Uneven Bars

With a microscrew in her left elbow, a bow in her hair, and ice in her heart, Shannon Miller took a grip on first place at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials last night.Three months after tumbling off the uneven bars and dislocating her elbow, the fragile-looking yet ferocious-performing 15-year-old from Edmond, Okla., led the compulsories at the Baltimore Arena, piling up a score of 57.057.Miller was all grace and guts, a 4-foot-7, 71-pound dancer who performed with a glint of steel. She stared down the toughest little tumbler of them all, 1991 all-around World Champion Kim Zmeskal.

Soviet women lead world gymnasticsThe Soviet Union, led by women's world champion Svetlana '' Boguinskaia, took the early lead over the United States yesterday in the World Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis.The Soviet Union led the team scoring after the compulsories with 197.371 points. The United States is second going into today's optionals with 196.208.Boguinskaia's performance included scores of 9.950 on the uneven bars and floor exercise and a 9.937 on the beam.Romania, the only country to beat the Soviet Union at the World Championships in the last decade, was third with 195.795, with China fourth with 195.270.

As she came through the elevator doors, you half expected the vibrant young woman to quicken her step and zoom across the hotel lobby carpet with a series of cartwheels and flips, capped by a double back somersault in the layout position.She presented her calling card, a smile that easily filled the room and, suddenly, it didn't seem so early in the morning.It was hi, hi, Miss American Pie herself, Mary Lou Retton, and one could not help but think back to 1984 and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.