Karolyi

One competition produced a controversy, the other a team.One ended with a parade as charade, the other finished with six men smiling and one man weeping, saying, "I just made my life today."The 1992 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, which ended Saturday night at the Baltimore Arena, were the tumbling equivalent of the NHL's regular season.Was this really necessary?A world champion won on the floor yet lost on points.A women's team was named. Sort of.Adults shouted. Kids cried."You have to take the politics out of it," said Stanford men's coach Sadao Hamada.

A world champion raised in a humid Houston gym scored two perfect 10s and finished second.Or maybe it was first.A brittle 15-year-old tumbler from the dusty plains of Oklahoma struck gold inside the Baltimore Arena.Or maybe it was silver.And a kid 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.Kim Zmeskal, the reigning world champion, won the two-dashowdown at the Baltimore Arena over challenger Shannon Miller by 1/1,000th of a point, but she finished behind Miller in the overall trials scoring, because it includes results from last month's U.S. championships.

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.

Her back may be broken, but Betty Okino's Olympic dream isn't yet shattered.The woman considered the second-best gymnast in the United States is unlikely to compete at the Olympic trials, Saturday through June 13 at the Baltimore Arena. Yet with a resume that includes three world championship medals, Okino may receive a reprieve -- and a ticket to the team's final training session before the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.Confused? Don't be. In a subjectively judged sport, in which the goal is to put together the best team possible, Okino still could receive a spot on the six-woman team.

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."

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."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A smile broke through the glower on Bela Karolyi's face.The mountain of a man who pushes those tiny dolls to greatness held his head in mock amazement and then thrust his big paws skyward.And then he used them to hug tiny, size-1 Kim Zmeskal.The little girl who had disappointed him so with a second-place finish in the compulsory round had just scored a 10 in the vault during the optionals last night.It was her first event en route to a third straight U.S. Gymnastics all-around championship -- and almost certainly an Olympic gold medal in Barcelona, Spain.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tiny, taut girls and miniature, muscular men will fly through the air here this weekend -- hoping to land in Baltimore.The 1992 Phar-Mor U.S. Gymnastics Championships, first step in selecting the U.S. team for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, begin tonight at Ohio State.The top 12 women and the top 18 men after competition ends Sunday will compete June 6-13 at the Olympic trials in Baltimore for the 14 spots -- seven men and seven women -- on the U.S. Olympic squad.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tiny, taut girls and miniature, muscular men will fly through the air here this weekend -- hoping to land in Baltimore.The 1992 Phar-Mor U.S. Gymnastics Championships, first step in selecting the U.S. team for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, begin tonight at Ohio State.The top 12 women and the top 18 men after competition ends Sunday will compete June 6-13 at the Olympic trials in Baltimore for the 14 spots -- seven men and seven women -- on the U.S. Olympic squad.

INDIANAPOLIS -- In gymnastics, grace is usually cast aside at mat's edge. So was it really a surprise yesterday that an athletic Cold War was reborn inside the Hoosier Dome?Is it a shock that two tiny gymnasts, one from the Soviet Union and the other from the United States, refused to shake hands? And really, did anyone expect U.S. coach Bela Karolyi to ignore the opportunity to unload a few verbal shots at his longtime rivals?"Politics, it's always politics," Karolyi said.After nine days of beauty and triumph, the World Gymnastics Championships ended with an ugly little encounter on a medal stand.