Shannon Miller and Dominique Moceanu submitted injury petitions to the Women’s Selection Committee on Monday, June 17, to allow their scores from the 1996 Coca-Cola National Gymnastics Championships to be used during the U.S. Olympic Trials-Gymnastics in Boston, Mass., June 27-30. Both Miller and Moceanu’s petitions were approved.

 

The Olympic Games Women’s Selection Procedures state: “If one of the top seven gymnasts in rank order from National Championships is injured after the National Championships, her injury is verified by a physician approved by USA Gymnastics, and the petition is then accepted, her National Championships’ score will be her score for the Olympic Trials. This score is entered into the all-around results prior to the start of the Olympic Trials. If her total score from National Championships remains within the top seven ranked all-around scores from Trials, she has earned one of the seven slots on the Olympic Team.”

Miller has an acute and chronic flexor tenosynovitis in the wrist which is susceptible to re-injury. Moceanu has a stress fracture in her right tibia. The injuries were verified by the United States Olympic Committee physician assigned to gymnastics who certified that they would not be able to compete at the Olympic Trials. It is anticipated that, should these athletes make the Olympic Team, they will be able to compete at the 1996 Olympic Games.
Miller is a five-time medalist from the 1992 Olympic Games and a two-time World Champion. She is the most decorated U.S. gymnast winning more World and Olympic medals than any other gymnast in history. Miller recently won the Coca-Cola National Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., June 5-8, with a score of 78.380. Miller, 19, is from Edmond, Okla., and trains at Dynamo Gymnastics with her coaches Steve Nunno and Peggy Liddick.
Moceanu is the 1995 National Champion and silver and bronze medalist from the 1995 World Championships. She finished third all-around with a score of 78.220 at the 1996 Coca-Cola National Championships. She currently resides and trains in Houston, Texas, at Karolyi’s Gymnastics and is coached by Bela and Martha Karolyi.
USA Gymnastics President Kathy Scanlan said, “The United States has one of the strongest women’s fields ever to compete at an Olympic Trials, with three members of the 1992 Olympic Team and 12 gymnasts who were members of either the 1994 Silver Medal World Championships team or the 1995 Bronze Medal World Championships team. If Miller and Moceanu’s scores hold at the trials, they will earn a spot on what promises to be a very powerful team.”

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