Thursday, March 29, 2001
[ GYMNASTICS ]
USA, China, In a sport where a wobble or a step off means the difference between victory or defeat, gymnasts need nerves of steel for the pressure they face each time they step onto the mat.
Romania set for
top-level meet
Olympians, future gymnastics
stars to compete tomorrow and
Saturday at the Blaisdell ArenaBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinBut if you ask most gymnasts, it is precisely under those conditions that these athletes thrive.
The 2001 Pontiac American Team Cup promises to feature nerves of steel along with top level competition from the USA, China and Romania. The two-day meet starts with the women's competition at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Blaisdell Arena. The men compete Saturday at 7 p.m.
Slated to compete are several former Olympians and future stars.
On the roster for the USA women will be Junior National Champion Kristal Uzelac, Terin Humphrey, Ashley Kelly, Ashley Miles, Carly Patterson, and Hollie Vise.
Humphrey, Kelly, Miles and Vise were competitors at the 2000 Pontiac International Meet as the USA triumphed over China and Romania for the gold medal last November.
For Romania, team gold medalists Andreea Raducan and Andreea Isarescu would have anchored a young squad, but injury forced them from the lineup.
Raducan ruptured her bicep in mid-February while Isarescu recently recovered from an injury that kept her from training at the level necessary for competition. In their place will be Andreea Ulmeanu and Melina Druta, who are joined by Alexandra Barac, Carmen Ionescu, Silvia Stroescu, and Sabina Cojocar, the gold medalist at the Junior European Championships.
For China, 2000 Olympic bronze medalists Huang Mandan and Ling Jie lead a squad with Peng Sha, Zhou Lan, Kang Xin, and Huang Jing.
In the men's competition, the USA will feature three 2000 Olympians: twins Paul and Morgan Hamm and Sean Townsend. Brett McClure, Guard Young and Mike Dutka complete the US's lineup.
Challenging the Americans will be Romania, which sent four Olympians to this meet. Marian Dragulescu, Rares Orzata, Ioan Suciu and Dorin Petru, veterans of the Sydney squad, will guide newcomers Constantin Covaci and Dan Potra.
Although China does not have any gymnasts from its gold medal winning squad from Sydney, new competitors Zhao Zhe, You Yanan, Dai Tengfei, Liu Jinyu, Xie Jianhui, and Feng Jing have trained hard.
"The competition in Honolulu foreshadows what we expect to see at the 2001 World Championships," USA Gymnastics President Bob Colarossi said. "It is the first time since the 2000 Olympic Games that these teams have competed together so we are looking forward to a fantastic competition."
Besides showcasing the next generation of gymnasts, the meet will also demonstrate the new code of points developed by the International Gymnastics Federation.
Every four years following Olympic competition, the IFG changes the rules that governs the gymnasts. The federation reassesses the point value awarded to certain moves and reassigns a start value. For example, an E-move (a highly rated move) executed by many of the gymnasts will be made less valuable.
In order to achieve the same start value, many of the gymnasts have been challenged to add more complicated and difficult moves to their routines.