Podkopayeva wins all-around title in gymnastics (08/04/96)

Podkopayeva wins all-around title in gymnastics

by Roman Woronowycz

ATLANTA - Nothing was going to stop little Liliya Podkopayeva this time. The 4-foot-9-inch gymnastic dynamo was not going to be held back by the much-hyped U.S. women, the rambunctious and loud pro-U.S. crowd, injury, her grandmother's recent death or Mo Huilan, the Chinese gymnast. Nothing did. On July 25, she won the gold medal in the individual all-around women's gymnastic competition in a battle that went to the last event and the last competitor.

The 17-year-old had several setbacks recently - the latest, her gymnastic team's disapppointing fifth-place finish in the Olympic gymnastic team finals on July 23. After that letdown, she said her team had been distracted by the crowd as it passionately supported every U.S. gymnast's move. Speaking after she won the individual gold, she said she had made the adjustment, "I learned how to deal with the noise," she explained. "I shut it out this time, and everything was all right."

What distracted the U.S. members is not as clear. Both Dominique Dawes and Shannon Miller, considered favorites for a medal in the individual competition, had done well in their first two rotations and were in first and second, respectively, going into the third rotation. Then the floor caved in - literally it seemed. In the floor exercise first Miller and then Dawes stepped out of bounds, which cost them automatic deductions, the lead and a medal.

Theirs were part of a series of mistakes made by the favorites that set up Podkopayeva's final triumph. Earlier, Svetlana Boguinskaya of Belarus, medalist in both 1988 and 1992, had stumbled on both her vault landings, which left her out of the running.

After the U.S. disaster, two Russians went down. In the final rotation, with the top eight women separated by .265 of a point, statuesque and graceful Svetlana Khorkina, the Russian team leader, fell from the uneven parallel bars. Then, her compatriot Dina Kochetkova, in second place at the time, couldn't stick her vaults and received a 9.51, dropping her to sixth.

Podkopayeva seized the opportunity. In the floor exercise she exploded with a difficult double front somersault with a half twist and never stopped, receiving a 9.887, the highest mark that day.

In the last performance of the evening Huilan Mo, the only one left with a chance to beat Podkopayeva and noted for her floor exercise, stumbled after a tumble. After Podkopayeva, only the three Romanians, Gina Gogean, Simona Amanar and Lavinia Milosovici, had remained steady, although Podkopayeva's dynamic finish bested them. Gogean took the silver and Amanar and Milosovici tied for the bronze.

Ukrainians Liubov Sheremeta and Svitlana Zieliepukina finished 22nd and 23rd.

The 17-year-old Podkopayeva, who hails from Donetske, had to overcome more than the competition and the loud crowd to get the gold.

In March, while training, she broke one rib and cracked another. Then, a week before the Olympics were to begin, her grandmother died. "Without her I wouldn't be a gymnast," the Olympic champion told reporters after her win, tears welling up in her eyes.

When Liliya was 5 her grandmother had taken her to a gym to show her how the girls performed, and was the one who inspired her to go that route.

With the gold medal Podkopayeva becomes the first person in 24 years to win Olympic gold while holding the world championship. Ironically, the last one to accomplish the feat is Liudmila Turishcheva, today the director of Ukraine's Gymnastics Federation and the wife of Minister of Youth and Sports Valeriy Borzov.

Podkopayeva said the win helped to restore respect for Ukraine's gymnastic program. "I am happy to represent the Ukrainian style of gymnastics, that is what got us here," she said.

It is a program that the Romanian coach, Octavian Belu, said he admires. "It really wasn't a surprise to me to see Podkopayeva in first place," he explained. "Everybody was thinking Dawes and Miller would win... but in the fourth rotation Podkopayeva showed who is best."

Asked by this reporter if she derived extra pleasure from beating the two Americans, the newly anointed Olympic champion shrugged, a smile of satisfaction crossing her lips. "I guess you could put it that way," she said. "Today Ukraine showed itself to be a strong team."

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