U.S. men romp through gymnastics qualifications

By Jill Lieber

USA TODAY

ATHENS - Sailing high above the podium during Saturday's Olympic men's gymnastics qualifications, USA's Blaine Wilson reached for the high bar, but it slipped through his chalked-up hands. He slammed to the mat, cracking the back of his skull. "I said to myself, 'Damn it!' And a few other choice words. Nothing ever came out of my mouth though," explained Wilson later. "But I picked myself up, walked over to the chalk tray and finished high bar."

Wilson scored 8.862.

"Then, I warmed up on the floor, and I felt like vomiting, " he said.

Instead, he cleared the cobwebs, tumbled with ease and stuck his landing to score 9.70. He sat out the next event (pommel horse), took some whiffs of smelling salts and applied a wet towel to the back of his neck. Then, he nailed rings, scoring 9.625 - the USA's best rings score.

"It's just a testament to how tough Blaine is," said U.S. Olympic coach Kevin Mazeika. "He has proven again and again he can come back from adversity."

Wilson, 30, and his USA teammates opened the men's gymnastics competition at the Athens Games on a high note, scoring 9.6s and 9.7s on parallel bars, their strongest event, and were solid, but less than crisp, throughout the rest of the qualifications.

They did not lose their composure, their confidence, or sight of their goals.

They did not count a score lower than 9.225 and suffered just major glitches (in addition to Wilson's tumble, Brett McClure fell off pommel horse).

They were in first place after the second session of qualifying.

Their overall team score of 230.419 was four-tenths higher than Romania, the reigning European champions and winners of the first qualifying session.

China and Japan competed in the third session.

The USA assured themselves a spot in the finals, where the scoring format changes - and perfect performances matter. In qualifications, five gymnasts compete and the top four scores count. In Monday night's team finals, three gymnasts compete on each event with all three scores counting.

Reigning world all-around champion Paul Hamm performed solidly in qualifications, scoring 9.7s on floor, pommel horse and parallel bars and high bar, and 9.5s on rings and vault. He is in first place after two sessions with 58.01 points, more than a half-point ahead of Romania's Marian Dragulescu, who is in second.

"I think we are doing great," Mazeika said. "We struggled a little. We know the adjustments we have to make for Monday. We have a great team, with a lot of experience, and we will draw on that."

Said Wilson: "Everybody put forth a lot of effort in podium training (on Wednesday). We were a little fatigued. We'll be rested for finals."

The USA men came to Athens with one goal in mind: to win a team medal. The last time the USA men accomplished that feat was in 1984, when they struck gold in Los Angeles. Mazeika proclaimed it was possible, if they each consistently hit 9.6s on their routines. The USA men already have proven they are among the world's best, having won silver medals at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships.

Wilson is so convinced of it, in fact, that he battled back from a torn left biceps over the past six months to make his third Olympic team. When he sat out of pommel horse, it ended his bid to make the all-around finals. But he said he was willing to do that because he did not want to risk getting a low score that might hurt his team.

"I've got a hard head, but my brain was bouncing around in there," Wilson said. "I did the floor because I know that Jason (Gatson) can't (because of back problems). We need five guys up on each event. But it would have been selfish of me to swing on horse, feeling bad, so I told Kevin I could not go. All-around is a dream of mine, but I'm here to win a team medal."

Will he be ready for finals?

"I still have a headache, but I'm fine," he said. "I'm starving."

The USA men believe they will bring home some kind of hardware.

"It was a struggle today, but personally I prefer it that way," said Guard Young. "If you go out and have your best day, you have might as well have thrown in the towel already. This way, we'll be focused for finals."

Added McClure: "I think finals will be easier than the 6-5-4 format. In finals, it's three up, three count. That means we do half of the routines, so we can do our best."