Inside Team USA With Martha Karolyi, Part 1

Once the woman behind the man, Martha Karolyi is now very much at the forefront of USA Gymnastics. As the women’s National Team Coordinator, a position she’s held since 2001, Karolyi oversees the training of the entire senior and junior National Team, working with athletes and coaches on a near monthly basis at her ranch in Waverly Hills, Texas. She also has the final say, along with International Elite Committee president Steve Rybacki and a rotating athlete reprehensive, behind the selection of every athlete that represents the U.S. in every competition the squad takes part in—up to and including this summer’s Olympic Games.

The formerly press shy member of the Karolyi marriage—husband Bela has never had any such qualms—now chats easily with the media and it’s clear her influence has transformed U.S. gymnastics.

“It’s nice for everyone to see Martha’s role,” former pupil Kim Zmeskal declares. “It’s always been there. She’s always been in the gym, actually producing gymnasts—all that stuff has always been there.  Honestly, she’s just doing what she always did. It’s just now people know about it, and can give her the credit she deserves.”

Last week, Karolyi sat down with the press for an informal chat to discuss Team USA’s Beijing prospects and how she’s getting the girls ready for the Games …

Q: So, how do the girls look?

A: I’m pleased how the standing is right now, about three months out to the Olympic Games. You know, the time is running out and we have to get closer to the shape, to the good shape. We have about a month until the [National] Championships, which is the first step to our qualifying [process for] the Olympic Games.

They are in a very good place.

Q: What makes Nastia [Liukin’s] bar routine so tough?

A: Her bar routine is a 7.7 “A” score, [the] Start Value, which is one of the very highest in the world. We just heard that some Chinese girl (He Kexin) also has a 7.7 Start Value, so nobody is taking a nap in this period of time (laughs). Everybody is doing the preparation very intensively.

[Nastia’s] routine includes lots of very difficult skills and they are done so close to perfection, technically. Really, her bodylines are so perfect that it comes close to perfection, which [is] exactly the goal in gymnastics. You have to be as close as you can [even though,] it’s almost impossible to be totally perfect. That’s what we’re chasing.

So, if we combine her 7.7 Start Value with a very high “B” score, which is for the execution, then she, in particular, has a chance for the highest level of medal. It’s a really excellent routine and it’s her body type is great for bars.

That, with the hard works she does, and with the good coaching the father-coach does with her—altogether [makes] this one of the very best bar routines in the world.

Q: What about Shawn’s new, 2-1/2-twisting Yurchenko (a.k.a. the Amanar) vault?

A: (big smile) Yeah, I’m very, very pleased with that. I was one of those pushing and cheering to get this very difficult vault. And, again, [only] a few people in the world have that vault. The Start Value is 6.5 … versus some other average HIGH difficulty vaults are 5.8, so this is seven tenths higher than already difficult vaults. So really, just by itself, having that Start Value is a huge advantage.

And that’s not [all,] because she also executes with a very good block on the horse, or the table (laughs)—the former horse— and she has a very high flight, which is the most important quality in a vault.

I’m very happy because that will be a huge help for the team. Obviously, we’re looking for three extremely high scores on every single event for the team [final].

… In the team final, all three scores will count and that way, a tiny bit, they (the International Gymnastics Federation) are evening up the field. Because we have a high number of good gymnasts, some countries don’t have that high number, so that rule was introduced, in a way, to even out of the field and it comes down to that each country puts up only three gymnasts.

Anyways, to your question, [Shawn’s vault is] a huge help for the team because, [with] Alicia Sacramone’s vault, which is also about the same value, we already have two huge Start Values and then if we have to use one of the 5.8 Start Values, which is what a Yurchenko double-full [is worth], then the team is in a very good position on that event.

Very, very few gymnasts do [the Amanar]. There is the Brazilian girl (Jade Barbosa) and definitely one Chinese girl (Cheng Fei).

Q: At this point, a little more than three months away from the Games, how many girls do you see with a realistic chance of making the U.S. team?

A: Well we don’t like to pre-assign, or to say at this moment, who is and who is not making the team because that would sound like we had pre-made up mind[s,] and this is actually a trial that is going on. They have to compete in the Championship[s] and the Olympic Trial. They have to come to the final selection camp, which will be the last opportunity to compete two days in a row.

But I think I can say 10, 12 girls most likely will be selected to participate all the way to the final selection camp. Because I, personally, like to have the selection as close as possible to the date of the competition because that would reflect the shape that each one of these gymnast are [in] and most likely they will be able to keep the level of that shape all the way through the competition. If two months ahead we would select, … then who knows what in two months happens? Some girls can improve a lot and some girls may just get in trouble for some reason and the quality of the work would lower. So it’s best to do it closer to the competition day.

Q: Is this a deeper field, compared to 2004, that you’re selecting from?

A: Oh, I think in 2004 we already had a pretty deep field. After 2000 we always had a very, very large group of girls that are practicing high, international-class gymnastics. Because we not taking care of, for instance now, not only for Beijing preparation.

For me, the little juniors are just as important. We just finished a training camp, before this, with the juniors. So when we finish Beijing I already have, lined up, another ten juniors who are popping in. For this reason, since 2000, we have no problem whatever to have a very large field and be able to select the BEST one, from the good ones.

It’s also a good situation because [there is] a very strong competition going on [between] these girls. If we would have only six, seven girls who [are] at this high level, everyone would be very content with themselves and feel extremely secure with their position and maybe that’s sometimes not the best. ‘Cause then, maybe, your work ethic wouldn’t be as great.

But right now it’s a very healthy and strong competition going on in-between the team members. They are very good friends together, but when we’re getting out on the floor, everybody is minding their business and trying to do the best what they can.

My advice is always, ‘Girls, your best [chance to make] the team is to hit the best routine that you can possibly hit. That’s because that’s your contribution to the team result.’ Not a false friendship and, ‘I want the team to do good,’ but then you miss your routine. So what did you do? You just tear down the team. You’re just talking. I want facts. Your contribution is your good routine.

They know. And they know they have to permanently keep their edge. The whole world is working hard and we have to keep up … and be very smart in this last stretch of preparation.

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Photo by Grace Chiu