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Slipping away Roethlisberger falters on first day of gymnastics trials
BOSTON (AP) -- Every stumble, misstep and error John Roethlisberger made Thursday night brought a gasp from the crowd. Still, nobody's disbelief surpassed his own. Fighting for his Olympic life, the 30-year-old elder statesman of U.S. gymnastics made three glaring mistakes in the opening round of the Olympic trials that severely jeopardized his chances for a trip to Sydney. First, the two-time Olympian fell squarely on his backside on his vault landing. Minutes later, his hand slipped off the high bar and he crashed to the mat. A slip on the floor routine followed. He finished the night in 12th place. "I cannot even tell you what happened," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not even upset. I'm beside myself. I've never had a series of meets as bad as these three competitions." Roethlisberger erred on moves he has executed flawlessly over more than a decade of world-class competition. But, as was the case at the national championships last month, the consistency that has made him one of the country's best deserted him. While Roethlisberger struggled, five-time national champion Blaine Wilson was nearly flawless on three events. He scored 9.95 on rings, 9.90 on vault and 9.85 on parallel bars to cruise into first place with 58.525 points, a sure bet to make the six-man U.S. Olympic team and challenge for a gold medal next month. "He did as good tonight as I've ever seen him do in any meet," U.S. coach Peter Kormann said. "He's closer to where he needs to be. I'm not saying he's going to win it, but he could, no question." Meanwhile, 17-year-old Paul Hamm threw together a series of explosive performances -- the experts call it Wow Gymnastics -- to finish second and come ever closer to securing an automatic spot on the Olympic team. While Hamm was drawing "Wows," Roethlisberger was hearing "Whoas." He fell from fifth to seventh place in the combined scoring from trials and last month's national championships. Scores from nationals (40 percent) and trials (60 percent) will be combined after the final round Saturday and the top four will earn automatic spots on the Olympic team. The final two spots will be chosen by the men's committee. At this point, a wild card spot seems to be his best hope -- and even that might be shaky. His favorite event is the floor exercise, but he would offer the United States no apparent help there. He has committed mistakes in all three of his routines during the qualifying procedure. "I feel like it's bad luck in a way," Roethlisberger said. "Maybe there's something out there telling me it's not my time. But I'm not going to listen to that. One thing I will never do is go out as a quitter." Kormann stood by his statement that Roethlisberger, a four-time national champion, wouldn't be guaranteed a spot solely because of his name, or his status as the emotional center of the team. "Attitude won't count much," Kormann said. Performance counts, and Roethlisberger's was mindboggling. Each error came with a reassuring glance from his father and coach, 1968 Olympian Fred Roethlisberger. But there were few answers. During their brief exchange after the vault, Roethlisberger simply looked up and said, "I don't know what happened." Only on his final event of the night, the pommel horse, was he at his best. He walked off the mat pumping his fist and slapping hands with the gymnasts in the crowd. He scored a 9.725 -- still a hollow victory after the earlier disasters. "For me, it's all out," Roethlisberger said. "I've got nothing to lose at this point. I can't go out and think about if the demons are going to jump up and bite me again." Roethlisberger's mishaps handed opportunities to the other 16 gymnasts who qualified for the meet, but few besides Hamm were poised to take advantage. Hamm's twin brother, Morgan, scored a 9.825 on the floor exercise to briefly challenge the leaders. Later, he slipped off the pommel horse for an 8.500. It left him in fourth place, although that could have been even better. "At 17, I couldn't smell the composure they have," Wilson said of the twins from Wisconsin. "It must be the cheese." Sean Townsend, who finished second at nationals, fell off the rings and the high bar and finished 10th. He slid to third in the overall standings. Stephen McCain lost his grip on the pommel horse and had trouble on his vault. He finished third and slipped one spot to fourth overall, but was surprised he hadn't fallen farther. "Before my last event, I looked down and said, 'I'm still in this thing,'" he said. "I was a little upset with my performances. It wasn't a great night." So, as usual, the night belonged to Wilson. He opened with another near-flawless performance on the rings, his shoulder muscles quivering as he lifted himself parallel to the ground, a nearly perfect planche position. His 9.95 went with another 9.95 and a 9.90 at nationals. He'll be a favorite to medal in that event next month. Chris Young (Achilles' tendon) and Yewki Tomita (shoulder) each competed after being granted injury petitions to the trials. Neither helped himself much. Young landed on his rear on his vault and blew his rings routine to finish 15th. Tomita scored a 9.825 on the high bar, but struggled everywhere else and finished eighth.
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