Process leaves gymnasts in air

Is it a true Olympic trials if only a third of the team is decided? That's how USA Gymnastics did it with the women over the weekend in Philadelphia, naming Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, the top two finishers, to the Beijing roster and picking another 10 to go to a Houston camp next month to knock heads for the other four spots.

"They said that they were going to name two and that's what they did," Chellsie Memmel said yesterday. "It is Olympic trials, but it really isn't. The final selection camp is Olympic trials."

While the federation made the process clear well beforehand, the selectors had the option to pick additional athletes at the trials and it was obvious that three more - Memmel, Winchester native Alicia Sacramone, and Samantha Peszek - are all but locks. "Practically, that's what it is," acknowledged team coordinator Martha Karolyi, who would have picked the entire team at camp if she had her druthers. "But you never know what will happen between now and then."

Choosing later than earlier has paid off for the Americans in recent years, since it keeps everyone sharp. But it's nerve-wracking for the athletes and for parents who want to buy tickets and book flights to the Games. And it was underwhelming for the 40,000 spectators at the Wachovia Center who paid for four nights of action and saw just two men (one of whom didn't compete) and two women introduced when their events were done.

"I'm not going to lie, it was pretty frustrating," said Memmel, a former world champion who was a solid third at the trials. "Me and Alicia had a good talk, and Sam as well. It is frustrating knowing how well we did and not being put on the team, but they said they were going to name two and that's fine. We knew that going in, but it's still hard."

The women's team won't be finalized until July 20 after five days in camp. But all that really needs to be decided in Houston is the sixth gymnast (likely either Jana Bieger or Ivana Hong) and the three alternates. The men, who named the rest of their squad behind closed doors Sunday, are much iffier since half of them - Paul and Morgan Hamm and Justin Spring - are coming off injuries. So alternates Raj Bhavsar, Alexander Artemev, and David Durante have added incentive to stay in peak shape.

The return of the Hamms, the comeback by Spring, who tore an ACL last year, and the emergence of Joe Hagerty bumped four members of last year's world team (Artemev, Durante, Guillermo Alvarez, and Sean Golden) from the Olympic squad. Only Jonathan Horton and Kevin Tan made it.

Americans find stroke

The US rowers went two-for-three at last week's last-chance Olympic qualification regatta in Poland with Ken Jurkowski of New Fairfield, Conn., winning the men's single and Jennifer Goldsack and Renee Hykel finishing second in the women's lightweight double. So the Americans will have entries in 13 of the 14 events in Beijing, with only the men's lightweight double absent. All of the small boats are set, with the coaches naming the eights, fours, and quads Friday . . . Massachusetts natives Dina Rizzo (Walpole) and Kelly Doton (Greenfield) were named yesterday to the US Olympic women's field hockey team, which will be competing at the Games for the first time in a dozen years. The roster is top-heavy with Pennsylvanians (10) and ACC types (six from North Carolina, three from Maryland, two from Wake Forest), plus four from Old Dominion. The Americans will face South Korea, India, and host Germany in a Bremen tournament next week, then play three against the world-best Netherlands . . . Michael Phelps, who'll be taking another shot at a record eight gold medals at Olympus, has an overflowing plate at next week's swimming trials in Omaha. He's entered in nine events - the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyle, the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 100 and 200 backstroke, and the 200 and 400 individual medley. If he qualifies in all of them, he could be swimming a dozen events at the Games, including relays. More likely, he'll scratch the 400 free, since the 400 IM is the same day, and will give back other spots even if he earns them. Katie Hoff, Phelps's old North Baltimore clubmate, also will be fully loaded, with the 100, 200, 400, and 800 free, the 200 back and both IMs. At least four New Englanders have a strong chance to make the team. Erik Vendt, the North Easton native who's a two-time silver medalist, is favored in the 1,500 free and is a top contender in both the 400 free and 400 IM. Ian Crocker of Portland, Maine, is aces in the 100 fly, Mansfield sprinter Nick Brunelli is very much in the mix in the 50 and 100 free, and Elizabeth Beisel of Saunderstown, R.I., is a major candidate in both the 200 back and 400 IM.

Perfect splashdown

Laura Wilkinson made her third Olympic diving team the hard way at last weekend's Indianapolis trials. After splotzing one attempt in the platform finals, the 2000 gold medalist nailed the next one to earn a string of seven perfect 10s for the first time in her career. Also making his third squad in the springboard was Troy Dumais, who's still looking for his first medal. Christina Loukas easily earned the women's springboard berth, while David Boudia claimed the men's platform on the strength of World Cup bonus points. The remainder of the team will be named after next week's camp, with Chris Colwill and Nancilea Foster likely to get the springboard spots and Thomas Finchum and Haley Ishimatsu the platforms . . . Making his third Olympic triathlon team last weekend at the Hy-Vee event in Iowa was Hunter Kemper, who outraced fellow Athens veteran Andy Potts for the final spot on the squad. Sarah Haskins earned the remaining women's place . . . The US men's water polo team ran into a buzzsaw at last weekend's World League Super Final in Italy, losing by four goals to four-time champion Serbia in the last pre-Games tuneup. The silver medal was the best-ever showing by the Yanks, who were ninth at last year's global tournament . . . More than half of the women's victors at the Olympic judo trials won't be going to the Games unless other countries decline their spots. The US didn't qualify the 52-, 63-, 78-, and 78+-kilogram classes, which means that Tracy Nagai, Christal Ransom, Heidi Moore, and Kayla Harrison, from the Wakefield-based Team Force, are enduring a summer limbo . . . Last weekend's torch relay leg through the Tibetan capital of Lhasa was the most private trip through the streets since Lady Godiva's. Shops were closed, police and soldiers lined the route, and spectators (shouting, "Go, China!") were handpicked.

Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews and wire services was used in this report.