Decade later, gymnasts get their medals
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TEN years after finishing fourth at the Sydney Olympics, the US women's gymnastics team received the third-place prizes that were stripped from China after Dong Fangxiao was deemed to be underage.
The new bronze medalists are Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristin Maloney, Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert.
"To me, it feels very separate," Ray said after Wednesday's ceremony.
"Everything we went through in Sydney is still very fresh. Today feels like a different time. The two emotions couldn't be more opposite."
Indeed, all said they were happy to be recognized for their efforts in 2000. But this was a team mired with injuries and controversy and more than happy to take a look back on a night that was designated as a celebration.
"We were definitely the guinea pigs of the new system they were trying," Dantzscher said. "Whenever you're the guinea pig, it's not easy."
Problems on this team resulted from a decision, nine months before the games, to bring Bela Karolyi (who was absent from the ceremony) back into the fold after disappointing results in the years leading up to 2000.
The move was the first step in a renaissance of US gymnastics that has produced the last two all-around Olympic champions - Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin - and a total of 50 international medals over the past 10 years.
But at the time, Karolyi's presence was divisive.
The US women had a terrible qualifying round that year - barely making it to the finals, where they hit all 20 of their routines, but still finished fourth.
It was a bittersweet ending to a difficult Olympic experience. "It almost felt like 'Survivor,' a little bit," Schwikert said. "It was just, 'We'll just run you down, wait 'til we find the last man standing and we'll see what the team is.'"
"It's hard for us. Honestly, the experience was not great," Dantzscher said. "It makes us sound like we're being negative, but it's just the truth."
It may have been worst for Dantzscher, Ray and Maloney - none of whom were on another Olympic team. Chow and Dawes had been on the 1996 gold-medal team and Schwikert went back as an alternate in 2004, after Martha Karolyi had taken over for her husband and many of the kinks had been smoothed out. "They were true pioneers," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "We're proud to recognize them, make them smile and put a bronze medal around their necks."
The new bronze medalists are Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristin Maloney, Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert.
"To me, it feels very separate," Ray said after Wednesday's ceremony.
"Everything we went through in Sydney is still very fresh. Today feels like a different time. The two emotions couldn't be more opposite."
Indeed, all said they were happy to be recognized for their efforts in 2000. But this was a team mired with injuries and controversy and more than happy to take a look back on a night that was designated as a celebration.
"We were definitely the guinea pigs of the new system they were trying," Dantzscher said. "Whenever you're the guinea pig, it's not easy."
Problems on this team resulted from a decision, nine months before the games, to bring Bela Karolyi (who was absent from the ceremony) back into the fold after disappointing results in the years leading up to 2000.
The move was the first step in a renaissance of US gymnastics that has produced the last two all-around Olympic champions - Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin - and a total of 50 international medals over the past 10 years.
But at the time, Karolyi's presence was divisive.
The US women had a terrible qualifying round that year - barely making it to the finals, where they hit all 20 of their routines, but still finished fourth.
It was a bittersweet ending to a difficult Olympic experience. "It almost felt like 'Survivor,' a little bit," Schwikert said. "It was just, 'We'll just run you down, wait 'til we find the last man standing and we'll see what the team is.'"
"It's hard for us. Honestly, the experience was not great," Dantzscher said. "It makes us sound like we're being negative, but it's just the truth."
It may have been worst for Dantzscher, Ray and Maloney - none of whom were on another Olympic team. Chow and Dawes had been on the 1996 gold-medal team and Schwikert went back as an alternate in 2004, after Martha Karolyi had taken over for her husband and many of the kinks had been smoothed out. "They were true pioneers," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "We're proud to recognize them, make them smile and put a bronze medal around their necks."
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