Johnson earns Olympic berth

By Diane Pucin

June 23, 2008 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Johnson pounded out a dramatically confident floor exercise routine. It is the hardest-ranked floor set in the world, and when Johnson landed her final tumbling pass with a secure thud, U.S. national team coordinator Martha Karolyi applauded.

“The way Shawn finished, that was wonderful,” Karolyi said. “When you see a girl do something so hard so well, that is uplifting.”

Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics all-around title Sunday night, finishing nearly two points ahead of runner-up Nastia Liukin, 18, of Parker, Texas. Johnson’s two-day total was 127.650 to 125.850 for Liukin. At the national championships two weeks ago in Boston, Johnson was only one point better.

The two automatic Olympic team spots went to Johnson and Liukin.

Ten other gymnasts -- including Los Angeles senior-level rookie Mattie Larson -- will attend a final training camp July 16-20 at Karolyi’s Houston-area ranch. On July 20, four of them will join Johnson and Liukin on the team, and up to three others will be named as alternates.

Chellsie Memmel, who turns 20 today, finished third in the all-around, and 16-year-old Samantha Peszek of Indianapolis was fourth. Karolyi praised Memmel’s big improvements over the last two months and Peszek’s consistency, and also said the difficult vaults and confident floor exercise routines of Alicia Sacramone were noteworthy.

That would seem to leave one team starting spot up for grabs. Ivana Hong, the 15-year-old from Laguna Hills who trains in Blue Springs, Mo., finished fifth overall at the trials and Jana Bieger, 18, of Coconut Creek, Fla., was sixth.

“Training camp is going to be like another Olympic trials for us,” Hong’s coach, Al Fong, said. Hong had 120.600 points to 119.700 for Bieger. Bieger noted that she was “eight for eight” at the trials, getting through four routines twice without major mistakes.

“I think that’s something Martha will notice,” Bieger’s mother and coach, Andrea Bieger, said.

Hong had an unusual fall off the balance beam Sunday, a mistake Fong said was the result of Hong’s having backed off training after nationals to rest a sore ankle.

“That won’t be the case when we go to camp,” Fong said.

Both Memmel and Sacramone had held out hope that Karolyi would surprise them and announce their names as Olympians to the crowd of 13,920.

“I thought it might happen,” Sacramone said. “But that’s Martha.”

Indeed, Karolyi said that if she had her way, not even Johnson and Liukin would have been awarded team spots Sunday. “I’d rather go as late as possible,” Karolyi said. “Whoever is fittest.”

Liukin acknowledged she needed to get some spark back. “I am a little tired,” she said. After scoring her first two marks of 17 or higher on uneven bars at nationals, she had untidy mistakes twice at the trials here and on Sunday posted her lowest score of the year, 16.150.

Johnson had uncharacteristic steps out of the landings of her first two events -- vault and uneven bars -- but she scored consecutive 16.200s on the balance beam and floor exercise to earn praise not only from Karolyi but also from her coach, Liang Chow.

“I am very happy,” Chow said. “I have only two things for her to work on. Consistency and perfection of her movements.”

Whew. That shouldn’t be difficult.

Two injured gymnasts who were part of the 2007 U.S. world championship gold-medal team did not impress Karolyi on Sunday.

Shayla Worley, 17, of Orlando, Fla., who finished second all-around at the 2007 nationals, is recovering from a back injury and had an ugly fall on the uneven bars, the apparatus where the U.S. had hoped she would help.

And Bridget Sloan, who turns 16 today, fell on all three events she competed in Sunday. An alternate on last year’s world team, Sloan is recovering from March knee surgery.

“I would say to Shayla and to Bridget that we all understand about the injuries, but the time is running out,” Karolyi said. “The time is very short.”

The most immediate reward for Johnson and Liukin was the fulfilling of an Olympic dream. “It’s what I’ve been hoping for in, like, forever,” Johnson said.

Liukin’s reaction was a little different.

“Now I can say I’m an Olympian like my dad,” she said.

Her father and coach, Valeri, won gymnastics medals for the Soviet Union in 1988.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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U.S. men’s gymnastics team

* PAUL HAMM: Broken hand only makes another gold medal more thrilling.

* JONATHAN HORTON: Fastest-rising young American gymnast.

* JOSEPH HAGERTY: Anonymous consistency trumps dramatic falls.

* MORGAN HAMM: Now a three-time Olympian like his twin brother.

* JUSTIN SPRING: Knee surgery, sprained ankle and back spasms equal Olympics.

* KEVIN TAN: Rings. Enough said.