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Out of retirement Miller trying to make 2000 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team
Posted: Friday February 04, 2000 11:15 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller is returning to competition and trying to earn a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. Miller-Phillips, who married last summer, hasn't competed in two years. She returned to the Dynamo gym six weeks ago and announced Thursday that she would return to competition and try to make the team. She will be 23 when the Sydney Games open in September. "Challenges are what keep me going," she said. She has won seven Olympic and 10 world-championship medals. She was the world all-around champion in 1993 and 1994. She won two gold medals in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Steve Nunno, her long-time coach, said he called the U.S. Gymnastics Federation to see if he could bring Miller-Phillips to the February evaluation camp. She plans to compete in meets in Chicago and Tampa, Fla., this month and attend the evaluation camp in Houston at the end of February Nunno said he initially tried to talk Miller-Phillips out of returning. "You really want to go out on top," he said. "Why do more when you're the most decorated gymnast in the history of the United States?" A trip to China for the 1999 World Championship stoked Miller-Phillips' competitive streak. The U.S. team finished last out of six teams. "I think it got to her," Nunno said. "The team wasn't that upset about being last out of six." Nunno said he wasn't willing to let anyone know Miller-Phillips was training again until he thought she had a viable shot. 'She's made a believer out of me," he said. Nunno said Miller-Phillips already is an Olympic contender on the beam and could be competitive in the other events within two months. She could possibly get an exemption to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Boston Aug. 15-20, but Nunno said they would prefer she perform her way through the process.
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