Kim Kelly stood with her back straight and her smile wide. She waved to a sellout crowd at the Baltimore Arena cheering her introduction as a member of the U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team.
That was last month.Friday, the jubilation was gone. Kelly was "distraught" and "devastated," said her mother, Stephanie. Kelly came home to the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia from Orlando, Fla., carrying a U.S.A. warm-up, 10 U.S.A. Olympic leotards and yet another invitation from the United States Gymnastics Federation to come to Barcelona.
An invitation to come and watch the Olympics. Not compete.
Late Thursday, the USGF selected seven athletes to represent the United States in Barcelona, six to compete and one to serve as an alternate.
Kelly, an 18-year-old who postponed college for a year to make one last attempt at the Olympics, finished sixth at the U.S. Olympic trials last month in Baltimore, but was not one of the seven.
If you're wondering why Kelly, a pert, auburn-haired pixie, was not chosen, you're not alone.
So is the Kelly family. And they are hiring a lawyer to help them find out why the selection process seemingly was changed along the way, a change that resulted in their daughter's being eliminated from the team.
Last week another set of Olympic trials was held in Orlando to give two star competitors - who had been left off the team because of injuries - a last chance to make the seven-member squad during a special, private two-day trial.
Betty Okino, a willowy 17-year-old world-championship medal winner, a student of world-famous Bela Karolyi, who was named coach of the Olympic team Thursday night, missed both the U.S. championships in May and the Olympic trials last month with a stress fracture in her back. In fact, Okino missed much of the last year with back problems.
And Michelle Campi, a quickly improving 15-year-old who had been in third place after the national championships, fractured her elbow two days before the Olympic trials began. Campi's scores from the national championships, which were held in Columbus, Ohio, were doubled to count as her trials scores.
So on Wednesday and Thursday, Okino and Campi, who finished fifth after the combined championships and trials, and the six other top scorers from the two tournaments - Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal, Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Kelly and Wendy Bruce - were in Orlando.
A panel of five coaches was invited, too: Karolyi, who coaches Zmeskal and Strug as well as Okino; Steve Nunno, a Karolyi protege and Miller's coach; Rick Newman, Campi's coach; Kevin Brown, Bruce's coach, and Donna Strauss, Kelly's coach from the Allentown (Pa.) Parkettes. Kelly has lived and worked in Allentown for the last five years.
All five coaches watched and judged as the eight girls, including Kelly, performed the same compulsory and optional routines they had at the championships and the trials.
At 7:30 Thursday night, Kelly called home. She was ecstatic, said Stephanie Kelly.
"Kim said, `Mom, I'm on the team for good. I didn't fall. I did great routines,"' Stephanie said.
Three hours later, Stephanie Kelly got another phone call. Kim had just been told by her coach, Strauss, that she would not be competing. She was not even chosen as the alternate.
The panel of coaches, after the unscored exhibition, had picked Miller, Zmeskal, Strug, Dawes, Okino, Campi and Bruce to go to Barcelona. The alternate will be designated later and will likely be Bruce.
The Kellys, with the help of the Allentown Parkettes, have decided to hire a lawyer. A lawsuit is possible. Stephanie Kelly said that she didn't think plans would be finalized until Monday.
"We don't want money," Stephanie Kelly said. "We don't even expect to get Kim on the team. If they don't want her, OK. But we want to change things in the future. No girl or her family should have to go through this."