Injuries Add to Degree of Difficulty

Tasha Schwikert missed her senior prom because she was at a gymnastics training camp, and she has missed most of this season while recovering from ankle surgery last December.

But she won’t miss the chance to pursue her third consecutive all-around title at the U.S. gymnastics championships, even though she can’t perform her toughest moves.

“I’ve been hitting my routines but I’m not adding all my difficulty in for these nationals,” said Schwikert, who had to retrench five weeks ago when the ankle became sore during a balance beam routine. “But hopefully I can make the world team and I can add my difficulty there.... I’m about 95% back. If I do hit my routines I do feel my start values are high enough to do well at nationals.”

Defending men’s champion Paul Hamm, who will be competing in his hometown this weekend, reduced the difficulty of his routines in deference to the sprained left shoulder he sustained in February. The start value of his still rings routine will be 9.3, perhaps hampering his ability to hold off five-time U.S. champion Blaine Wilson.

“Other than that, my all-around is strong and I hope to be able to contend for the title,” said Hamm, a Sydney Olympian.

A cheering section of 100 friends and relatives at U.S. Cellular Arena should buoy him through physical or psychological challenges.

“It’s changed,” Hamm said of the pressure to win again. “Before, I was trying to take something away from Blaine. It was like, ‘He has something I want.’ It’s harder to hold onto a title, I think, than to get it.”

The competition starts tonight and will largely determine the U.S. men’s and women’s teams at the world championships, Aug. 16-24 at the Arrowhead Pond.

The top three women this weekend, based on a combined total of 50% of the score from the all-around preliminaries and 50% of the score from the all-around finals, will automatically qualify for the world team. The remaining three competitors and two alternates will be chosen July 6 after a selection camp at Huntsville, Texas.

The top two men this weekend, also determined by a combined total of 50% of the score from the all-around preliminaries and 50% of the score from the all-around finals, will automatically qualify for the world team. The men’s program committee will meet Sunday to choose five other competitors to attend a preparation camp next month in Columbus, Ohio. That camp will determine the remaining four team members and the alternate for the world championships.

Carly Patterson, who burst onto the women’s scene this winter by winning the all-around title at the American Cup and Pacific Challenge competitions, withdrew from the U.S. championships because of a sore arm and is undergoing tests to determine if it’s fractured. A serious injury could prevent her from competing at the world championships. Tabitha Yim of Irvine also will miss this weekend’s event. She suffered a stress fracture in her leg April 14 and was told to rest 10 to 12 weeks, until about the time of the world team selection camp. Samantha Sheehan (fractured big toe) and Nicole Harris (fractured hand) also withdrew from the U.S. championships.

Schwikert is likely to be pressed by Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb. Memmel, who will be 15 Monday, was impressive at the Pacific Challenge meet and reels off difficult sequences. However, she has been slowed by a sore ankle. Other possible top-five finishers are Courtney Kupets, the 2002 uneven bars world champion, and Ashley Postell, the 2002 balance beam world champion.

Titles also will be determined for junior-level artistic gymnasts, and junior and senior rhythmic gymnasts. The world championships at Anaheim will feature only artistic gymnastics.

USA Gymnastics will announce next week where it will hold the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials. Anaheim, Houston, New Orleans and St. Paul, Minn., are the finalists. Boston, the original host, dropped out because of scheduling conflicts in the FleetCenter.

*

U.S. Gymnastics Championships

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Where: U.S. Cellular Arena, Milwaukee.

* What: The buildup to the 2004 Athens Olympics begins in earnest with the U.S. championships, which will help determine the makeup of the U.S. men’s and women’s teams for the world championships at Anaheim Aug. 16-24. The world championships will serve as the qualifying meet for the Athens Games.