Women's gymnastic team finishes in fifth place (07/28/96)

Women's gymnastic team finishes in fifth place

Podkopayeva is squad's star

by Roman Woronowycz

ATLANTA - Ukraine's women's gymnastics squad finished a disappointing fifth in the team finals at the Georgia Dome on July 23, and the crowd can be held partly responsible, although they can't be blamed.

Ukraine, which was in fourth after the compulsories and only .830 points behind Romania, seemed positioned well for a run at a medal, but the team became unnerved by a boisterous crowd of more than 32,000 that cheered every move the U.S. team made and distracted the Ukrainian women. In the end, the United States won its first-ever gold medal in the team competition, followed by Russia, which took the silver, Romania, the bronze medalist, and China.

The crowd noise affected the Ukrainian gymnasts from the outset. Svitlana Zieliepukina led off the first rotation, floor exercise, and was working the floor well when she lost her rhythm and timing. It seemed the cheers for a U.S. uneven parallel bars exercise made it difficult to hear the music.

Liliya Podkopayeva, the Ukrainian star and current all-around world champion who finished with the most individual points in the team competition (which do not count towards individual medals), said the Ukrainians were affected by the crowd. "The crowd was so loud that we became distracted and it showed," said Podkopayeva. "But we should have done better. The U.S. was very strong today."

Podkopayeva, 18, had her own problems sticking jumps, stepping forward after her vault, and prior to that, stepping out of bounds after completing a flip in the floor exercise, which cost her a mandatory 0.1 point deduction from her score. However, her athleticism and over-all ability allowed her to overcome her mistakes and achieve the highest score among the competitors.

Pixie-like Liubov Sheremeta, all 4 foot 6 inches of her, gave a thoroughly enjoyable performance, although it wasn't good enough to qualify for the individual competitions. In the floor exercise she performed to a kolomyika, bouncing along to the jaunty beat. But she failed to stick her final flip, and it was reflected in her score.

Whereas, the U.S., Romanian and Russian gymnasts were consistently scoring 9.6-9.7, and higher, the Ukrainians, except for Podkopayeva, were hard pressed to hit 9.6.

As for the U.S. athletes, they gave the performance of their young lives. And the crowd loved every minute, reacting with a deafening roar each time one of the young gymnasts finished a routine.

They were most taken by the latest darling of the gymnastics world, Dominique Moceanu. Each time she flashed her beaming smile after completing an event the crowd responded in a frenzy. That she put on a nearly flawless performance in three of four rotations may also have had something to do with the crowd's responses. But this night she was only one of seven U.S. stars, for each member contributed to the outstanding performance.

The only setback the U.S. faced came in the vault, their final rotation, when Kerri Strug jammed her ankle on her first attempt. Although in obvious pain she opted to try again. Her first score, an anemic 9.162, could not assure the U.S. the gold because the Russians were close behind and performing in their strength event, the floor exercise. So Strug vaulted again and stuck a 9.712, before falling to the floor in pain.

The Russians had their own problems. Elena Dolgopolova fell on the uneven bars and Oksana Liapina fell during the floor exercise. Only Svetlana Chorkina, the Russian star, had a strong day. But the Russians, who ended up only .821 points behind the U.S., had a much better day than the Ukrainians.

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