
| IN THE NEWS >> Hamm, Memmel, Vise add to American gold tally | |
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Posted 8/24/2003 2:17
AM
By Nancy Armour, The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Forget red, white and blue. Gold is
the color of choice for the Americans. Paul Hamm, Hollie
Vise
and Chellsie Memmel all took first place at the World Gymnastics Championships
on Saturday night, extending a gold rush the likes of which the Americans
haven't seen in two decades.
"We didn't get everything we wanted, but we set some high standards," said Stacy Maloney, Hamm's coach. "Still, it has been a historical week." Every time the Americans have taken the floor, they've left with at least one medal. Hamm is now 3-for-3, winning a silver with the U.S. team Tuesday, then becoming the first American man ever to win the all-around title. He added gold on floor exercise Saturday, tying with Bulgaria's Jordan Jovtchev. Memmel and Vise then matched Hamm, tying for gold on the uneven bars. "It's pretty cool," Memmel said. Almost as good as the team gold the U.S. women won Wednesday, despite losing half of their team to illness and injury. Carly Patterson also won a silver in the all-around Friday. That gives the United States five golds here, and seven medals overall. It's the team's best showing at a world championships since the 1979 team took home eight medals, and its best finish at a major international competition since the 1984 Olympics — just up the road in Los Angeles. Just how well are things going for the Americans here? So well that at one point Saturday they had three gold medals — on just two events. So well that Wisconsin gymnasts — Hamm, his twin brother Morgan and Memmel — have six medals, double what former powerhouse Russia has managed. Of course, success has its price. The cost overrun for USA Gymnastics' festive hospitality suite is nearing five figures — and that doesn't even include the bash that was sure to follow Saturday night's bonanza. "We knew we had the potential to do what we've done here," USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi said. "I'm not sure if I believed it quite as much after we lost three people. But I keep telling you how deep we are." There could be more hardware to come, too. Blaine Wilson qualified for Sunday's parallel bars final, while Memmel will be up on the beam. And the Athens Olympics are only a year away. "We're all psyched to get back in the gym," said Jason Gatson, who finished seventh on still rings, just behind Wilson. "Next year, we're just going to take the same approach — to just go for it." The Americans certainly know how to do that. Vise had a disastrous showing on the bars in team finals, forgetting her participant's number in the warm-up gym. Coaches had to scramble, writing a number with black magic marker and attaching it to her back just before she went up. The confusion flustered the 15-year-old, and she fell on a release move. "I was really upset after bars," Vise said. "I knew I could make that routine." She got a second chance when she was added to the bars final after teammate Courtney Kupets tore her Achilles' tendon. "Tonight, I was focused," Vise said. "And I had my number." Breathtakingly beautiful on the bars, she twirled and pirouetted like a ballerina. When it came time for the release move she missed in the finals, she grabbed the bar as easily as if it was 6 inches wide. She was leaning forward a bit as she landed, but she held her landing as if she was hanging on for dear life. "There's more pressure in the team competition," Vise said. "I still wanted this really badly since I messed up during team competition." Not to be outdone, Memmel followed with an equally spectacular routine. Added to the U.S. team as a late alternate, the 15-year-old from West Allis, Wis., has become the squad's rock. She was 8-for-8 in the team finals and preliminaries, and finished tied for eighth in the all-around. She did impossible twirling tricks on the bars. When she gripped the bar with both hands and then flipped backward and around the bar, she looked as if she had to be quadruple jointed. She took a small hop on her landing, but it wouldn't tarnish her gold. "I wasn't even expecting to compete," she said. "The team gold was really cool, and this one is amazing."
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