Karolyi

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Look out, Baltimore. Bela's coming to town. And he's bringing a big, ol' bad mood with him."Eleven years I fight and I fight the same kind of response," Bela Karolyi said after the judges failed to deliver marks he felt Kim Zmeskal deserved during the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend."

BEIJING - It's time for a pep talk from Bela Karolyi. The U.S. women's gymnastics team will need a "spectaculous" performance to defeat China for the gold medal in what will be one of the most intriguing contests of the 2008 Olympics. Who will stumble? Who will fall? Who will nail their landings? The Americans are hurting. They are bandaged. They are older and bigger than the Chinese team, thus creakier. China finished first in Sunday's team qualification round, just 1.475 points ahead of the United States.

ATLANTA -- They were separated by several hundred feet, not to mention a dozen years, but brought together by a flood of memories. It wasn't Pauley Pavilion. It wasn't the 1984 Olympics. And it wasn't a silver medal in a watered-down competition.It was better.Much better.For Mary Lou Retton, the star of the 1984 U.S. team that launched its sport into the American consciousness, it was the thrill of seeing another team do collectively what she had done individually in Los Angeles: win a gold medal.

SYDNEY, Australia - Elise Ray never imagined the Olympics would be like this, the stuff of struggles endured instead of dreams achieved, of feeling a pop in her shoulder on a first routine and making one last tiny misstep on the balance beam. No one could have predicted that the 18-year-old from Columbia would storm down a runway at breakneck speed and fly over a vault that was set 2 inches too low and fail to land on her two feet. And few could have foreseen the turmoil that engulfed her team, with officials squabbling and the U.S. team failing to gain an Olympic gymnastics medal for the first time since 1972.

BARCELONA, Spain -- He is tired of being the bad guy, of seasons without end, of a job that offers more headaches than perks, more heartaches than triumphs.Most of all, he is just tired of the controversy that swirls around him each time one of his little tumblers takes center stage at the Summer Olympics.Yesterday, U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi sounded and acted like aman preparing to back away from day-to-day coaching."I have no intention to abandon gymnastics and run away from the sport I love so much," Karolyi said.

Declaring himself pleased with the fairness and correctness of a selection process he called a monstrous nightmare just a month ago, Bela Karolyi said yesterday that the U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team he will coach -- something else he wanted no part of a month ago -- was fit and ready to take on the former Soviets, the Romanians and the Chinese in Barcelona, Spain."

BOSTON - Columbia gymnast Elise Ray had just accepted the crystal trophy and the bouquet of flowers that came with her place on the newly selected U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team when national team coordinator Bela Karolyi unexpectedly handed her something a little heavier. The mantle of leadership. The six-woman team that emerged from the U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team Trials at Boston's FleetCenter includes two Olympic veterans - Amy Chow and Silver Spring's Dominique Dawes - but Karolyi didn't hesitate when he was asked who might fill an apparent leadership gap. He chose an 18-year-old with great competitive credentials and no Olympic experience.

SYDNEY, Australia - Disappointed that the U.S. women's gymnasts failed to win a medal in the team competition last night? You should have seen what happened after they were finished tumbling and vaulting at the Olympic Park Superdome. The world got a glimpse of the ego problems, turf wars and turmoil that have troubled the team for several years, leaving the unmistakable impression that, if anything, a fourth-place finish in the team event was a major accomplishment. Yes, it was a far cry from the gold medal won in Atlanta four years ago in a moment that turned a nation of television viewers into gymnastics fans.

SYDNEY, Australia - Elise Ray never imagined the Olympics would be like this, the stuff of struggles endured instead of dreams achieved, of feeling a pop in her shoulder on a first routine and making one last tiny misstep on the balance beam. No one could have predicted that the 18-year-old from Columbia would storm down a runway at breakneck speed and fly over a vault that was set 2 inches too low and fail to land on her two feet. And few could have foreseen the turmoil that engulfed her team, with officials squabbling and the U.S. team failing to gain an Olympic gymnastics medal for the first time since 1972.

A brittle 15-year-old tumbler from the dusty plains of Oklahoma struck gold inside the Baltimore Arena.A world champion raised in a humid Houston gym scored two perfect 10s and finished second.And a 15-year-old from Silver Spring vaulted from beyond the Capital Beltway to the big-time.The 1992 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials for women ended amid glitter and controversy yesterday.The winner, with the help of a microscrew in her elbow and a loophole in the scoring system, was Shannon Miller, a 4-foot-7, 71-pound wisp from Edmond, Okla.

