Major Gymnastics Event Slated for Tulsa in 2000 

By John A. Ferguson World Sports Writer 
12/7/97

 The Tulsa World of Gymnastics will be host to the United States Classic, one of the last phases for determining the next Olympic team, on July 7-8, 2000 at Mabee Center.

 The joint announcement by Kathy Kelly, national director of the Women's Gymnastics Program, and Linda Bradshaw, administrative director of the Tulsa World of Gymnastics, came Saturday during the National TOPS (Talent Opportunity Program) Training Period in Tulsa.

 The meet will bring between 96 and 105 elite gymnasts to Tulsa.

 Last year, the Tulsa World of Gymnastics was host to the American Classic, in which the field of hundreds was reduced to the Magnificent Seven, led by Oklahoma's Shannon Miller, which achieved gold-medal success at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

 After Tulsa had been a successful host in the 1996 event, Janice Cooper, a gymnastics judge at the U.S. Championships in Denver, asked Bradshaw when she was going to stage another competition.

 Cooper then tossed out the thought to Kelly, and at midnight at the McNichols Arena in the Mile High City an agreement with Bradshaw was reached.

 ``We didn't even have to sleep on the idea,'' said Bradshaw.

 Kelly was ``pleased'' with Tulsa's effort at the 1996 competition including the hospitality to the athletes and coaches.

 ``If it's not broken, why change anything,'' said Kelly, who is impressed with Tulsa's nurturing atmosphere when it comes to gymnastics.

 The ultimate result, when Tulsa was involved in the Olympic process in 1996, was a gold medal in gymnastics for the United States. Tulsa proved to be a good omen.

 It was at the American Classic last year that Charlie Chibitty, one of two Comanche ``code talkers'' in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, passed out Indian Dream Catchers to the athletes and coaches.

 The Dream Catcher is a symbol in which only good dreams will come through.

 Bradshaw thought the competition, which is right ahead of the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, would bring in at least $1 million to the Tulsa economy.

 The Olympic Trials are scheduled for Boston six weeks after the Tulsa competition.

 ``We're ecstatic about being hosts,'' said Bradshaw. ``This is most rewarding.''