Gymnasts’ Medals Spur Ticket Sales

On the first business day after Courtney Kupets and Ashley Postell of the U.S. had won gold medals at the World Gymnastics Championships, organizers of next year’s event -- to be held in Anaheim from Aug. 13-24 -- began reaping dividends.

“Thousands of dollars of orders for tickets were coming in via fax and e-mail,” said Tim Ryan, general manager of the Arrowhead Pond.

The 2003 championships had generated more than $800,000 in ticket sales before Kupets triumphed on the uneven bars, Postell prevailed on the balance beam and Samantha Sheehan won bronze in floor exercise last week in Debrecen, Hungary. But Ryan said the prospect of seeing U.S. men and women do well at next year’s meet, which is the Olympic qualifier, is bound to enhance its national appeal.

“We were right in line with our first-year goals for tickets, and everybody on the entire organizing committee was thrilled,” said Ryan, who projected an economic effect of $30 million to $50 million. “Then we got the news the U.S. was bringing back three medals from Hungary and we were even more thrilled.”

In Debrecen, 289 athletes from 54 countries competed for individual apparatus titles. Team and all-around titles will also be at stake in 2003. Mike Milidonis, managing director of the competition, said 650 athletes from 70 countries and up to 1,400 delegation officials, coaches and judges were expected in Anaheim. Eight teams plan to arrive a week before official training begins and will practice in local gyms, perhaps inspiring future Olympians.

“Those are the legacies an event like this leaves,” Milidonis said. “Two, three years from now, kids can say, ‘I remember Andreea Raducan from Romania working out in our gym and I got her autograph on my T-shirt.’ ”

The executive committee of FIG, gymnastics’ international governing body, and men’s and women’s technical committees will visit Anaheim in February to inspect the venues. The Pond’s capacity will be reduced to about 13,000 to accommodate press seating and technical operations, and warmup gyms will be built outside the arena. The Anaheim Convention Center will be outfitted with eight practice gyms with equipment identical to that used in competition.

“Right now, we have a pretty good pulse on where we stand in the international community,” Ryan said. “The key is to make sure not only everybody in the U.S. is aware of the magnitude of the event, but everybody in the world.”

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Going for Gold

Kupets, Postell and Sheehan made strong impressions in their World Championship debuts.

“Probably their names are completely unknown for major people, but our approach is, we take the people who are best prepared at the time,” U.S. women’s coach Martha Karolyi said. “Some of the older gymnasts who had competed at other World Championships had small injuries and were not in very top shape. I anticipated a good showing, but I never like to anticipate medals.”

The girls’ success is a good omen for next year at Anaheim, although Karolyi said she cautioned them, “The better you are, the more is expected of you.”

She added, “At this point, I am really able to say we have the most depth in the U.S. than any country in the world. Our goal is to compete equal with the gymnastics [powers], Russia, Romania and China. I think it’s possible to be at the highest level of the podium. This world championship was a steppingstone on our way to achieving our goal.”

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Down, but Not Out

Donna Mayhew isn’t seeking pity.

“I feel blessed,” said Mayhew, a two-time U.S. Olympic javelin thrower and La Crescenta resident. “There’s stuff I can still do; I just can’t do what I want to do.”

She wants to resume an active life, free of the injuries that are a residue of the years she devoted to her sport.

Mayhew, who finished seventh at the 1988 Games and 12th in 1992, had hip problems for years but lost her medical insurance in 1999 when she lost her job as a personal trainer.

She had hip replacement surgery 11 weeks ago, after the surgeon and anesthesiologist had agreed to reduce their fees; she applied for aid from Medi-Cal but hasn’t yet pierced the bureaucratic thicket. The hospital bill alone was more than $43,000 and she had to quit her physical therapy regimen and move in with her parents.

“I just don’t have enough money to do the rest of the therapy,” she said.

While she was competing, she had elite athlete insurance through the U.S. Olympic Committee, but said she was told it didn’t pay for sports-related injuries. She also said her osteoarthritis, brought on by wear and tear, was deemed a progressive disease, not an injury. The Olympic Alumni Assn. offered her up to $1,000 “if you jump through all those hoops and fill out all the forms. I didn’t even bother.”

Mayhew said she’s walking better than before the surgery but still can’t run, which ended her chances of working for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department or Park Rangers. She’s interviewing for other jobs and hoping for the best.

“I’m still blessed,” she said. “I have to admit, there’s a lot of people worse off.”

She deserves better, as do other Olympians who didn’t win medals but gave no less effort than those who triumphed.

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Here and There

Nagano figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski, who had hip surgery two years ago, pulled out of the Stars on Ice tour because of recurring hip woes. Scott Hamilton joined the cast.... Amber Corwin of Hermosa Beach is seventh after the short program at the NHK Trophy event in Japan, the last in figure skating’s Grand Prix series.

A new starting-order rule took effect in World Cup Alpine skiing this weekend. To create more suspense, the top-ranked skiers start later in super-giant slalom races, although the course usually deteriorates by then. In downhill, the last training run will set the start order, with the slowest going first on race day.

Most tickets for events at the Athens Summer Games will cost $30 or less, in an effort to attract low-salaried Greek workers. Tickets will go on public sale May 12.