ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: STEVE WILSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS note: above
MORE THAN FOUR DECADES of Russian dominance in women's gymnastics became a thing of the past in Atlanta.
All the toughness of a sassy and solid gold American women's gymnastics team could be seen in the pain and joy on the face of Kerri Strug after a final vault into history that ended four decades of Russian dominance.
Her left foot throbbing from a fall on her first vault at the end of Tuesday night's drama, Strug summoned the courage to go for it again, knowing full well that this last chance might be the difference between winning and losing.
Strug had been the worrier on the team, the one who put the most pressure on herself, and now she had every one of the 32,048 fans in the Georgia Dome watching her in a breathless silence.
When she spun off the vault and landed hard on both feet, she quickly lifted her left foot and hopped on her right to hold her spot, balancing there precariously while fans erupted with a thunderous cheer.
The United States had won its first women's gymnastics team gold, and the silver medal Russians and bronze medal Romanians were reduced to tears.
As the Soviet Union or the Unified Team of 1992, the Russians had won every gold when they competed in this event since 1952. When they didn't go to the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Romania won.
As it turned out, the American women didn't even need Strug's points after pulling far enough ahead of the Russians on brilliant and gutsy performances from everyone, especially the tiniest, Dominique Moceanu.
Shannon Miller, the most experienced and most honored gymnast, did her part, but she didn't carry the team. Rather, it was Moceanu and Dominique Dawes and Strug who posted the most consistent scores in all four disciplines, and Amy Chow and Amanda Borden who came through when they had to.
But no one knew what the point total would be, with one Russian still on the floor, and nothing could beat Strug's last vault and the tears and cheers and chills she evoked when she was carried to the medal stand in the arms of coach Bela Karolyi.
When he gently let her down, and she hopped two steps up to the gold medal platform with the help of Miller and Moceanu, there was hardly a dry eye in the building.
``I saw her dislocate her ankle on the first vault,'' Karolyi said. ``She told me she couldn't feel her leg. We were in second place at that point. I told her to shake it off and that she should go out and do her best. She told me, `I will, I will, I will.' She did everything a great athlete can show in a critical moment.
``In my coaching experience, which is 35 years, I have never seen such a moment.''
Mary Lou Retton, winner of the all-around gold in Los Angeles when the women's team took a silver, watched with her eyes glistening and a smile as broad as if she had been part of this team. In a way, she had, paving the way with her triumph and her relationship with Karolyi, the burly Romanian who has coached so many champions for his homeland and his adopted country.
``We've spent a long time waiting,'' Retton said. ``To win in Barcelona would have been marvelous. To do it at home is oh, so much sweeter.''
At the start of the night, when the United States trailed Russia by .127 points, Retton described Miller as ``the glue to this team.'' But Strug, she said, was by far the strongest vaulter.
``She's always been second or third or fourth in the lineup, and she's never been given the big forum,'' Retton said. ``So I really think she's going to be our clincher.''
That's exactly what Strug was.
``Gosh!'' Retton exclaimed when she saw that last shaky landing. ``That's a tremendous amount of pressure. But she has worked her lifetime to anchor that spot. I was real confident going into the vault. It's usually one of our strongest events. Then I got real, real nervous when Moceanu sat down.''
Moceanu, a perky, 14-year-old sprite, had performed spectacularly on the uneven bars, the balance beam and the floor exercise, where she seemed to float on air to the music of ``The Devil Went Down to Georgia.'' Her scores ranged from 9.812 to 9.850.
But on the vault, Moceanu was bedeviled by slips on the landings of both of her attempts and had to settle for a poor 9.200.
When it was Strug's turn, no one knew if that mark by Moceanu would be enough. The team's lowest mark would be thrown out, and all Strug needed was one clean vault to clinch the gold, no matter what the remaining Russian gymnast did.
Then, astonishingly, Strug fell on her first landing, getting only a 9.162, and a hush spread through the Georgia Dome. Could the United States lose the gold if Strug fell again? It was impossible to tell from the board, since the Russian's total hadn't been posted.
``Her leg hurt,'' said coach Martha Karolyi, Bela's wife, who thought Strug might have a stress fracture. ``But because of her team spirit, she wanted to go again.''
As Strug landed after that last vault, the Karolyis looked up and saw the score: 9.712.
``We got the big one, we got the big one,'' Bela and Martha shouted to each other. |-Knight-Ridder newspapers contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP 1. The U.S. women's gymnastics team, with goldby CNBmedals, waves to the crowd in Atlanta. More Olympics coverage on
BI.
2. Coach Bela Karolyi carries injured U.S. gymnast Kerri Strug
during the awards ceremony. color.