China overcomes injuries, inexperience

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Another night like this, and the American men are golden.

Rebounding from a rocky start, the United States finished with one dazzling routine after another. Not since the gold-rush days of the 1984 Olympics has the team looked this good, and the Arrowhead Pond was rocking with catcalls and chants of "U-S-A!, U-S-A!"

The United States finished with 227.743 points, the best score of any team in the preliminaries at the World Gymnastics Championships. The scores start over for the eight-team finals Tuesday night, but the Americans will take the floor knowing they can be the best in the world.

Japan was second in prelims, finishing seven-tenths of a point behind the Americans. Olympic champion China was third and Romania was fourth. Perennial powerhouse Russia was in sixth.

Belarus won't get to defend its world title, and it won't be sending a team to the Athens Olympics, either. In one of the most shocking developments, the Belarussians finished 13th after losing a gymnast to an Achilles' tendon injury midway through Saturday night's competition. They missed an Olympic spot by just 0.012 points.

The top eight teams advanced to Tuesday night's finals, while the top 12 qualified for Athens.

Not only will the Americans be a gold-medal threat in the team competition, they could rake in some gold in the individual events, too. National champ Paul Hamm was in second place overall, and would have been first if not for a fall off the high bar, the last event. Jason Gatson, back at the top of his sport after blowing out his knee twice in the last five years, was fourth overall.

Not since Bart Conner and Kurt Thomas were tumbling have the American men held so much promise. They've spent most of the last two decades as afterthoughts to the women -- if they were thought of, at all.

But they've been making steady progress since the Sydney Olympics. Surprise silver medalists at the 2001 worlds, they've spent the last two years promising to prove it wasn't a fluke.

The cheers started building as soon as the standard-bearer carrying the "U-S-A" sign was spotted. By the time the men entered the Pond, the standing crowd had drowned out the public address announcer.

But the first two events didn't go quite as the Americans -- or their fans -- hoped. Five-time national champion Blaine Wilson stumbled on his second tumbling pass on the floor, the first event. Then Morgan Hamm lost his footing on his second pass and had to put his hands down. His score was just 8.662, shockingly low for someone who was a finalist in the event at the Sydney Olympics.

Things got even worse on their next event, the pommel horse. The horse has always been Wilson's weakest event -- it cost him a sixth national title in June -- and Sunday was no different. Losing his grip midway through his routine, he went skidding off the horse, bumping his back in the process.

Wilson looked disgusted and Stacy Maloney, the Hamms' coach, went up on the podium to calm him down. Wilson finished his routine without any more troubles, but scored just an 8.6.

That shouldn't have been a problem, because there were still four other scores to count. But Morgan Hamm landed on his head as he was dismounting, drawing gasps from the crowd, and scored an 8.8.

Suddenly, the Americans' golden hopes were looking a little tarnished.

But Brett McClure picked his team up. Whirling effortlessly around the pommels, he scored a 9.562. It was the boost the team needed, and the United States cruised from there.

They didn't score lower than a 9.2 the rest of the way, and many of their routines were impressive displays of strength and skill. On the still rings, when Gatson held himself parallel to the ground with his arms extended, his body was so perfectly flat he could have balanced a glass of water on his back without spilling a drop. Wilson spun smoothly from position to position, looking as if he was moving on a pivot with the wires barely swaying.

They even managed to make their mistakes look good. Gatson lost his rhythm on a handstand on the parallel bars, his legs flopping backward. Most gymnasts would have fallen off at that point, but he simply swung himself back up and moved into his next trick. He earned a 9.512, a score some gymnasts can't even manage with a flawless routine.

By the time the Americans got to the high bar, their last event, all they had to do was stay clean and first place was theirs. They did one high-flying routine after another.

The only disappointment was when Paul Hamm slipped off the bar after the first of what was supposed to be four release moves. The crowd groaned, and Hamm scowled as he jumped back on the bar. But he finished cleanly, tossing off three release moves, and the Americans were into the finals.

 

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