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No longer good enough Change in rules makes team competition more difficult
Posted: Thursday May 11, 2000 10:09 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- To win a team medal in gymnastics, it's no longer enough for a country to simply send out six of its best all-around athletes. Changes in international rules have taken the competition up a notch, reducing the number of scores that count and forcing coaches to strategize and plot like a baseball manager in late innings. It also means the old way of selecting teams for the Olympics, choosing athletes based simply on competition results, no longer works. "It's time for us to play by the same rules as the rest of the world," said Bob Colarossi, president of USA Gymnastics. On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics announced that the men's and women's teams for the Sydney Olympics will be chosen by selection committees. The top four men after the Olympic trials in August will make the team, but everyone else will have to be selected. "I think it could be really good for our team," said Shannon Miller, a member of the 1996 women's team that won gold. "If we have three good all-arounders and then put three people who are strong in individual events, I think we could have an amazing team." Strategy is now the name of the gymnastics game. When the U.S. men won the gold medal in 1984, all six gymnasts competed in every event and the lowest score was dropped. Back then, teams with numerous strong all-around gymnasts had the advantage. Now, though, only five of the six gymnasts compete in each event, and coaches must come up with combinations designed to give them the best score. Again, the lowest score drops, meaning every score is at a premium. So instead of taking six gymnasts who are solid in every event, teams are now better off with three or four all-arounders and two or three who are clearly stronger in certain events. "That widely is used around the world to get the best team," said Bela Karolyi, the women's national team coordinator. "These two [specialists] could bring for the team up to six-tenths of a point vs. an average all-around," Karolyi said. "That's why we cannot lock six people or seven people into a team. You're missing the most important ingredient to creating the team." Letting a selection committee decide also ensures the United States will be sending its best athletes to Sydney. In 1988, Dan Hayden won the national title and was far and away the best gymnast the United States had. But he fell twice on the high bar at the Olympic trials and didn't make the team for the Seoul Games. "Because we don't have a crystal ball and we don't know what's going to happen at trials, that at least guarantees ... the committee the flexibility to select the team," said Kathy Kelly, director of the women's program. The new procedures don't mean a team will be selected randomly. For the men, the top four after Olympic trials - based on weighted scores from the national championships and trials - will win a spot on the team. The Men's Program Committee will select the remaining two athletes, as well as alternates. A selection committee consisting of Karolyi, an athlete representative and two people chosen by the coaches will pick the women's team. The top three at trails won't earn automatic berths, but it's "highly, highly, highly unlikely" they wouldn't make the team, Colarossi said. The rest of the women will be chosen based in part on their performances at Karolyi's monthly training camps. If a gymnast is chosen as a specialist, Karolyi and Co. want to know she can consistenly shine, not just sparkle at one meet. The teams will still be announced at the end of the Olympic trials, which will be held Aug. 17-20 in Boston. "Given my choice of either having our judges select what the right composition of the team is or to have a committee select it based on people who work inside the sport every day, I would choose the latter," Colarossi said. "Which is what we did. "Ultimately, the team we put on the floor we feel will be the team that gives the United States the best chance to medal at the Olympic Games. End of story." Also Wednesday, Karolyi, who came out of retirement last fall to jump-start the slumping women's program, said he's willing to stay on beyond Sydney. "If things are going normal and people are pleased with the outcome, I would be more than glad to assist further the national team," Karolyi said.
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