, his every move will be watched by his wife, Irina--an achievement that eclipses anything Scherbo ever accomplished inside a gym.

Last December, Irina was nearly killed in an automobile accident outside the Scherbos’ adopted home in State College, Pa. Her car hit a telephone pole, split in half alongside the driver’s seat and left her trapped for 2 1/2 hours before firemen could cut her out of the vehicle.

She spent a month in a coma and underwent three operations to repair a broken pelvis, seven broken ribs and a torn spleen.

Scherbo immediately suspended training to attend to his wife’s recovery and rehabilitation and look after their young daughter, Kristina.

He says he “did everything for Irina,” including washing and bathing her, cutting her hair, feeding her and helping with her physical therapy.

When she was able, Irina returned the favor. In January, Scherbo was considering retirement. He was out of shape, had been drinking heavily and had put on 15 pounds. He had greater concerns than adding degree of difficulty to his floor exercise.

Irina persuaded Vitaly to resume his training and prepare for one more Olympics. She knew what Atlanta and a second chance at Li meant to him.

So she pushed him back. And since his return, Scherbo has won four gold medals at the European Championships, including the all-around, and another in the floor exercise in the World Championships in Puerto Rico in April.

“She asked me just to finish my career in a good way,” Scherbo said in Puerto Rico. “So I promised to do everything to make her happy. She asked me . . . on the phone for a spring present. I said, ‘If you want that, I’ll do it for you.’ ”

Tonight, Irina will have a seat at the Georgia Dome when Scherbo tries to become the first male gymnast to win consecutive all-around gold medals since Japan’s Sawao Kato in 1968 and 1972. He is not the favorite, but how important is that?

All that matters, Scherbo says, is that he will not be out there alone.

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VITALY SCHERBO

By the Numbers

Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus is the most-decorated Olympic gymnast in history, winning six gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Scherbo was a gold medal short of tying Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals, won in swimming, at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

A golden Career

* 1993 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Won four gold medals.

* 1994 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Won gold in the vault, horizontal bars and floor exercise. He finished third in the all-around.

* BARCELONA 1992

Won gold in the vault, rings, pommel horse and parallel bars. He also took team as well as all-around gold.