READY TO TUMBLE RETTON SAYS THIS U.S. TEAM MIGHT BE BEST EVER.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Sporting a stylish pink shirt, fluffy brown hair and a smile as big as her home state of Texas, Mary Lou Retton still resembles the lovable girl who won the all-around gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

It has been 20 years since Retton shook the sports world, but she doesn't look like she has aged a day until her one of her four daughters, 7-year-old McKenna, tugs at her side.

Two decades later, Retton is still synonymous with American gymnastics. She was the queen of gymnastics for 12 years. Then Shannon Miller and Kerri Strug helped the U.S. win gold in 1996.

While there isn't a highly recognizable face like Retton or Miller on this year's team, there is a group of extremely talented gymnasts. Carly Patterson, Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool, Mohini Bhardwaj and Annia Hatch head a list that could help the U.S. win team gold.

Retton believes it might be the U.S.'s best team ever.

``This team is so good and so deep,'' Retton said. ``Everyone's saying it, but it's true. This team can win gold. This team could be the best.''

Romania is favored to win gold, which isn't unusual because of its illustrious past in the sport. No matter the year, Romania always has a new crop of talented gymnasts with unique skills. It was the U.S. women, however, who won gold at the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim in 2003. The U.S. is expected to win a silver medal - at the least - and China the bronze.

The U.S. is missing all-arounder Chellsie Memmel from the World Championships. Memmel was injured and didn't compete in the Olympic Trials and wasn't selected for one of the remaining four spots on the team at last month's camp at the Karolyi ranch.

But the addition of 15-year-old all-arounder McCool, a virtual unknown last year, and the 25-year-old Bhardwaj has given the women every reason to believe they can be one of the best - if not the!off best - team the U.S. has had.

Kupets won the U.S. Olympic Trials, but Patterson is the one featured in McDonald's ads. She is the most decorated gymnast and maybe the best of the bunch, but she finished third in the all-around competition at the trials. Had it not been for two uncharacteristic falls off the balance beam - her best event - she would have entered the Olympics as a favorite to win the silver in the all-around competition. Instead, that role belongs to Kupets.

While the U.S. team has depth, Kupets, McCool and Patterson are certainly the names who will help make or break the U.S. team.

``The three top girls are equally fantastic,'' U.S. coach Martha Karolyi said. ``They all have class.''

And the others have experience. Bhardwaj, a UCLA product, turns 26 next month, which is ancient by gymnastics standards.

With her training sponsored by actress Pam Anderson, Bhardwaj was able to focus on a return to the spot. She made the team based on her dazzling vaults and parallel bar routines.

``I live my life by the motto of having no regrets,'' Bhardwaj said. ``I didn't want to look back and regret not trying to make the Olympic team. ... I think I showed USA Gymnastics that older women can train and compete with younger athletes. I definitely felt I have made an impact with the sport.''

But will she make one in the Olympics?

Strug did it, even though she wasn't well-known before the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The visual of Strug's clutch vault - in which she stuck her landing on a bum ankle - is still vivid. Bela Karolyi scooped her up and carried her off the mat in one of the greatest moments in U.S. Olympic history.

But Strug was cautious to place such lofty expectations on Team USA. She knows many things have to fall into place for gold.

``I'm not saying that they're not going to win it all, but I don't know,'' Strug said. ``I like going in as the underdog, where you're in contention but you're not expected to take home everything. That's a lot of pressure for a 16-year-old. I don't care how good you are or how deep you are. Anything can happen. That's why gymnastics is such an exciting sport.''

Russian Svetlana Khorkina has made it that way. She's always the favorite to win the all-around competition. She has the best uneven bars routine in the world and has an unbelievable move - ``the Khorkina'' - that only she uses.

The U.S. hopes to have a star emerge. Nadia Comaneci became that for Romania in 1976. She now lives in the U.S. with husband and former Olympic gymnast Bart Conner. They're avid supporters of USA Gymnastics.

``Every sport needs a star,'' said Comaneci, who won five golds at the 1976 Montreal Games. ``The gymnastics star now is Svetlana Khorkina. We don't know when she'll retire. It helps a lot to have a star. Everyone's waiting to see who the next one will be. We don't know which one of four or five girls it could be.''

That seems to be the beauty of this team. Everyone has a chance. Hatch, a seven-time national champion in Cuba, was chosen for her work on vault. She won bronze at the 1996 Cuban World Championships before defecting to the U.S. in 1997.

She became a U.S. citizen in 2001 but has dealt with injuries, including surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament last year. The injury was thought to hinder her chances of making the team, but Hatch competes with a knee brace.

Humphrey, who was on the bubble to make the team, will help on floor and uneven bars.

But the most important thing for any gymnast is to be mistake-free. In the team competition, there's a new three-up, three-count format. That means only three athletes compete and all three scores count. One mistake could mean the difference between a gold medal or none at all.

For now, the U.S. can only hope it lives up to its billing as one of the country's best teams.

``I love this sport,'' Bhardwaj said. ``I'm addicted to the pursuit of the Olympic dream.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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American Carly Patterson works on her balance beam routine during Thursday's training day in Athens, Greece.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

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