THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310665
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: 32 lines
The seven members of the gold medal U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team have signed up to attend a post-Games party next week at Busch Gardens, park officials announced Tuesday.
Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Dominique Moceanu, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps and Amanda Borden all are expected to turn out for a celebration projected to bring some 300 athletes from the U.S. Olympic Team to Williamsburg from Aug. 7-9.
Other expected guests include swimmers Josh Davis and Brad Schumacher, members of the gold medal 4x100 freestyle relay team; Mary Ellen Clark, bronze medalist in platform diving; decathlete Dan O'Brien; gymnast Blaine Wilson; and members of the women's softball, soccer and rowing teams.
The event is called ``Victory Lap '96,'' and the public will be able to meet athletes at autograph-signing sessions Busch Gardens officials are working on arranging for that Thursday and Friday.
Late Monday, Dawes won the bronze medal in the floor exercise with a score of 9.887.
Dawes didn't know until hours before the event that she would compete, replacing Kerri Strug who withdrew because of the ankle injury she suffered last week in leading the United States to the team gold.
Dawes became the first African-American woman to win an individual medal in gymnastics. She had previously won a bronze with the U.S. team in 1992 and shared in the team gold last week. by CNB