|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Falling short 'Missed opportunity' in men's gymnastics hurts
SYDNEY, Australia -- The medal hopes of the U.S. men's gymnastics team, which looked so promising 48 hours earlier, ended with a pair of face plants from their two best gymnasts, Blaine Wilson and Paul Hamm, both of whom fell spectacularly from the high bar in the team's last apparatus of the night. Clinging to a slim chance at the bronze, the Americans ended up a disappointing fifth, which was the same position they occupied four years ago in Atlanta. The deserving gold medalist was China, which had won the last four world championships but had never won a team gold in gymnastics. "We have fought for this medal for 40 years so we were under some pressure," said exuberant Chinese coach Yubin Huang. "Getting it is a dream come true." The surprising Ukraine took home silver -- a huge jump after its seventh-place finish in the 1999 world championships -- while Russia finished third, 1.036 points ahead of the U.S. Japan was fourth.
It's times like these that a team looks to its best athletes to seize the day. That's what makes champions. Failure to do so is what makes fifth-place finishers. "We had to hit every high-bar routine," said head coach Peter Kormann, who after the meet announced he was retiring from USA Gymnastics. "And not only did we not hit every one, we missed two." Carpe diem? The top U.S. men couldn't even carpe the damn bar. Paul Hamm, who'd been so solid during two days of competition, missed his first release move, fell, remounted, then missed it again for an 8.462, the lowest U.S. score of the night. That sound piercing through the SuperDome was the S-s-s-s-s going out of the "U!S!A!, U!S!A!" The U.S. still had a chance, though, since the lowest score of each round is chucked out. But there was no margin for error. McCain got a 9.725; then Townsend a 9.7, which set the stage for Wilson, the team leader. He led south, putting a horizontal exclamation point on the American collapse by missing his first release move seconds into the routine. "It was a surprise, no question," said McCain. "Those two were by far our most consistent gymnasts." "If you want to call it a missed opportunity, I guess you can," said 30-year-old John Roethlisberger, who is retiring after competing in three Olympics. "But we went after that medal as hard as we could." True enough. This team had heart and talent and proved that there is a future to U.S. men's gymnastics. They fell short because they didn't perform their best. It happens in sport, and it sure as hell happens in the Olympics. Sometimes you have to keep going back to the well for a certain medal. Sometimes it can take you 40 years. Sports Illustrated senior writer E.M. Swift is in Sydney covering the Olympic
gymnastics competition for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read
Swift's behind-the-scenes reports from Down
Under.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
