Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Because of confusion over the fine points of visas for entering China, alternates for the U.S. women's gymnastics team may not be able to train in the country as planned.

Instead, the three alternates -- Gaithersburg's Corrie Lothrop, Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Ivana Hong of Blue Springs, Mo. -- may prepare in Japan while their teammates train in Tianjian, China.

It wouldn't be the ideal way of building cohesiveness and ensuring that all of the country's potential Olympians are ready to compete. But the fallback plan would be the best solution, in the eyes of U.S. women's team coordinator Martha Karolyi, if alternates aren't able to get tourist visas in time.

As Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, explained, each Olympic athlete's credential also serves as a visa to enter China. But Chinese officials don't recognize alternates as members of the Olympic delegation. As a result, they may enter the country only with tourist visas.

The U.S. men's gymnastics team arranged tourist visas for its alternates, so the men will train together in Beijing as planned.

But the U.S. women's team, whose members weren't named until Saturday, has not yet procured tourist visas for its alternates. Any one of them may be called on to fill a roster spot in the event of injury up until Aug. 9, the day before the gymnastics competition begins.

Karolyi said during a conference call yesterday that the replacements would not be able to train in China, but Penny later issued a clarification casting their status as still evolving.

"We recently learned that they do not receive visas in the same manner as the official delegation," the statement read. "Replacement athletes need tourist visas, and we are in the process of applying for those."

Karolyi suggested housing the alternates in Japan after being told they did not have the proper visas. "I think it would be more convenient to be in China," she said. "We definitely cannot leave them here [in the United States] because the flight is so long, if they are needed at the last minute."

-- Liz Clarke