Quiet time will settle gym team

Monday, July 12, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

Two weeks ago, the so-called USA women's gymnastics Olympic Trials took place in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 10,000 spectators at the Arrowhead Pond.

This week, the real Olympic Trials will happen behind closed doors in front of maybe a dozen coaches and perhaps a maid or a butler in suburban Houston, at the ranch of Bela and Martha Karolyi, the U.S. Women's coach.

At least one member of the national team said it's going to be a little strange competing for an Olympic berth in a small and silent gymnasium.

"It's going to more calm, but the talent is still going to be there," said Las Vegas' Tasha Schwikert, one of 11 athletes battling for three berths on the U.S. team that aren't spoken for. "Whether there is going to be a crowd or not, there's still going to be a lot of tension.

"As gymnasts, we all love each other and we all get along. But there's still going to be a lot of tension (because) there's only six spots and three alternates."

The competition will be even more keen in that three of the roster spots already have been all but reserved for Courtney Kupets and Courtney McCool, who finished first and second in Anaheim, and Carly Patterson, who tied Kupets for the U.S. all-around championship last month.

Under a new international scoring system in which specialists are nearly as important as all-around gymnasts, it is expected the three-person selection committee, headed by Martha Karolyi, will choose one additional all-around performer at this week's camp and two specialists.

Although Schwikert consistently scores high in uneven bars and floor exercise, her best bet to make the team may be as the fourth all-arounder. She finished only eighth in the trials but in that she's the only returner from the Sydney Games, her experience may give her an edge on some of those who finished ahead of her.

Plus, Tabitha Yim, a solid all-arounder who had easily beaten Schwikert at both the trials and the nationals, sustained a serious Achilles injury in training just two days after Anaheim, thus ending her Olympic dream.

Given the depth of the women's squad and the new scoring system, which leaves no room for error after the preliminaries, Schwikert said she doesn't envy the task of the selection committee.

Neither does USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi.

"In the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, you brought six athletes, and all six competed on every event, and you counted the top five scores. And, boy, doesn't the U.S. wish it was like that today, because we would dominate," Colarossi said.

Now, only three gymnasts in each of the four events compete after the preliminaries, and all scores count.

"The reason we have changed our selection process is because they changed the format of competition," Colarossi said. "Now we have to capitalize on our depth of talent and maximize on the talent we have. There are now less athletes and more teams competing, and less margin for error."

That's why Karolyi said the committee could wind up taking a specialist or two, such as Hollie Vise and/or Chelsie Memmel (balance beam and bars) or 25-year-old veteran Mohini Bhardwaj (vault) to enhance the U.S. chances.

"This format gives you flexibility, but first we have the all-arounders, and then we'll see what our team needs are," Karolyi said. "It could be that the team has someone on just one single event."

The selection camp will consist of three days of workouts and a two-day competition, with the team expected to be formally announced at the end of the week-long affair on Sunday.

Schwikert, the 2001 and '02 U.S. champion, is still recovering from foot and ankle injuries and probably wouldn't have made the team under the old system, where the top six at the trials usually formed the team.

Now comes the hard part -- performing for the committee when the pressure is on.

"Of course, I really, really want it," she said about returning to the Olympics. "But all I can control in my routines. All I can do is do what I do. The rest is in their hands."