By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer 
7/6/00
 
 

Tulsans can watch gold medalists and future Olympians in a who's who of gymnasts at the Mabee Center.

Entries for the U.S. Classic this weekend read like one would expect for the Olympic Trials.

 In other words, everyone from Olympic gold medalists to future Olympians will be in Tulsa on Thursday for the U.S. Classic Gymfest.

 The three-day event at the Mabee Center is the first step this nation's female gymnastics stars must take in their quest to reach the 2000 Olympics this September at Sydney, Australia.

 "Fans will see everyone. It's a who's who of gymnasts," said Gary Warren of USA Olympics. "We have 16 of the seniors that have already qualified for the U.S. Nationals later this month in St. Louis.

 "I can't ever remember this size of a Classic meet. In 1994 in Oakland we did have 50 seniors but not as many juniors. This is the largest Classic meet I have ever seen."

 The three-day event begins with two training sessions -- both are free to the public -- on Thursday.

 Training continues throughout the day Friday. Opening ceremonies get under way at 7 p.m. with the National Gymfest scheduled to follow.

 On Saturday, the junior and senior international gymnasts will take the floor. Junior International competition begins at 1 p.m. followed by the Senior International competition at 7 p.m.

 Linda Bradshaw, co-owner of Tulsa World of Gymnastics, admits it is "somewhat overwhelming. There's nobody left behind. Everyone is here."

 Warren credits the large attendance to several factors.

 "Obviously, it is an Olympic year," he said. "We also have a lot of new athletes that entered the elite program and we have a lot of older gymnasts coming back."

 Five of the seven gold medalists from the 1996 Olympics will be in Tulsa. One of those, Jaycie Phelps, won the American Classic in Tulsa four years ago. Joining Phelps is Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow and Dominique Moceanu.

 Warren admitted he finds it somewhat surprising to have this many Olympians in the competition.

 "It's unusual that they came back after taking so much time off," he said. "They went on and did professional things and are now back in serious training."

 Karolyi encouraged all the gymnasts to come to Tulsa.

 For Miller, an Edmond native, the Classic is a hometown meet.

 "I'm excited about coming to Tulsa," Miller said. "I don't think I have ever competed in Tulsa at a meet on this level. I'm looking forward to it."

 Warren said national coordinator and former Olympic coach Bela Karolyi has been encouraging all the gymnasts to come to Tulsa.

 "Bela has really been talking up the Classic in Tulsa," Warren said. "Also, the kids want to come here because they get treated so well by Tulsa World of Gymnastics. A lot of coaches like to come here because we've had TOPS programs here and they are familiar with the (Linda and Wayne) Bradshaws."

 Due to the large number of entries (51 senior international and 55 junior international), Warren said a Capital Cup format would be used. That means half of the gymnasts will be in the competition gym (Mabee Center arena) at one time while the other half will be warming up in a practice gym.

 Warren said he hopes this change will help the event run smoothly.

 "It will be a four-ring circus," he said. "The positive is that gymnasts won't be sitting around waiting to compete. The negative is that the kids won't warm up on the apparatus they will compete on. But that's nothing new in international competition."

 Warren said it won't affect fans at all.

 "They will see everyone compete," he said. "The second gym is used for warm-ups only."

 Gymnasts compete in vault, balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise. Those competing in the all-around category are judged on their scores from all four events.

 Judging is based on degree of difficulty and code of points.

 Among the items judges will focus on are:

 Vault: height and distance on skills and the difficulty of skills,

 Uneven bars: grip changes, releases, direction changes and fluid routines,

 Balance beam: length of routine (must be 70-90 seconds and use the entire beam) and acrobatic and dance movements,

 Floor exercise: routine must last 70-90 seconds and incorporate a variety of acrobatic and gymnastic elements.