2004 Olympics: Gymnastics

Patterson eclipses idol Khorkina, happy to join Retton as role model

01:10 AM CDT on Friday, August 20, 2004

By CATHY HARASTA / The Dallas Morning News

ATHENS, Greece – Gymnast Carly Patterson's night on Thursday was loaded with milestones. She defeated one idol and matched the world-beating performance of another. She also became an idol for many young women athletes.

Patterson, 16, of Allen, became only the second U.S. woman to win an Olympic gymnastics all-around title. To do it, Patterson topped Russia's Svetlana Khorkina – long a heroine for Patterson.

Mary Lou Retton became the first U.S. Olympic all-around champion, vaulting into history at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. Patterson and Retton spoke by phone Thursday night.

Patterson said Retton told her, "I knew you could do it."

"It just means a whole lot because I've worked all my life to be an Olympic champion," she said.

After her final score secured the title, the tears came.

"I'm sure it's every little girl's dream to be an Olympic champion," Patterson said. "I'm happy to be a role model. It's just cool that little girls look up to me and, hopefully, I can give some confidence to them and make them work harder so they can have this dream, too."

Patterson's coach, Evgeny Marchenko of Plano, said it was the happiest night of his life.

"It's been a long, tough road," he said. "As soon as she came to our gym four years ago, I really felt like, 'That's the one.' "

Bedford native Courtney Kupets, nursing a sore right leg, finished ninth. The balance beam was her biggest challenge. Kupets removed herself from that event during the team final Tuesday. On Thursday, she scored an 8.975 on the beam. ...

Some questions about the meaning of "start values" have come up during the gymnastics competition. The highest start value a gymnast can have for a routine is a 10.00, which reflects the highest difficulty level. If the judges either do not credit a part of a routine, or a gymnast does a routine that is of lower difficulty, then achieving a 10.00 is impossible. Controversies arise when judges do not credit a connecting move, for instance. On Thursday, Khorkina's start value for her floor exercise was a 9.9 – meaning that was the maximum score she could have achieved. She got a 9.562.