THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 24, 1995 TAG: 9507240144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLORADO SPRINGS LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Lauri Illy played hurt Sunday. She tumbled, danced, preened and gracefully tossed a hoop, ribbon, rope and clubs in the air despite a pulled muscle in her lower back. It was an injury that had officials at the Olympic Festival talking about removing her from the competition the night before.
But a day of medical treatment and a night of fortitude uncommon in 13 year-olds ended with Illy, from Virginia Beach, on the winners' stand with a bronze medal in rhythmic gymnastics, symbolic of her standing as one of the country's best athletes in her sport.
``I'm excited about how I did,'' Illy said. ``I think I could've done better, but it was good.''
Illy, in fact was second going into her final routine with the clubs. But as it happened Saturday, errors in that performance lowered her overall score. Sunday, it allowed Natalie Lacuesta, Illy's teammate in Evanston, Ill. where she has trained for three years, to pass her for the silver.
Illy injured her back Saturday as she warmed up for her final routine. Festival officials, coaches and a doctor attended to Illy and suggested she sit out the rest of the competition to avoid further injury. Illy, though, was determined to carry on.
``My back was really hurting'' at the beginning of Sunday's competition, said Illy, who is 5-foot-2 and 85 pounds. ``I had to tough it out. As we went on, I didn't think about it and it didn't hurt as much.''
Illy posted the high score in hoop and took seconds in rope and ribbon before finishing eighth in clubs, her same position Saturday. Still, there was no diminishing her smile after the awards ceremony.
Nor should there have been upon the realization that Illy, in her final event as a junior, performed up to her recognized standard as one of the country's top three or four rhythmic gymnasts, of any class. Only one senior, gold medalist Jessica Davis, is considered consistently better than Illy.
``You can see she has the talent and ability to compete with the seniors, and she's still so very young,'' said Illy's coach, Lana Lashoff. ``She has so many years to go.''
As opposed to many Festival events that serve mainly as exhibition or developmental contests, there was plenty riding on rhythmic gymnastics here. The country's finest rhythmic gymnasts competed, and the top two seniors qualified for the World Championships in September in Vienna, Austria.
Illy couldn't qualify for that, but she'll be a senior by the time the National Championships roll around in May. The top eight finishers there go to the Olympic Trials in June in Boston, with perhaps only one, and no more than two, women qualifying to go to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Illy, a large part of America's recent improvement in the sport on a global scale, will admit she thinks about Atlanta some, but only if you pry it out of her.
``A step at a time,'' said the youngster who has competed in Paris, South America, Cairo and Mexico in the last year. ``If I look too far ahead, I might trip.''
LOCALS UPDATE: Kim Miller scored the South's only goal Saturday in a 5-1 field hockey loss to the North. The South is the U.S. Under-18 team, the North the Under-21 team. . . . Roller skater John Jacobson, 16, of Norfolk finished fifth in men's figures Sunday. . . . Rower Scott Walsh, also of Norfolk, with his partner Eric Edmonds took the bronze medal in men's lightweight double sculls after the final 2,000 meter race. . . . Cyclist Jonathan Nisbet, 17, of Chesapeake, had a dismal Festival. Nisbet failed to finish Saturday's road race and was 36th, last place, in Sunday's time trial. . . . Mike Thornberry of Suffolk scored a goal for the South in its team handball victory Sunday. ILLUSTRATION: 13-year-old Lauri Illy won the bronze in rhythmic gymnastics in
the Olympic Festival.
by CNB