Post by MrRepublican on Aug 10, 2004 3:21:00 GMT -7
Well, a new scoring system is now in place for the 2004 Olympics gymnastics event. The margin for error is now zero. Many of the top performances that some of you saw at the US Olympic Trials last month would have driven Kupets and Patterson to the bottom of the leader board (because of their bobbles and minor lapses in precision) had the new IGF scoring system been in place in Anaheim. However, the team scoring formula under the new format favors the US Womens team because (IMO) of our depth of talent and the balance that Marta Karolyi has assembled on this 2004 squad. This new system will debut in Athens.....
Gymnastics
It's a whole new balancing act for USA
- Janny Hu, Special to the SF Chronicle
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Just when it looked like USA Gymnastics had risen above its underwhelming 2000 Olympics by assembling the nation's deepest talent pool ever, the International Gymnastics Federation upped the stakes.
The IGF essentially erased the Americans' treasured depth with a new scoring system, a format debuting in Athens this week that rewards specialization and demands perfection.
Instead of dropping the lowest score in an event, as teams have done for the last four Olympics, three gymnasts will now compete in the team finals on each apparatus -- and all three scores will count.
It will be either a Darwinian dream or nightmare for the United States, whose men's and women's teams are still favored to medal, despite the zero margin for error.
"Gymnastics is always progressing and you have to go with the times," said Shannon Miller, America's most decorated gymnast, who is providing TV commentary from Athens.
"What may make or break the team is the new format. (Previously) you could have a wobble or could have even a miss, and you could still come out and have a gold medal. (Now) you can't miss. Any kind of break and you're done.
"It's just whether you have it that day or not."
The Americans didn't have it at the 2000 Sydney Games, where they failed to win a team or individual medal for the first time in 24 years. They have spent the past four years touting their recent depth and success, and after picking their teams to best utilize the scoring system, they like their medal chances.
Anchoring the men's team is Paul Hamm, the 21-year-old reigning world all- around champion. Hamm, a Wisconsin native training at Ohio State, is positioned to become America's first Olympic all-around medalist since Peter Vidmar won silver in 1984.
His supporting cast includes twin brother Morgan, Brett McClure, Jason Gatson, Guard Young and three-time Olympian Blaine Wilson, whose very presence at these Games is inspiring.
Wilson, 30, tore his left biceps tendon at the VISA American Cup in February. He vowed to return from the injury in time for the Olympic trials five months later; a notion met with skepticism from most doctors. Wilson recovered so quickly, his teammates began calling him Wolverine, in reference to the X-Men superhero with regenerative powers.
The men also are enjoying a team renaissance, having won two team silver medals at the World Championships since the 2000 Olympics, when they placed fifth. The runner-up finishes have fueled Wilson's belief that the American men are on a long-term upswing.
"The U.S. is going to be one of the superpowers in gymnastics, at least for a little while," Wilson said. "Usually, we're coming in as the underdogs: They might win, might have a chance to win. Well, that's not the case now. In 2001, 2003, we showed we can get the job done.
"We're not going to look at any team and say they're better than us. We're only looking at the U.S. and what (we) need to do to win."
Adds Morgan Hamm: "This is a group of guys that can do something amazing. "
The same holds for the women's squad, which had so many gymnasts vying for six spots that two individual gold medalists from the 2003 World Championships -- Holly Vise and Chellsie Memmel -- didn't even make the Olympic team.
Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Carly Patterson lead the American women. The Courtneys finished 1-2 at the Olympic trials in June, while Patterson struggled with her consistency on the balance beam. She remains the team's most internationally tested gymnast, finishing second in the all-around at last year's Worlds.
The trio is joined by Terin Humphrey and a surprising pair of elders, Mohini Bhardwaj and Annia Hatch -- perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the new scoring system.
Bhardwaj, 25, is best known for her association with actress Pamela Anderson, who kicked in $20,000 to fund her training. She is a vault and bars specialist, events that the Americans are weaker in. Hatch, 26, was a seven- time national champion in Cuba before defecting to the United States and has parlayed her vault into an Olympic berth.
Neither Bhardwaj nor Hatch, who are a decade older than some of their peers, likely would have made the team if the old scoring system was in place.
It's only fitting that they stand to be the difference-makers in this revised Olympic gymnastics meet, where depth -- like age -- might not matter.
