LIVING THE DREAM /

For each individual routine, gymnasts began with a base score (9.000 for men, 9.400 for women) and earned bonuses for exceptional performances (a possible 1.000 bonus for men, a possible .400 bonus for women). The highest and lowest of the six scores were discarded, and the rest were averaged. Although six gym- nasts from each team took part in the team competition, only the scores of the top five athletes on each apparatus were factored. Team. In the men's team competition, dominated the individual stand- ings in leading a strong team from the Russian Federation (Sergei Charkov, Nikolay Krukov, Alexei Nemov, Eugeni Podgorni, Dmitriy Trush, Dmitri Vasilenko, and Alexei Voropaev) to win the gold. The Russian Federation (576.778) finished more than one point ahead of the silver medalist, the People's Republic of China (Bin Fan, Hongbin Fan, Huadong Huang, Liping Huang, Xiaoshuang Li, Jian Shen, and Jinjing Zhang) with 575.539, and more than five points ahead of bronze medal- ist (Igor Korobchinski, Oleg Kosiak, Grigory Misutin, Vladimir Shamenko, , Alexandre Svetlichnyi, and Yuri Yermakov) with 571.541. In what will remain as one of the most en- during images of the Atlanta Games, the United States captured its first-ever gold in the women's team event. With the team title on the line, the US's , who was hobbled by two torn ligaments in her ankle, gallantly stuck the landing in her final For both the men's and women's competi- to secure the US team's 389.225 winning tions, 12 teams took part in compulsory and score over the Russian Federation (388.404) optional rounds (the Atlanta Games were the and (388.246). last in which compulsories were judged, end- The US, which was in second place behind ing the mandatory routine). The top 36 gym- the Russian Federation after the compulsories , nasts from the team competition squared off took the lead in the optionals. The US's Do- left: Huilan Mo competes for for the individual all-around title, with the top minique Dawes successfully completed a re- the People's Republic of eight scorers in each event qualifying for the verse Hecht and a Hindorff on the uneven China on the during the women's team individual apparatus finals. Six judges scored , posting a team-best 9.850. The competition. each apparatus while taking into consideration next stop was the balance beam, where the the degree of difficulty of a gymnast's program. top right: Eugeni Podgorni performs on the parallel bars to help the Russian Federation win the gold in the men's team competition.

bottom right: Armenia's Norayr Sargysian approaches the vault in the men's team compulsories.

CAROL L LA CHAPELLE • DIANE M LA CHARITE • WINKIE LA FORCE • JULIO A LA FROSSIA • JAMIE LA JOIE • MARIA I LA MONT • LAURIE M LA PORTE • MAGUY LA ROCHELLE • DIANE F LA ROSS • DANIEL J LAAK • ANTHONY J LABADIA • MAURA C LABARRE • CATHY A LABATE • CHRISTINA E LABELL • KARREN E LABENNE • FLORENCE A LABENSKI • THOMAS J LABISCH ATC • GLENN E LABODA • JEAN R LABOSSIERE • DOMINGO A LABOY • EDWARD A LABRECK • VIRGINIA L LABRECK • WILLIAM P LABRUNA JR ATC • BRIAN LABUDDE • NOLA K LABUDDE • JANEEN LACASSE • KAREN B LACASSE • MICHELE M. LACEN • 373