So much for team unity.
The executive director said the winner didn't win. Bela Karolyi, after arguing nearly every judges' decision, called the whole proceeding "outrageous . . . a very sad moment." And Steve Nunno, who coaches Shannon Miller, proclaimed, "Today, Bela has to raise a glass to me.' "All in all, it was business as usual at the U.S. Women's Olympic Trials on Saturday.
What seemed like a well-competed, dramatic final session turned into a circus when the official results were announced after the optionals at the Baltimore Arena.
The numbers said that Miller, who trains in Oklahoma City, had upset world champ Kim Zmeskal to take the top spot. Miller, who missed the recent U.S. Championships with an elbow injury, scored 79.056 points. Zmeskal, who opened Saturday's competition with a perfect 10 in the vault, scored 78.916.
Four other girls from a field of 13 advanced Saturday to join them and injured Betty Okino and Michelle Campi at a training camp in July in Tampa, Fla.: Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Kim Kelly and Wendy Bruce.
One of those girls will not make the trip to Barcelona. Another will be the alternate. A coaches' panel will make the final decision.
After the results were announced, the fun started.
Mike Jacki, executive director of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation, interrupted the girls' press conference to proclaim that anyone who said Miller had beaten Zmeskal, who is coached by Karolyi, was wrong. His argument was based on Miller's absence from the U.S. Championships, which counted toward 30 percent of an athlete's score here. But in Miller's case, her score here counted 100 percent.
Zmeskal won Saturday's optional competition, but Miller won Thursday's compsulsories and had the overall highest score. Depending on which official you ask, this was Zmeskal's first loss in 10 events.
"There is no winner," said Jacki. "All six of these girls won. There are some inaccurate statements going around. You're not comparing apples and apples. You're basing the result of this meet on two different situations. One athlete was in two meets and one athlete was in one meet. Don't get hung up on who won today. The purpose of this event was to pick the team."
That, however, isn't accurate. Both Okino and Campi, who did not compete, could very well be on the Olympic team if they are healthy enough in the training camp.
Either way, the procedure was clearly stated before the competition. Jacki's statements did little but infuriate Nunno.
"It's ridiculous for him to say something like that," said Nunno, a former Karolyi assistant. "Mike's trying to cover the thing up. They don't try to cover the thing up when I'm second. I'll be darned if someone is going to take this win away from her.
"Let it be known that this girl won the meet. Two months ago, she's in a hospital facing surgery (on her elbow) and asking me if she'll be ready. It's unbelievable that she won."
Karolyi was just as livid, but for other reasons. Though two of his gymnasts made the team - Zmeskal and Strug - he was upset that Hilary Grivich finished ninth. He had complained about the judging throughout, which is normal for him at a major event.
One time, he even had an animated exchange with Jacki - and this was after Zmeskal had scored a 9.95 in the floor exercise.
Karolyi also was upset with the system for picking the team, even though he stands to benefit from it. Okino also works out at his Houston gym.
"It's a mysterious procedure that nobody understands," he said. "How can Michelle Campi, who didn't even compete here, be put on the team and someone like Hilary Grivich be left off? Don't tell me somebody is going to give up freely a space on the team without a lawsuit. It's a very sad moment in U.S. gymnastics history. We've created a monster and it's going to punish us."
Lost in all the post-meet theatrics was a marvelous comeback by Bruce. After falling off the balance beam and scoring a 9.262, Bruce broke into tears, believing her chance at making the team was gone.
But she regouped with a 9.825 in the floor exercise and survived as the seventh qualifier.
At 19, she was the oldest competitor in the field.
"I thought it was over when I fell on the beam," said Bruce, who trains in Orlando, Fla. "But my coaches told me I had worked too hard to give up and it wasn't over."
And, it still isn't over, for every member of the team.