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/10/SPGAE834PO1.DTL
The article above explains the delay in team selection (2 weeks after the US Trials). The actual scoring system was not unveiled until just prior to the final US team selection, and team selection was made by Karolyi on the basis of the finalized scoring system.
Gymnastics
It's a whole new balancing act for USA
- Janny Hu, Special to the SF Chronicle
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Just when it looked like USA Gymnastics had risen above its underwhelming 2000 Olympics by assembling the nation's deepest talent pool ever, the International Gymnastics Federation upped the stakes.
The IGF essentially erased the Americans' treasured depth with a new scoring system, a format debuting in Athens this week that rewards specialization and demands perfection.
Instead of dropping the lowest score in an event, as teams have done for the last four Olympics, three gymnasts will now compete in the team finals on each apparatus -- and all three scores will count.
It will be either a Darwinian dream or nightmare for the United States, whose men's and women's teams are still favored to medal, despite the zero margin for error.
"Gymnastics is always progressing and you have to go with the times," said Shannon Miller, America's most decorated gymnast, who is providing TV commentary from Athens.
"What may make or break the team is the new format. (Previously) you could have a wobble or could have even a miss, and you could still come out and have a gold medal. (Now) you can't miss. Any kind of break and you're done.
"It's just whether you have it that day or not."
The Americans didn't have it at the 2000 Sydney Games, where they failed to win a team or individual medal for the first time in 24 years. They have spent the past four years touting their recent depth and success, and after picking their teams to best utilize the scoring system, they like their medal chances.
Anchoring the men's team is Paul Hamm, the 21-year-old reigning world all- around champion. Hamm, a Wisconsin native training at Ohio State, is positioned to become America's first Olympic all-around medalist since Peter Vidmar won silver in 1984.
His supporting cast includes twin brother Morgan, Brett McClure, Jason Gatson, Guard Young and three-time Olympian Blaine Wilson, whose very presence at these Games is inspiring.
Wilson, 30, tore his left biceps tendon at the VISA American Cup in February. He vowed to return from the injury in time for the Olympic trials five months later; a notion met with skepticism from most doctors. Wilson recovered so quickly, his teammates began calling him Wolverine, in reference to the X-Men superhero with regenerative powers.
The men also are enjoying a team renaissance, having won two team silver medals at the World Championships since the 2000 Olympics, when they placed fifth. The runner-up finishes have fueled Wilson's belief that the American men are on a long-term upswing.
"The U.S. is going to be one of the superpowers in gymnastics, at least for a little while," Wilson said. "Usually, we're coming in as the underdogs: They might win, might have a chance to win. Well, that's not the case now. In 2001, 2003, we showed we can get the job done.
"We're not going to look at any team and say they're better than us. We're only looking at the U.S. and what (we) need to do to win."
Adds Morgan Hamm: "This is a group of guys that can do something amazing. "
The same holds for the women's squad, which had so many gymnasts vying for six spots that two individual gold medalists from the 2003 World Championships -- Holly Vise and Chellsie Memmel -- didn't even make the Olympic team.
Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Carly Patterson lead the American women. The Courtneys finished 1-2 at the Olympic trials in June, while Patterson struggled with her consistency on the balance beam. She remains the team's most internationally tested gymnast, finishing second in the all-around at last year's Worlds.
The trio is joined by Terin Humphrey and a surprising pair of elders, Mohini Bhardwaj and Annia Hatch -- perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the new scoring system.
Bhardwaj, 25, is best known for her association with actress Pamela Anderson, who kicked in $20,000 to fund her training. She is a vault and bars specialist, events that the Americans are weaker in. Hatch, 26, was a seven- time national champion in Cuba before defecting to the United States and has parlayed her vault into an Olympic berth.
Neither Bhardwaj nor Hatch, who are a decade older than some of their peers, likely would have made the team if the old scoring system was in place.
It's only fitting that they stand to be the difference-makers in this revised Olympic gymnastics meet, where depth -- like age -- might not matter.
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/10/SPGAE834PO1.DTL
The article above explains the delay in team selection (2 weeks after the US Trials). The actual scoring system was not unveiled until just prior to the final US team selection, and team selection was made by Karolyi on the basis of the finalized scoring system.
