Youngsters Steal Spotlight

The next time the world’s best gymnasts come to Anaheim, it will be for real.

The 2003 World Championships--the team qualifying event for the 2004 Olympics in Athens--will be next August at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

This time, the U.S. vs. the World competition was just for fun--and to get a few kinks out of the operation.

Still, the crowd of 5,119 at the Pond for the T.J. Maxx International Gymnastics Challenge on Thursday got to see 2000 Olympic all-around champion Alexei Nemov and fellow Russian Svetlana Khorkina, the two-time Olympic champion in the uneven bars.

The night also provided a glimpse of a work in progress as American gymnasts tried to continue their recovery after being shut out of the medal count in Sydney, where the women finished fourth and the men were fifth.

The sneak peek Thursday was a look at U.S. junior champion Carly Patterson and runner-up Hollie Vise, both 14-year-old fast-rising stars.

Two-time national champion Tasha Schwikert was one of the polished pros at the Pond, but Patterson, 83 pounds and still wearing braces, stole the show with a 9.90 in the floor exercise, displaying sprite tumbling and lots of personality. Her balance beam routine earned a 9.788.

Vise scored 9.838 on uneven bars and a 9.8 on beam.

“It seemed like they did really well under pressure, being so young in a show like this,” Schwikert said. “They handled it really, really well.”

If all goes according to the plan originally devised by Bela Karolyi, they’ll be better prepared and have more international experience in 2004 than the Americans did in 2000.

Overall, the results Thursday should be taken loosely.

The judging in the USA-vs-the-World format was by a panel that included Karolyi, Shannon Miller, Peter Vidmar and Kurt Thomas as well as gymnastics neophyte Rafer Johnson.

The U.S. women took a 78.453-76.827 victory.

The U.S. men, led by twins Paul and Morgan Hamm, who didn’t finish the competition after straining an ankle tendon in the floor exercise, lost to the world team, 77.703-67.639.

Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria had the highest score of the evening, a 9.988 on rings.

There has been progress for the Americans--as evidenced by the men’s stunning silver in last year’s world championships, where the women took third.

Though Patterson and Vise will still be too young for the upcoming world championships in Hungary, that’s no problem, Patterson said.

“I think it’s OK. I think I need a little more experience and competition with other countries.”

But both girls will be eligible for Anaheim next year--and for Athens.

“I really hope to be back here next year,” Patterson said.