Vise needs a hand to reach the Olympics.(The Dallas Morning News) - Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

Byline: Cathy Harasta

DALLAS _ Gymnast Hollie Vise routinely thrills fans with her acrobatic flair on a four-inch-wide plank. She also soars in fluid orbits around two bars that stretch the imagination and test the nerves.

But it has come to this for the double world champion: She can't control her Olympic destiny.

Vise, 16, sits precariously in one of the world's most precarious sports as the U.S. Gymnastics Championships open in Nashville this week. Her best chance to get to the Athens Games will be as a specialist, contributing robust scores in her stellar events _ the balance beam and the uneven bars.

But with her strengths concentrated in two of the four events, Vise embodies the gymnastics version of the 50-50 Olympic shot. Her glass might appear half-empty, but the half-full part brims with brilliance.

The U.S. championships launch the three-part process that will determine the six-member U.S. Women's Olympic Gymnastics Team by July 18.

The Dallas teen needs not only a strong overall outing in Nashville, but also an assist from gymnasts who excel in the U.S. women's weakest event _ the vault. Annia Hatch, the reigning national vault champion, could become Vise's key ally down the stretch.

'For Hollie, it's very, very important to have a good competition,' said Martha Karolyi, the U.S. women's team coordinator, whose judgment will matter most in the end. 'I think it really will be up to her.'

Every team member does not have to compete in all four events at the Athens Olympics, Aug. 13-29.

One or two members of the U.S. squad probably will be specialists picked to supplement the nucleus of all-around powerhouses. All-around stars such as Carly Patterson of Allen and Courtney McCool of Kansas City, Mo., don't have to worry about any one event hurting them in the scoring.

The specialists, however, can't yet afford to focus on their strengths, because the U.S. championships' top 12 all-around finishers, plus injury petitions, make the U.S. Olympic trials in Anaheim, June 24-27.

The women who finish first and second in the all-around at the trials get Olympic berths, with the four other spots to be determined at a final selection camp in July.

Vise and other Olympic hopefuls said they know that Karolyi and her staff will evaluate the consistency and readiness of all those at the camp _ including the trials winner and runner-up.

By July 18, Karolyi will announce the six team members and three alternates. She said that perhaps 15 athletes will attend the last camp, at the national team's training center on the Karolyi ranch in New Waverly, Texas.

Vise said she likes the selection process.

'It won't be that if you did good at a past competition, you'll get on the team,' Vise said. 'Our U.S. team has, I think, more depth than ever. If I make it to the Olympics, I'll be doing the bars and the beam.'

The problem for Vise is that the U.S. women are deepest in the bars and beam. They can hold their own on the floor. The vault is where they need a pick-me-up.

Enter Hatch _ the nation's best female vaulter. How well Hatch comes back from a 2003 knee injury could influence Vise's chance of making the Olympic team. If Hatch demonstrates that she can supply high vault scores in Athens, Vise's vault will become a nonissue.

But not yet.

Vise needs solid performances in her weaker events _ the floor exercise and the vault _ in Nashville.

'Her weak events have to be a certain level so as not to bring down her all-around score,' Karolyi said. 'Then on her strong events, she has to have them at so high a level that they are world-class, so that we can trust her at any given moment.'

Vise has come up big when it mattered. She barely missed winning the all-around at the 2003 U.S. championships last June, when she tied for second to secure a world championships berth and won the beam title.

An elbow fracture kept Patterson, a world team champion, out of last year's U.S. championships. Patterson, 16, finished second in the all-around at the world championships. She and Vise are teammates at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano.

Vise's composure under pressure helped her make a powerful impression in winning a team gold medal and tying for the uneven bars title at the world championships last August.

'We certainly appreciate what they did,' Karolyi said of the young team. 'But a year is a long time.'

The months since last August challenged Vise with a growth spurt, tour demands and unprecedented media attention. Now 5-1, Vise has grown about four inches since last year, which meant physical adjustments in her relationship to the uneven bars. Her coach at WOGA, Evgeny Marchenko, said quickness and strength suffer while a gymnast is adapting to her new dimensions.

Though Patterson, who turned pro, has attracted the lion's share of the spotlight, Vise also has had to keep a level head.

'Right now, I'm planning on doing college gymnastics,' said Vise, who is home-schooled via computer.

Karolyi has closely monitored Vise's adjustments to her growth spurt. Vise recently had the top scores in her specialties at the U.S. Classic in Rochester, N.Y., with Karolyi looking on.

'She performed pretty nicely,' Karolyi said. 'She's on her way to catching up.'

So is Hatch. May brought a milestone in her comeback when she successfully executed a Tsukahara vault, noted for its difficulty.

Olympic chances are running out for Hatch, who will turn 26 on June 14 and badly wants an Athens berth.

Vise must concentrate first on Vise. But few would be bent out of shape if she decided to do a little scoreboard watching, especially in the vault column.

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