Decisions, decisions

Men are relieved; women in limbo

Chellsie Memmel, who has made remarkable comeback from shoulder woes, works the uneven bars at the Olympic trials. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)

PHILADELPHIA - The decision was announced in a room at the downtown Courtyard Marriott, where 15 gymnasts were waiting to hear four names.

"I felt like this was a VH1 reality TV show," said Justin Spring, after the remainder of the US men's Olympic team was picked yesterday afternoon. "The nerves in there were unbelievable."

It took nearly 10 hours of deliberation over two days and a stack of computerized scenarios for the selection committee to decide who'll be going to Beijing alongside defending champion Paul Hamm and Jonathan Horton. Spring, to his surprise and delight, was one of them. So were Hamm's twin brother Morgan, Joe Hagerty, and Kevin Tan.

"The decision could have gone any number of ways," shrugged Raj Bhavsar, who was named an alternate for the second time, along with Alexander Artemev and David Durante. "They made one decision."

And the women's selectors didn't make any. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, who finished 1-2 in the trials that ended last night at the Wachovia Center, locked up the two automatic spots, as everyone figured they would. Everybody else, including Winchester's Alicia Sacramone, goes to Houston next month for the camp crucible that will produce the rest of the team.

"We all secretly wanted [to be named here], but we knew it wasn't going to happen," said the Brown sophomore, who's all but certain to be chosen. "It would have been nice to know, but we understand the process."

The way team coordinator Martha Karolyi sees it, it makes no sense to pick tomatoes now for an August picnic. "I always like to leave the date closer to the competition," she said. Still, after four nights of gymnastics - two at the nationals at Boston University and two here - three other spots seem all but filled.

Chellsie Memmel, the former world champion who has made a remarkable comeback after tearing up a shoulder two years ago, was a strong third here and outpointed a wobbly Liukin last night. Samantha Peszek hit all 16 routines and is the best No. 4 on the planet. And Sacramone is a potential Olympic medalist on both floor and vault. "The team wouldn't be the same team without Alicia," declared Karolyi.

Right now, the women's staff virtually can name their entries for the three up-three count team final at the Games. The men aren't anywhere near as sure, which is why the selectors gamed more than 40 scenarios before settling on a sextet. "Ninety-five percent of it was based on scores, comparing the best teams against each other," said team coordinator Ron Brant.

The scores are why US titlist David Sender, who didn't compete after spraining an ankle before Wednesday's practice, didn't make it, the first national champion to miss the team since Dan Hayden twice fell off the high bar at the 1988 trials after separating a shoulder.

The other 5 percent was about Paul and the pommel horse. Who can pick up the slack if Hamm's surgically-repaired right hand gives way before the Games? And what to do about the squad's weakest event?

Hamm, who broke a metacarpal bone a month ago, still has to prove his competitive readiness in next month's camp. "No matter what, I need to be ready on July 22," he acknowledged. "In a sense, I haven't gone through my trials yet."

That's why the committee named Bhavsar (who missed the second automatic spot by nine hundredths of a point Saturday), Durante and Artemev - who finished 3-4-5 in the all-around - as alternates. If Hamm can't make it, "we have some options for how we can rebuild the team," observed Brant.

Horse was trickier. Did the selectors want to name a specialist for just one event, especially when top man Artemev had a bad night Saturday? It was better, they decided, to go for solid backup on the other five, particularly floor and rings. So the Hamms and Tan likely will be the three horsemen.

It took the committee an extra two hours to settle things, while the contenders twiddled anxious thumbs in the room. Each of them had run their own numbers without a computer. "You could play that all night, staring at the wall," said Spring, who'd gone through a Job-like trial (torn anterior cruciate ligament last year, sprained ankle and back pains this spring) to get here.

In the end, the selections came down to consistency under pressure, which is why Morgan Hamm made the team after taking more than two years off after Athens. "It's just a huge weight off my shoulders, relief," said Hamm, who tore a pectoral muscle last fall and was out of action until last month, but is the squad's best floor man.

The women's selectors could have named at least two others to the team last night, but elected not to. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't like to name nobody [here]," said Karolyi, who'll bring 12 athletes to camp.

The women will get their VH1 reality show at a Texas ranch July 20. If they're smart, the selectors will name the team by seniority, not by the alphabet. Sacramone, the team's grande dame, isn't good at twiddling her thumbs.