Gymnastics: American women may face exit

Sydney: The United States' hold on the Olympic women's team gymnastics title they won so dramatically in Atlanta was loosened on Sunday as they struggled to qualify for the final.

Placed in the first of four qualifying groups, the American performance lacked the spark and energy that made them the darlings of the 1996 Games, finishing the morning session in second place behind China with a mark of 151.439.

But with only six teams qualifying for Tuesday's finals and most of the top nations still to open their accounts, the Americans will spend an anxious day to see if their score will be enough to see them through.

"I could be happier, we were a little rough around the edges," said US coach Kelli Hill. "We had a major break on every event, I'm crossing my fingers and toes."

"We struggled on our first event, right into our second, third and fourth."

China, fourth in Atlanta and third at last year's world championships, underlined their gold medal prospects by easily topping the group with a mark of 153.388.

Despite the rousing support of another large Superdome crowd and a show stopping floor routine to 'Waltzing Matilda' from Trudy McIntosh, the Aussies could not edge past the Americans and are almost certain to miss the finals after finishing third on 151.57.

Gasps of horror

The Australians entered the arena to wild applause and legitimate medal hopes but the roars were soon replaced by gasps of horror as Allana Slater finished her opening two vaults on her backside and a mark 8.268.

Dominique Dawes, one of two returning members of the US gold medal squad in Atlanta that became known as the Magnificent Seven, was anything but as she opened the defence of their title by falling off the beam and scoring a deflating 8.600.But the Americans, led by the other Atlanta veteran Amy Chow, were able to regroup and at least leave themselves with an opportunity of reaching the finals.

The Chinese, looking to re-establish themselves as a gymnastics power, methodically and cleanly worked their way through all four apparatus.

"We performed quite well but it really depends on the afternoon scores," said Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen. "Our biggest concern is getting to the finals.

"We have the difficulty in routine and our preparation was quite good."

Chinese names could be found at the top of three-of-four apparatus at the end of the session, with Ling Jie, the world beam champion, placing first in two events, the beam and uneven bars.

The eight scores in each event also qualify gymnasts for apparatus finals.Capping off a productive morning, Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao finished at the top overall in individual rankings, the best 36 scores advancing to Thursday's individual all-round final.



(c) Reuters Limited.