Johnson, Liukin Lead Pack

Duo Headed for Beijing After 1-2 Trials Finish, Rest of Team to Be Named in July

PHILADELPHIA, June 22 -- In a caldron where nerves fray easily and a ticket to China could either be punched or discarded, America's best female gymnasts bobbled and wobbled Sunday night. Nastia Liukin, as good as there is in the world on the uneven bars, made a pair of stunning mistakes. Shayla Worley, a member of last year's gold medal-winning world championship team, fell off those same bars, landing with a thud.

"I think," said Martha Karolyi, the coordinator of the women's national team, "some of the girls had some jitters."

But at the end of the evening, there was Shawn Johnson in the center of the floor at Wachovia Center, unable to wipe a perma-smile from her 16-year-old face. The pressure at the U.S. Olympic trials filled the arena, and Johnson shrugged it off. Her dominant two-day performance here ended with a rousing floor exercise that left Karolyi, who holds the fate of all the women here in her hands, clapping and cheering from the sideline.

"Shawn has a very difficult routine, the most difficult floor routine in the world," Karolyi said. "To be able to perform that without any mistakes makes me excited."

Johnson's victory here ensured her a spot on the Olympic team, a development that was roughly as predictable as the sun rising. Over two days in which the gymnasts competed in all four disciplines, Johnson totaled 127.65 points, topping a somewhat shaky Liukin by 1.8 points. Liukin, though, also earned her way on to the team, the only two women to secure spots on the six-member team at the trials.

"I just knew after floor I had done what I had to do at this competition," Johnson said. "I had given it my all. I finally got that ticket to Beijing. It's the greatest feeling ever."

Though Johnson and Liukin were the only athletes named to the Olympic team, and there is still a nerve-jangling selection camp to take place from July 16 to 20 at Karolyi's ranch outside Houston, plenty of clues about who might travel to Beijing emerged here.

Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world champion from Wisconsin who will turn 20 Monday, showed that her comeback from myriad injuries -- most notably, shoulder surgery that cost her nearly two years -- is all but complete. She placed third in the all-around -- supported by a throng of fans who wore matching T-shirts and chanted "Chellsie rocks!" More important, she is finally healthy, happy and wearing a competitive scowl that could provide the Americans with an edge.

"She showed she is back where she was," Karolyi said.

Another 20-year-old, Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass., again showed she could be an Olympic medal contender in both vault and floor exercise. Though she doesn't compete in uneven bars -- meaning she was not a factor in the all-around competition -- she captained the 2007 U.S. team to gold at the world championships, and she brings a combination of a brazen attitude and powerful ability, not to mention experience.

"The team would not be the same without Alicia Sacramone," Karolyi said.

And Samantha Peszek, another member of the world championship team, quietly laid down solid performance after solid performance, no doubt ingratiating herself with the committee by finishing fourth in the all-around competition. "She showed me she is one person we can count on," Karolyi said.