After gymnastics nationals, U.S. women take on the world

SAN JOSE, Calif. - When a country comes to the world championships with only two gymnasts who have been there before, it's usually a sign things aren't going to go well. For the Americans, it's a sign that they're deep.

Led by Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, the Americans are bringing a mix of youth and experience to the world championships, which begin Sept. 1 in Stutt-gart, Germany.

"We are amazingly strong together," new national champion Shawn Johnson said yesterday. "Definitely as a team, we want to go out there and get the gold."

The world championships are the qualifier for next summer's Beijing Olympics. While earning a spot isn't a concern for the women - the U.S. men, on the other hand, could be a different story - a win would establish them as the early favorite for Beijing.

"I don't really think it's chasing China," Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, said. "We are the threat in women's gymnastics, I believe. China is certainly a threat. Other countries might be a threat. But last year, we beat ourselves."

There are three former world champions who are part of the national team, as well as the reigning world silver medalist in the all-around. Yet only two of those four, Liukin and Alicia Sacramone, are going to Germany. The other two, Chellsie Memmel and Jana Bieger, are recovering from injuries and in the mix for Beijing. But there's no guarantee there will be room for them.

Johnson, 15, is the best-known newcomer, a 4-8 dynamo who has won every meet she's been in the last year, including the Pan American Games. She is joined on the world team by Ivana Hong, the bronze medalist at Pan Ams; Bridget Sloan, Samantha Peszek and Shayla Worley. *