An embarrassment of riches

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The last time they were here was for last summer's Great Orange County gold rush, when America's gymnasts teamed up for a stunning five gold and two silver medals at the world championships.

This week, though, it's all of Uncle Sam's nephews and nieces for themselves, as 33 Athens hopefuls chalk up for the Olympic trials at Arrowhead Pond. "It's historic," said coach Kevin Mazeika on the eve of today's men's preliminaries. "Since 1984, we've never had depth like this."

There are 19 world medalists among the 17 men and 16 women competing for 12 spots at Olympus, which is why only the top two finishers in each competition here are guaranteed places. At least seven more women will have to compete again next month at the Texas camp where the final four will be chosen. And if their selection committee can't decide after Saturday's finals, the remaining four men also will be picked from camp.

"If it takes another two weeks, it takes another two weeks," says Brett McClure, who has won two global team silvers. "As long as we get the best team out there."

That's how the Americans' top rivals -- the Chinese and Japanese, the Russians and Romanians -- do it. "Every other country waits as long as possible," says Martha Karolyi, the women's team coordinator.

This time, the waiting game will help injured stars Blaine Wilson, Jason Gatson and Chellsie Memmel get back into top form. Wilson, who tore his left biceps tendon at the end of February, hasn't competed since. Gatson, who missed making the 2000 team after tearing up his right knee, skipped this month's national championships to let a nagging lower back injury heal. And Memmel, the supersub who set the table for her teammates' unprecedented global gold last year, is bypassing trials while her broken left foot mends.

If need be, all three could make the team in camp. And odds are, all three will be needed if the American men and women are to do what they didn't do in Sydney four years ago -- make the medal stand.

Given the "3-up, 3-count" format in the team final, it's imperative that the three best athletes on each apparatus make the squad. This time, the US has plenty of proven performers to choose from.

Besides world champion Paul Hamm and McClure, who lead the standings after nationals (which count for 40 percent for the men), there are the 29-year-old Wilson (shooting for his third Olympic team) and Gatson, plus world-teamers Morgan Hamm (Paul's twin) and Raj Bhavsar and returning Olympians Steve McCain and Sean Townsend.

The women include almost everyone from last year's world teams -- the one that competed and the one that was supposed to, before injury and illness scrambled the lineups. Besides Courtney Kupets and Carly Patterson, the US co-champions, there's Memmel, Sydney veteran Tasha Schwikert, Hollie Vise, Annia Hatch (who blew out her left knee here on the eve of the world meet) and Terin Humphrey.