SYDNEY, Australia - Disappointed that the U.S. women's gymnasts failed to win a medal in the team competition last night? You should have seen what happened after they were finished tumbling and vaulting at the Olympic Park Superdome. The world got a glimpse of the ego problems, turf wars and turmoil that have troubled the team for several years, leaving the unmistakable impression that, if anything, a fourth-place finish in the team event was a major accomplishment. Yes, it was a far cry from the gold medal won in Atlanta four years ago in a moment that turned a nation of television viewers into gymnastics fans.

SYDNEY, Australia - It was on the first tumbling pass of her first floor exercise of her first Summer Olympics early today when Elise Ray felt a twinge in her left shoulder. "It popped out," said Ray, 18, of Columbia. "No big deal." Ray recovered, fought through her routine and went on to lead the U.S. team back from a shaky start to a second-place finish behind China in a qualifying round. Gymnastics powers Russia, Ukraine and Romania, plus outsider Spain, were still due to perform as teams tried to land in the final six for Tuesday's team finals.

BOSTON - Columbia gymnast Elise Ray had just accepted the crystal trophy and the bouquet of flowers that came with her place on the newly selected U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team when national team coordinator Bela Karolyi unexpectedly handed her something a little heavier. The mantle of leadership. The six-woman team that emerged from the U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team Trials at Boston's FleetCenter includes two Olympic veterans - Amy Chow and Silver Spring's Dominique Dawes - but Karolyi didn't hesitate when he was asked who might fill an apparent leadership gap. He chose an 18-year-old with great competitive credentials and no Olympic experience.

So that she could soar in Sydney, Elise Ray spent a couple of days of down time at her home in Columbia. The women take center stage tonight at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis, the first of two competitions that will be weighed in the selection of the American Olympic team. As the highest U.S. finisher in the all-around at last year's world championships, Ray walks in with strong status and none of the weakness that caused one of her knees to wobble in early June. "Training has gone really well," she said during a telephone interview Tuesday night before a walk-through at the Kiel Center.

HOUSTON - Gymnast Elise Ray keeps a curious calendar. April 20-25: Spend Easter in New Zealand. Win the all-around at an international competition. May 5: Senior prom at the Inner Harbor. Today: Travel to Texas for a training session at Bela Karolyi's camp. Ray will graduate from WildeLake High next month, but she is not your typical "Junebug." The 18-year-old is attempting to win a berth on the U.S. Olympic women's team that will compete in Australia in September, and the intensity will only increase between now and the Olympic trials, which is Aug.15-20 in Boston.

ATLANTA -- They were separated by several hundred feet, not to mention a dozen years, but brought together by a flood of memories. It wasn't Pauley Pavilion. It wasn't the 1984 Olympics. And it wasn't a silver medal in a watered-down competition.It was better.Much better.For Mary Lou Retton, the star of the 1984 U.S. team that launched its sport into the American consciousness, it was the thrill of seeing another team do collectively what she had done individually in Los Angeles: win a gold medal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Look out, Baltimore. Bela's coming to town. And he's bringing a big, ol' bad mood with him."Eleven years I fight and I fight the same kind of response," Bela Karolyi said after the judges failed to deliver marks he felt Kim Zmeskal deserved during the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend."

ATLANTA -- "I can't feel my leg," Kerri Strug told her coach."Shake it out, shake it out," Bela Karolyi replied. "You've got to go one more."Emmitt Smith plays with a separated shoulder. Brady Anderson plays with appendicitis. And, yesterday, Kerri Strug vaulted with an ankle injury that would leave her with a severe sprain and two torn ligaments.What was at stake?Only everything Strug had worked for.Only a gold medal in women's team gymnastics.Only a United States first in the Olympics."Please, God, help me out here," Strug said.

ATLANTA -- "I can't feel my leg," Kerri Strug told her coach."Shake it out, shake it out," Bela Karolyi replied. "You've got to go one more."Emmitt Smith plays with a separated shoulder. Brady Anderson plays with appendicitis. And, yesterday, Kerri Strug vaulted with an ankle injury that would leave her with a severe sprain and two torn ligaments.What was at stake?Only everything Strug had worked for.Only a gold medal in women's team gymnastics.Only a United States first in the Olympics."Please, God, help me out here," Strug said.

ATLANTA -- Bela Karolyi found out about Dominique Moceanu's magic in the privacy of his Houston gym more than four years ago. There he saw his past, both in Romania and America, in an athlete who looked like Nadia Comaneci, smiled like Mary Lou Retton and worked like Kim Zmeskal."