Drama, intensity and success have characterized the U.S. women’s gymnastics program in the last two decades, but only when the gymnasts feel at home.
Last year in Anaheim the team established itself as an Olympic gold-medal contender by winning the world championships for the first time.
In 1996, a U.S. women’s team dubbed “the Magnificent Seven” won the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.
A silver-medal finish, led by all-around champion Mary Lou Retton, was one of the most memorable moments of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Notice the pattern?
The program’s proudest moments take place on American soil. Outside the U.S., the team’s best Olympic finishes were bronze medals in Barcelona in 1992 and in London in 1948.
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Four years ago in Sydney, finger pointing and second-guessing among gymnasts and coaches became a sideshow to the team’s fourth-place finish. There were questions as to how and whether the program would recover.
Since then, USA Gymnastics has rebounded to build one of the deepest and most talented squads in its history.
“Sometimes it’s the timing,” national team coordinator Martha Karolyi said Thursday. “But I feel this is the time, and our girls are prepared.”
The women will need to dazzle abroad to validate her statement when team preliminaries begin Sunday. The U.S., Romania and China are top medal contenders in Tuesday’s finals.
“We feel like we are home,” U.S. coach Kelli Hill said.
Courtney McCool, 16, probably has the greatest comfort level of any competitor. She won the all-around in the Olympic test event here last spring. Former national team coordinator Bela Karolyi says test event champions have a tendency to win all-around in the Games.
If she had not made the earlier trip, “I would have been in awe,” McCool said of the facility that can hold more than 17,000. “It’s the biggest arena I’ve been in.”
But all the U.S. gymnasts seemed at ease in their workout Thursday. Their routines were far from perfect, with wobbles on balance beam, a few slips on vault landings and occasional problems staying inbounds on floor exercise, but coaches and athletes were nonetheless pleased.
“They were awesome,” 1996 gold medalist and NBC commentator Shannon Miller said. “There were some minor errors but they definitely showed their depth on every event.”
This team is full of captivating storylines.
For starters, the gymnasts are a mixture of young and old. Their ages range from 16 to 26, bucking a teenage trend in the U.S.
Annia Hatch, 26, and Mohini Bhardwaj, 25, are expected to provide leadership and crucial points on vault. Bhardwaj was named captain by her peers.
Bhardwaj’s sponsor receives as much attention as she does. Actress Pamela Anderson, who has funded Bhardwaj’s training in recent months, will attend the Games, Bhardwaj said.
– The U.S. has three gymnasts, co-national champions Courtney Kupets and Carly Patterson as well as McCool, capable of leading the U.S. to gold and winning all-around titles, but only the top two gymnasts from a country can qualify for all-around finals.
Again, it’s a testament to the team’s depth. Terin Humphrey, McCool’s club teammate in Kansas City, even has an outside shot at advancing in all-around.
– Kupets and Hatch recovered from injuries to qualify for the squad. Kupets tore an Achilles’ tendon and Hatch injured her knee in last year’s world championships.
– Retton, a star of the ’84 Games, predicted in the spring that Patterson, a silver medalist in all-around at the world meet, will be the sport’s future queen. Patterson fell off the beam twice in the Olympic trials and is seeking redemption.
“I’m not worried,” she said.