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Today's paper. Last Updated: 05/29/2012

Miller a Strong Favorite In Gymnastics Events

ST. PETERSBURG -- Shannon Miller, the first American to win back-to-back world championships, will be a strong favorite in the Goodwill Games women's gymnastics competition. The gymnastics events begin Saturday with the women's team competition.


Romanian Lavinia Milosovici, silver medalist at this year's world championships in Brisbane, Australia, is skipping the Goodwill Games. So is Gina Gogean, the 1994 European champion.


Miller, 17, has won the all-around title in every event she has entered since taking the silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She captured the world championship title in 1993 and 1994.


Miller's teammates are all members of the Dynamo Club in Oklahoma City. Among them is Jennie Thompson, the 1993 U.S. junior champion who turned 13 on Friday.


Thompson -- a 4-foot-1 (1.25 meters), 58-pound (25 kilograms) seventh-grader -- is America's youngest-ever junior champion.


Thompson's presence reflects the trend of younger and smaller girls in top-level women's gymnastics.


The absence of the Romanians probably means that Russian Dina Kochetkova will be Miller's top challenger in Sunday's women's all-around. Kochetkova won bronze at the world championships.


Saturday's women's team title should come down to a struggle between Russia and Ukraine, with the United States and Romania challenging.


Women's individual event finals are Monday, while the men's team competition is Tuesday, with all-around Wednesday and the individual event finals Thursday and Friday. Gymnastics closes Aug. 6 and 7.




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