NEWS
By Ariel Sabar and Ariel Sabar,SUN STAFF | August 20, 2004
GAITHERSBURG -- The lip-biting started yesterday even before Olympic gymnast Courtney Kupets completed her slide to ninth place in the women's all-around competition. Over the past year, the elite teenage gymnasts she trains with here at Hill's Gymnastics have watched her nail vaults and floor routines with power and grace. But Kupets' early scores from Athens yesterday -- particularly the 8.975 on the balance beam -- rained a quiet disappointment over the leotard-clad girls tumbling and leaping across the cavernous gymnasium.
SPORTS
By Candus Thomson and Candus Thomson,SUN STAFF | August 18, 2004
ATHENS - The team built for gold came up short a few parts last night. Instead of being atop the podium, U.S. women's gymnasts stood one step down, the medals around their necks silver. Romania, which won the team gold in 2000 and was runner-up to the Americans in the 2003 world championships, proved to be the superior performer. "They were the better team tonight," said U.S. coach Kelli Hill. "We opened the door a little bit, and they walked in." After the disappointing 2000 Summer Games, when the women finished fourth, the president of USA Gymnastics, Bob Colorossi, said the Athens squad would be built to win the team gold.
SPORTS
By Candus Thomson and Candus Thomson,SUN STAFF | August 16, 2004
ATHENS -- U.S. women's gymnasts marched into yesterday's team qualification with an unwanted teammate: jitters. Rookie nerves nagged all but one of the gymnasts and caused the youngest member to lose her composure. At the end of the day, however, the little setbacks remained little, as the U.S. squad finished second behind Romania and became one of eight teams to move on to tomorrow's final. Only Carly Patterson seemed inoculated against the jitters, finishing first in the individual rankings and qualifying for the individual all-around final and the apparatus finals in balance beam.
SPORTS
By Candus Thomson and Candus Thomson,SUN STAFF | August 12, 2004
To understand what makes Courtney Kupets the best women's gymnast in the country, you have to stop the action. Look at photos of her on the uneven bars, the vault, even the 4-inch-wide balance beam. Upside down, right side up, somehow the two-time U.S. champion keeps her body as taut as an archer's bowstring. "She's the best. So strong, so straight. Others are very good, but she's picture perfect - literally. Everything is a straight line," says Paul Ziert, the publisher of International Gymnast magazine and former coach of two-time Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner.
SPORTS
By Helene Elliott and Helene Elliott,LOS ANGELES TIMES | June 28, 2004
ANAHEIM, Calif. - It wasn't medical science alone that allowed Courtney Kupets to regain her world-class gymnastic skills less than 10 months after she ruptured her left Achilles' tendon. Surgical skill was part of it, certainly. But her remarkable recovery was also due in equal parts to hope, perseverance and a determination to remember why she pursued this often painful sport and endured tough months of rehabilitation. "You just go out there and have fun," the 17-year-old from Gaithersburg said.
SPORTS
By Candus Thomson and Candus Thomson,SUN STAFF | June 6, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Even if Courtney Kupets had finished second last night at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, it would have been a storybook comeback to a year filled with injury and rehabilitation. Instead, with a gutsy final routine, the 17-year-old from Gaithersburg won her second consecutive national title, tying Carly Patterson of Texas with a two-day total of 76.450 points. "What a wonderful way to win this, to tie with somebody who's your friend," said Kupets, unaware of the score she needed when she swung onto the uneven bars.