ORIGINS:  Women gymnasts couldn't compete in the Olympics until 1928 - and then just in the team
event.  It took 24 more years before individual medals for apparatus like the balance beam were
bestowed.  Telegenic teens like Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton have made women's gymnastics one of the most watched Olympic events, arguably more popular than the men's side.

WHAT IT TAKES:  Here's the training regimen for Dominique Moceanu, at 13 the youngest senior U.S.
champion, as noted in her new book Dominique Moceanu: An American Champion.  Up at 6, eat a bran
muffin, fruit.  Three-hour practice, nap, lunch - usually grilled chicken, Caesar salad.  An hour of physical therapy, massage ( " I leave...feeling smooth and relaxed, like a racehorse. " ), three or four more hours
of practice, a light dinner, homework or TV, " collapse " into bed.  Moceanu, now 14, could conquer
Atlanta if her stress fracture doesn't keep her out of the games.

BEHIND THE SCENES:  Reversing a trend of " kindergarten robots " grabbing gold medals, experienced
gymnasts should go a long way at these games.  Under new Olympic rules to protect youngsters from
injury, a female gymnasts must be at least 15 the year of the Olympics to compete ( Moceanu's birthday
is in September ).  With five of seven members 18 or older, the U.S. team is banking on veterans, whose
complex moves can often outdo the derring-do of the younger set.  But don't plan on seeing any ancient
athletes.  The oldest gymnast expected: Svetlana Boquinskaia, 23, of Belarus.

Taken From: U.S. News and World Report- July 15, 1996
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Thanks to Thomas Doyle for typing this article