2004 Olympics: Gymnastics

11:32 AM CDT on Monday, August 9, 2004

By CATHY HARASTA / The Dallas Morning News

The U.S. women rarely, if ever, have been as powerful as the team that will try to win the team gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

Ranging in age from 16 to 26, the team returns two members from the squad that won the world championships last August in Anaheim, Calif.

Carly Patterson of Allen and Terin Humphrey of Bates City, Mo., are the only holdovers from the five-woman squad that competed after losing key members to injury and illness just before and early in the world championships.

Depth should help this team amass the scores needed to compete with the Romanians, who are eager to defend their Olympic team title.

Patterson and Courtney McCool are best equipped to make the all-around final. Both are calm by nature, physically strong and still improving. But never count out Bedford native Courtney Kupets, the 2002 uneven bars world champion.

It is an interesting mix with the potential to win a fistful of medals. But Romania won't make it easy.

A face in the stands that viewers of Baywatch will recognize is that of actress Pamela Anderson. She decided to sponsor U.S. gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj when the athlete was making a comeback and selling raffle tickets to finance her Olympic campaign.

Reigning world all-around silver medalist Carly Patterson of Allen is not Collin County's only member of the U.S. women's gymnastics delegation. Evgeny Marchenko, 40, of Plano, will be the assistant coach, helping head coach Kelli Hill.

Marchenko, who grew up in Latvia and co-founded World Olympic Gymnastics Academy 10 years ago in Plano, coaches Patterson at WOGA.

Valeri Liukin, a Plano resident and WOGA's other owner, will coach Brenda Magana of Mexico in Athens.

USA: Reigning world champion

Romania: Defending Olympic champion

Russia: Traditional powerhouse

China: Technically sound medal threat

Australia: World bronze medal team on the rise

Carly Patterson: The world champion and U.S. floor exercise champion from Allen could win the all-around and more. She'd love a rematch of the 2003 world all-around final with Svetlana Khorkina.

Svetlana Khorkina: The Russian star, 25, will want to make the most of her farewell Olympics. She's the reigning world all-around champion and an uneven bars whiz. At a time when she might be slipping, she'll call on her experience.

Alina Kozich: The Ukranian had some problems on the balance beam at the European Championships but won the all-around. She has gained confidence since the world championships last year.

Daiane dos Santos: The world floor exercise champion from Brazil is one of just a few athletes from her nation favored to win a gold medal. The 21-year-old has an electrifying leap-twist-flip series named for her.

Catalina Ponor: The Romanian won the balance beam and the floor exercise at the 2004 European Championships after claiming silver in both at the worlds last year.

Look for a compelling showdown between China and the United States for the team title.

The U.S. men finished second to the Chinese at the 2003 world championships. But Paul Hamm made history by becoming the first U.S. man to win a world all-around title. And he had to top China's Yang Wei.

Blaine Wilson, on his third Olympic team, will provide the U.S. team with leadership. His comeback from a biceps injury and surgery in March inspired his teammates.

Jason Gatson gives the team another example of a survivor. Knee surgeries punctuated his career from 1999-2001 after he had been the youngest athlete, at 17, to make a U.S. squad for the world championships in 1997. He's a medal threat on the parallel bars.

China: Reigning world and defending Olympic champion

United States: World silver medal team

Romania: Won the European Championships

Japan: World bronze medal team

Russia: Little success since 2000 Olympic bronze

Paul Hamm: He was the first U.S. man to win an individual all-around world title last year and could be the first American male to win an Olympic all-around championship.

Yang Wei: China's 2000 Olympic silver medalist in the all-around lost the world all-around title last year to Hamm by .064 of a point.

Jordan Jovtchev: The Bulgarian who trains in Houston is the world champion on the still rings and a veteran competitor who won two bronzes at the Sydney Olympics.

Marian Dragulescu: The Romanian won four gold medals at the European Championships in April, capturing titles in the team event, all-around, floor exercise and vault.

Alexei Nemov: How can anyone hold an Olympics without Nemov, the defending Olympic all-around champion who won six medals in Sydney?