Zmeskal Back on Beam After Six-Year Absence

Kim Zmeskal, the 1992 Olympian whose disappointing performance in Barcelona was symbolized by a fall from the balance beam, is making a comeback at 22.

The John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis this week are her first major competition since Barcelona.

“Well, I’ve matured for sure. I’m not the little pixie 16-year-old that I was, but I feel very in shape right now,” said Zmeskal, who won the World Championships at 15 in 1991 and was a three-time U.S. champion.

“One of my teammates is 12 years old, and it’s kind of strange when I think about the numbers--12 and 22, that’s a humongous difference.”

Zmeskal is one of three past national champions competing in Indianapolis. The others are ’95 all-around champion Dominique Moceanu, the 1996 Olympian who recently won the all-around gold at the Goodwill Games, and Vanessa Atler, 16, the 1997 co-champion from Canyon Country who won the vault and floor exercise at the Goodwill Games.

The other top women’s competitor is Kristen Maloney, 17, who was the USA Gymnastics 1997 gymnast of the year and won the balance beam at the Goodwill Games.

Zmeskal, a former student of Bela Karolyi, was supposed to be the Mary Lou Retton of Barcelona but stumbled under the pressure, finishing 10th.

She has tried to come back before, aiming for the 1996 Atlanta Games, but major knee surgery derailed that attempt.

“There’s been a piece of me that’s been missing since I stepped away from competition,” she said. “A lot of people have asked if the reason I’m doing this is because I didn’t do what I wanted to in Barcelona as far as the medals I was hoping to get there. It really doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

Could she possibly be thinking of 2000, when she will be 24, about eight years past a female gymnast’s prime?

“Right now, I’m just trying to keep it one season at a time,” she said. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out there, it’s hard for me to even know what kind of placing I want to shoot for. I have no way of comparing myself with this generation of athletes.

“I’m not thinking too much ahead of this season, but if things continue the way I’d like for them to, I’d like to see it go for two more years.”

Blaine Wilson, a two-time defending national champion, leads the men’s field.