Still a Happy Camper
June 04, 2008Many of Kim Zmeskal’s most memorable, life-altering events have happened in the presence of Bela and Martha Karolyi. One of their only ground-up U.S. gymnasts—the Karolyis coached Zmeskal for just about her 
entire gymnastics life—Zmeskal was the USA’s first-ever World Champion, claiming the title in 1991.
“Just a few years ago,” jokes the now 32 year old, who still doesn’t look a day over 18. (One of Zmeskal’s former coaches notes: “I swear she looks younger and thinner every time I see her. I don’t know how she does it.”)
Part of Karolyi’s legendary “six pack”—the six Karolyi gymnasts (Hilary Grivich, Kelly Pitzen, Amy Scherr, Erica Stokes, Amanda Uherek and Zmeskal) that debuted as a group at the 1989 Olympic festival—Zmeskal spent many early summers at the Ranch. In Zmeskal’s time, day-to-day training took place in Karolyi’s Houston gym but, during the summer, Karolyi’s Elites often stayed at the Ranch, where Karolyi himself was on site to work with campers.
“The first time we actually stayed up here, the lodge and all that didn’t exist,” Zmeskal recalls. “My teammates and I actually stayed up at Bela’s house in that little loft area. There were six of us and we’d stay up late, whispering and laughing.” (That loft also housed Mary Lou Retton and Dianne Durham during the run-up to Los Angeles, shortly after Karolyi bought his first parcel of land in the Sam Houston National Forest, when the on-site home was just a hunting lodge.)
“It was actually pretty fun,” Zmeskal says of that first visit. “I remember we got to come out and ride four wheelers, go swimming, climb on the monkey bars.”
Zmeskal’s memories of the Ranch run deep. She met her husband, Chris Burdette, on site, when both were coaching summer camps. The couple married at the Ranch in 1999 and now have two children. “We met on this side of the clubhouse,” Zmeskal gestured during a recent National Team training camp at her home away from home, “and got married on that side. … I obviously have a lot of big events in my life that took place right here.”
The Burdettes' now run Texas Dreams gymnastics, near Dallas, and Zmeskal frequently makes the three hour drive to Waverly Hills, Texas as a coach of senior and junior Elites.
(Zmeskal also served as the International Elite Committe's Athlete Representative for many years.) National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi has singled out Zmeksal’s latest gymnast to go senior, Chelsea Davis, a doppelganger for world champ Shawn Johnson, as a dark horse candidate for Beijing.
Zmeskal feels a real affinity for Johnson, whom many say resembles Zmeskal, both in style and success. “I’d heard about her, but [I first met Shawn] when her coach (Liang) Chow brought me up to their gym’s invitational to hand out awards,” says Zmeskal. “In between sessions I remember calling Chris and telling him about this little girl and saying, ‘My God, this kid is crazy.’ She would just run out onto the floor and do double-fulls, no warm-up, no nothing. She’d hop up on the beam, same thing. She was unstoppable—that was completely my impression. I remember sitting in the back room and she was asking me all these crazy questions, non-stop. Looking back now, it’s weird how everything skyrocketed [in the past] four years. It really wasn’t that long ago.”
Though Zmeskal’s Olympic dream didn’t quite come true—she earned bronze with her team, but fell short of her all-around goals, ceding the spotlight to Shannon Miller after struggling with ankle problems in the lead-up to the 1992 Games—she sees a brighter path for Johnson. “I hope she does it,” Zmeskal said sincerely. “I feel nervous for her. I remember this day. I remember our media day, still, 16 years later. I’m just so hopeful for [Shawn]. The path is very similar [to mine, but] I hope she gets the storybook. … I think she’s got a really great chance. This is a great, great team.”
“There’s definitely a consistent confidence,” Zmeskal answers when asked what’s different about Team USA now. “That’s been the biggest thing I’ve seen. …You can see their confidence growing in the right direction. We go through the verification stuff and Shawn is upgrading vault, and then there’s bars and Nastia (Liukin) is very amazing. It’s hard, even as coach, not to stop and watch when she’s taking a turn.
“What’s between those two I definitely wouldn’t call that jealousy. That’s competitiveness,” Zmeskal adds of Johnson and Liukin. “Shawn is ready, set, go—always. She doesn’t do an incredible amount of numbers in the gym because when she goes, she goes. There isn’t any halfway with her. Nastia is a very consistent: working, working, working, always. They both get very irritated at any mistakes. I was watching Nastia this morning and she is working on every detail, every fingertip, making sure it’s perfect.”
And Zmeskal feels strongly that working together at the ranch has made BOTH Liukin and Johnson better. “That’s an awesome thing—to have so many of the top gymnasts in the world, on one team, training in one place,” Zmeskal insists. “They all feed off each other and it’s an amazing environment to be a part of. [The Ranch] is a big reason for the success we’ve had the last few years. They see [the level of all the other athletes] every month and know what they’re after. When someone gets a new skill, there’s a mix of proud and happy and, in the same breath, ‘Oh, you just made it harder for me, individually.’ I can’t imagine a better scenario. There’s nothing better than to know exactly what the competition is; see it right in front of you. … It’s a little similar to what we had, when I was competing. I was fortunate that, at the time, my team had a lot of the players [for Olympic spots] on my personal, club team.”
And what IS different from Zmeskal’s day? “Well, nobody ever believes this, but Bela is not in the gym. At all. How different could that be?” she asks with a laugh. “Seriously, he really doesn’t [come in during training]. Every once in a while he’ll stop by and be, like, ‘Kimbo, what’s that kid’s name?’ I’m sure he and Martha have conversations, but he’s just a spectator. It’s kind of weird.
“[But when Bela] does see one of the girls, talk to her in that voice, you can see everyone stand a little bit taller, hold their head a little higher,” Zmeskal added. “I mean, he’s Bela. Everyone knows Bela.”
And, though she’s loath to brag, in the gymnastics world, everyone knows Zmeskal. A pioneer, she set the stage for Team USA’s present day success, almost single-handedly turning the American women into contenders on the world stage. But Zmeskal, always modest, just shrugs when asked how her legacy affects today’s gymnasts. “Most of them weren’t even alive,” she laughs. “I know, where did the time go?”
No matter how much time has passed, for gymnastics fans, Zmeskal will always be our “Kimbo.”
