Summer Olympics 2000 Khorkina drops vault for personal reasons

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Sunday, September 24
Khorkina drops vault for personal reasons
Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia -- Sveltana Khorkina isn't taking any more chances with the vault.

Citing personal reasons, the Russian withdrew from the Olympic vault finals about a half-hour before competition began Sunday. She fell on a vault that was nearly two inches shorter than it was supposed to be during Thursday's all-around final, possibly costing her the gold medal.

Khorkina still planned to compete on the uneven bars, where she is the reigning Olympic, world and European champion. She also is scheduled to compete on the floor Monday night.

When equipment workers adjusted the vault for the women's competition, they set it 1.97 inches shorter than regulation. The first 18 gymnasts in the all-around vaulted before the problem was discovered, and there was a series of spectacular crashes.

But no one was affected as much as the 5-foot-5 Khorkina. The favorite for the gold got no height on her first vault and landed smack on her knees on the first jump.

She nailed her second, but her combined score was only a 9.363, bad enough to knock her out of the running and throw her into a snit for the rest of the night.

The first 18 gymnasts were allowed to redo their vaults, but Khorkina had already fallen on the uneven bars and knew a do-over wasn't going to get her a medal. She finished 11th overall.

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