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White sits out of exhibition
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) -- At their only exhibition before the Olympics, the U.S. women's gymnastics team appeared strong, with the exception of Morgan White, who watched from the sidelines. White, bothered by a sprained left foot since last month's Olympic trials, sat out the beam, vault and floor exercise at the exhibition at Southwest Texas State University on Saturday. But White, 17, said she plans to perform in the Sydney Games, which begin Sept. 15. "We've been resting it for this past week and, once I get to Australia, I'll be ready to go," White said. "It's already feeling much better." White said she chose to skip all but the uneven bars at Saturday's exhibition because the equipment was set up on a basketball court, and there was less padding than usual. In her one event, White hit her landing without a problem. "I didn't want to come here and aggravate it a whole lot more when this isn't the most important part," she said. "Sydney is the most important part." White, who described the sprain as "an overuse kind of thing," said she worked out regularly during a 10-day training camp at the southeast Texas ranch of Olympic coach Bela Karolyi. White's coach, Mary Lee Tracy, is confident White will be ready for the Sydney Games. "It's like she had the flu for four days," Tracy said. "But she's been physical so it's not like she's weak. ... We want to get this inflammation completely out and not aggravate it, and aggravate it, and aggravate it, so this was the time to rest it." Tracy and Karolyi said the team looked strong in front of a cheering crowd of 6,800 fans. "Some of the things didn't seem like they were all getting there, and then tonight, they put it all together," Tracy said. "I mean, this is what we've been working on: hitting routines, sticking landings. We had a lot of that tonight." She said the gymnasts' consistency on the beam has improved, as well as their performances on the vault, which she considered the team's weak area. The coaches and gymnasts said the team began to come together at the camp at Karolyi's ranch. The team members worked out six or more hours a day. "It was a chance for us to create team unity, which I think showed out on the floor tonight," said national champion Elise Ray. "The effective performances are getting better," added Karolyi, the coach who helped Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug win gold. "Technicality of the movement is improving drastically, so overall it was a very, very positive week," Karolyi said. "I'm glad we had an opportunity to keep them together, to work with them together."
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