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Different lifestyles Strug, Borden enjoying new pursuits
BOSTON (AP) -- One by one, the members of the Magnificent Seven dusted off their leotards and hand grips and went back to the gym. Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow and Jaycie Phelps all wanted a shot at the Sydney Olympics, to see if they could help recreate their magic from Atlanta. Wait a minute, that's only five. Where are the other two? While Kerri Strug and Amanda Borden were the first to say, "You go, girl!" when their teammates came out of retirement, they're quite happy with their lives the way they are, thank you very much. Eight-hour training sessions? Going to bed early? Clouds of chalk dust in their eyes? It's not for them anymore. "I love the sport of gymnastics and I love what it did for me," said Strug, whose gutty vault on a sprained ankle made her the poster girl of the Atlanta Olympics. "But I also love other things," she said. "I'm pursuing new goals and I really enjoy my lifestyle now." Ditto for Borden. The captain of the 1996 squad still does promotional work for the sport and came to the Olympic trials this week to lend moral support to her former teammates. But that's as close as she wants to get to the competition floor. "I'm very happy to be sitting back and watching," she said. "I had a great experience, I had a great career and I don't need to accomplish anything else. Getting to the Olympics was the ultimate goal for me. Coming home with a gold medal was more than I ever dreamt." The Mag Seven is now down to three for Sunday's finals at the Olympic trials. Phelps dropped out last week because of chronic knee problems and Moceanu withdrew Wednesday night with a bone chip in her right knee. Chow, who is third overall, has the best chance of making the Sydney Olympics, but Miller and Dawes are keeping pressure on the "new kids." "Some of them were no surprise. Others it was like, 'Oh, my goodness!'" Strug said. "But why not? They feel like they can contribute to the team." So while their teammates are still tumbling, what exactly do retired gymnasts do with themselves? Strug, 22, cashed in on her golden moment with commercials and appearances on "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Saturday Night Live." She also did a commercial for ESPN's "SportsCenter" where she was carried around the set in a spoof on Bela Karolyi carrying her up to the medals podium in Atlanta. But that was just a small part of her life. Two years ago, she transferred from UCLA to Stanford and is now is just two classes away from graduation. She also ran two marathons. She'll go to the Sydney Olympics next month to do promotional work for her sponsors, and then she's off for a semester at sea. She'll spend three months touring the world by boat, stopping in about a dozen countries, including Cuba, Japan and Malaysia. "I've traveled a lot for gymnastics, but I've never really been immersed in a culture and seen the sights," she said. "This is a great opportunity to see the world and get an education." Borden, 23, is at Arizona State studying to be an elementary school teacher. She lives about two miles from Phelps, her old training partner at Cincinnati Gymnastics, and keeps in touch with the rest of her former teammates through email and phone calls. Strug and Borden admitted it was hard at first to walk away from the sport. After spending almost their entire lives in the gym, they weren't quite sure what else to do. "It's a whole lifestyle. It's what you know," Strug said. "It's like if you work at a company for 25 years and then you switch to something else. It's scary." Added Borden, "It just takes time. When you get done with that Olympic experience, you think, 'Now what am I going to do?' Now that it's been a couple years, I realize there's so much more to life than just gymnastics. "It's very easy to move on," she said. "I don't sit at the competitions and wish I was still out there." Even though they're no longer competing, Borden and Strug are still fan favorites. People approach them and ask for autographs. Some just want to congratulate them for being part of the first American women's team to win gold at the Olympics. "I'm small, and I still have the same haircut and a similar voice, so I kind of stand out. Especially with the Olympics coming around," Strug said. "It's nice, though. It makes me feel good that all those years of sacrifice and hard work is appreciated."
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