Gymnastics' next generation gets its chance

INDIANAPOLIS - While the gymnasts who collected all those medals at the Athens Olympics celebrated their achievements one last time, workers scurried around backstage, getting ready for the awards ceremony for that night's competition.

Make way, there's a new crop of gymnasts now.

"I think we will be in a good situation," Martha Karolyi, the women's national team coordinator, said after watching Nastia Liukin edge Chellsie Memmel for the title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Saturday night.

The Americans had an amazing run from 2001 to Athens, winning 54 medals at the world championships, Pan American Games and Olympics. They won nine medals in Athens alone - more than the previous two Olympics combined - including silvers by both teams and all-around golds by Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson.

The trick is keeping that run going. With all of the Olympians in street clothes Saturday night, it's time for the next generation to step up.

Liukin and Memmel are already established among the world elite. Liukin has a gold-medal pedigree, with a father who won two golds at the 1988 Olympics and a mother who was the world rhythmic champion the year before, and she routed the junior ranks.

Expectations for her first senior nationals were huge, and she faltered in the prelims at nationals, dropping to third after a wobble and slip on the beam. But Liukin, who will be 16 in October, made an impressive comeback in the finals. She didn't score anything below a 9.483 as she edged Memmel.

"Strength of character. Strength of character, which is extremely, I cannot stress how important it is," Karolyi said. "She has all the chances. She's a world-class gymnast."

Memmel won two gold medals at the 2003 world championships, and likely would have been in Athens if not for a foot injury. Alicia Sacramone, who finished fourth in the all-around at nationals, won the individual vault and floor titles, and got a 9.9 on floor Saturday night. She also won the vault title at the World Cup finals last December, beating the last two Olympic champions.

Look a little further, and there are some juniors who will be pushing Liukin, Memmel, Sacramone and Jana Bieger, third on Saturday night. Junior champion Natasha Kelley would have edged Bieger if she'd competed as a senior, and junior silver medalist Bianca Flohr would have been fifth.

The top five juniors on balance beam all scored higher than Liukin, who won the event at the senior level. And Kelley, winner on beam, doesn't even have all of her skills in after breaking her hand earlier this year.

"After an Olympic year, and this is typical when the whole Olympic team goes out, the number of gymnasts is not as big. But we have at least six exciting juniors who will be seniors next year," Karolyi said. "We will keep our system, we will do periodic training camps and we'll take them to bigger competitions."

The picture is a little murkier on the men's side, at least in the short term. Hamm and his twin brother, Morgan, are taking a break from competition to finish their degrees at Ohio State. Both said Saturday they plan to return in time for the 2007 nationals, and Paul is working on new skills for his high bar routine that's already one of the best in the world.

Olympians Brett McClure and Jason Gatson skipped nationals to recuperate from injuries, though both plan to be healthy in time for the world championships Nov. 21-27 in Melbourne, Australia.

That left the national title wide open. Todd Thornton beat David Sender and David Durante, but the competition won't send the Japanese, Chinese and Russians hurrying to the gym for more work. Thornton's final score was almost 10 points lower than Hamm's last year, and he didn't score anything above a 9.3. He scored in the 8s on five of his 12 events.

"We showed we need a lot of work," Durante said. "I know we have the talent and the coaches to do it."

The upside is that Durante, Thornton, Sender and other guys are going to get plenty of international experience in the next couple of years. Add the Hamms, Gatson and McClure back in, and the Americans could be even formidable than they were in Athens.

"They're gaining some valuable experience," said Ron Brant, the men's national team coordinator. "I think we're going to have a stronger team than we had in '04."