U.S. Gymnasts Try to Regain Balance

The Sydney Olympics are in the rearview mirror for the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams, they say, never to be revisited.

U.S. gymnasts won no individual or team medals at the Games, a considerable disappointment. The women’s struggles, coupled with coaches’ jockeying for influence, fractured the team’s morale. “We left Sydney as quickly as possible,” said Bob Colarossi, president of USA Gymnastics.

The first signs of rebirth were evident at last year’s World Championships, where the men’s team won a silver medal and the women won bronze, the first time both teams won medals in the same competition. This year’s U.S. championships, which begin Wednesday in Cleveland, should provide a gauge of their depth and proficiency as they build toward the world championships in Hungary in November, next year’s world championships in Anaheim and the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“The international community is very aware of who our athletes are,” Colarossi said. “Based on what I’ve seen, in the 2003 world championships and 2004 Olympic Games people are going to know who they are.”

Defending U.S. men’s champion Sean Townsend will continue to refine new and more difficult routines designed to bring higher technical marks. He believes it’s reasonable for the U.S. men to aim for the team title next year in Anaheim.

“If everybody is healthy and we get all our guys, the way it’s looking now, that’s very possible,” said Townsend, who won individual gold on the parallel bars at last year’s world meet. “There are a lot of good countries, but with home-field advantage we could definitely come away with a gold medal.”

Townsend and Blaine Wilson--recently back from a shoulder injury--figure to vie for the men’s title, but the women’s field is less predictable.

Defending champion Tasha Schwikert finished second to Annia Hatch and just ahead of three-time U.S. junior champion Kristal Uzelac at the American Classic last month. Hatch was born in Cuba and has become a U.S. citizen, but international gymnastics federation rules say she must have both countries’ permission to compete for the U.S. in the year after her citizenship change. Cuba has not agreed, but Colarossi plans to petition international authorities next year to allow Hatch to compete for the U.S. internationally.

Also among contenders in Cleveland is Tabitha Yim of Irvine, who won the floor exercise title last year and was second in the all-around.

“There’s a lot more depth this year,” Schwikert said. “I think it’s going to be awesome these next two years. I’ve experienced so much since I competed at worlds and the Olympics, and it’s only going to help.”

As part of the week’s events, Kerri Strug, Trent Dimas, Jair Lynch and Betty Okino will be inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

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Hold the Thorpedos

Ian Thorpe’s quest for seven swimming gold medals at the Commonwealth Games is admirable, but it’s not as impressive as Mark Spitz’s seven-gold medal haul at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The Commonwealth Games are open only to athletes from Great Britain and former colonies and dependencies, leaving Europeans to compete in their own championships this week. In addition, many athletes prefer to focus on this month’s Pan Pacific championships in Yokohama, Japan, which they deem more important.

That said, Thorpe’s performances in Manchester, England, are still noteworthy. The 19-year-old Aussie, who last year became the first swimmer to win six events at a world championship meet, broke his own world record in winning the 400-meter freestyle. He added gold in the 400-meter freestyle relay, 200 free and 800-meter freestyle relay and will swim the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke and 400-meter medley relays this weekend.

“He’s so far ahead of everybody else, it’s amazing,” USC swim coach Mark Schubert said. “I don’t think he’s really scratched his potential yet.... He’s young, he’s a big guy and he’s got tremendous flexibility, tremendous technique and works very hard. He has all the tools mentally too. He’s very tough.”

Perhaps the best measure of his status is competitors’ regard for him. “He’s like a rock star with them,” Schubert said. “Other swimmers are always asking for his autograph. But he’s very down to earth and a true champion. He gives back to his sport. He always talks to kids, and they adore him.”

Although Schubert agrees Thorpe’s exploits at the Commonwealth Games aren’t on the same level as Spitz’s Munich success, he thinks Thorpe has a chance to someday match Spitz’s Olympian achievements.

“Ian’s just a freestyler, while Mark was an outstanding freestyler and in the butterfly, which gave him an advantage,” Schubert said. “And the Olympics today are spread out over eight days, with heats and semifinals and finals. I didn’t think anybody could ever challenge the seven gold medals, but this guy could be the one. He has no reason to stop, and he’s still improving.”

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Here and There

Figure skater Naomi Nari Nam of Irvine continues to battle injuries that have derailed her career since her second-place finish at the 1999 U.S. championships. Her coach, John Nicks, said Nam had to halt a planned two-week training session in Cleveland with Carol Heiss Jenkins to undergo tests on recurring hip problems, and her future remains unclear. Nam, 17, has missed the last two competitive seasons.

The men’s and women’s Salt Lake City figure skating gold medalists, Alexei Yagudin and Sarah Hughes, lead the list of entrants at Skate America, the first Grand Prix event of the figure skating season. Russian pair skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, co-gold medalists with Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, will also compete in the event at Spokane, Wash., Oct. 27-30. The Canadians gave up their Olympic eligibility and won’t compete in Grand Prix events. Pair skaters Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. of Santa Monica, who train in Aliso Viejo and Paramount, will also compete at Skate America.

Torrance native Michelle Kwan, the six-time U.S. champion and four-time world champion, was not among the U.S. Grand Prix entrants and her agent, Shep Goldberg, reiterated she intends to decide her plans by the end of the summer. Kwan, who won a bronze medal at Salt Lake City, skipped the Grand Prix series after the 1998 Nagano Olympics, where she won silver.

The women’s elite race at this year’s New York City Marathon will start 35 minutes before the men’s elite and open races, a change made to maximize TV coverage. The race will be held Nov. 3 ....Tuffy Latour was named coach of the U.S. men’s bobsled national team. He had been coach of the women’s team, which won gold at Salt Lake City when Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers triumphed in the debut of women’s Olympic bobsled competition ....Two-time Olympic gold medalist Hermann Maier, who missed the Salt Lake City Games because of injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash, resumed training with the Austrian ski team last month. He hopes to return to competition next season.