ished fifth and Hope Spivey placed seventh, they were unable to participate due to this rule. Spivey, who is a teammate of Sey's at the Parkettes, began the competition with a roundoff onto the board vault that neared perfection scoring 9.950. Only Strazheva bettered her score with a 9.975 for her roundoff vault. But Spivey experienced troubles on uneven bars (9.200) and floor (9.200), where she injured her ankle. As technically advanced as Gogoladze performed, Strazheva was better. Although she had her problems on floor, her uneven bars routine will have coaches talking for months. She performed a Tkatchev to a Geinger, dismounting with a double flyaway that had enough height to convince many
The steady performance of Mexico's Tony Pineda not only lifted his spirits but got him into the finals competition.
1987 McDONALD'S AMERICAN CUP RATINGS (As reported in USA TODAY)
What TV sports viewers watched Nielsen ratings for network sports events for week ending March 8: Networi<, Event . Rating 1. ABC Sat. WIde Wood 01 Sports (Heams-Andnes fight) . • • . 6.7 2. CBS Sun. NCAA pairings show • , .• . , • , . .... .. .. , ... 6.5 3. CBS Sports Sunday (G,ymnastics) • • • • .••. • • •• • •••• •. 5.6 4. NBC Sun. Honda Goll . .. . ...... • . _ . •• • .••• •• •• _ .• 5.1 CBS Sun. B ig East (Georgetown-Syracuse) . .... .• .... . 5.1 6. CBS Sun. NBA (Celtics-Pistons) . .• . •..... . • •• .. . . . . ABC Sat. Pro Bowlers Tour ... . . ... . . . , . . . • .. : . .• . . .5 8. CBS Sat. Big East (Prov.-Georgetown, or P.urdue-Mich.) .. 4.1 9. NBC Sun. Sports World (World Track and Fteld) . . • • • . . .. ~. ~ 10. NBC Sal Honda Golf . . . . . .. .. '.' • . . . . . . . . • • • • . . . • . NBC Sun. ACC (N. Carolina-N.C. SL) .. . . .. .. . ... . .... 3.1
:.5
One rating point equals 1 percen t of the USA's 87.4 miifoon TV homes. Source: A.C. Nielsan Co.
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she would soon be pemuming a triple in competition. "It was a revolution in technique," said Cowan. "Her double flyaway was at an exhaulted.level," said Abie Grossfeld, 1984 Men's Olympic Coach. ''The best I've ever seen a woman perform on bars." For her routines, Strazheva received a 9.850 and 9.900. Anja Wilhelm, of the Federal Republic of Germany, gave the capacity crowd another view of what can be done on bars. She stands on the top bar and performs a front with one-balftwist, catdring the high bar, then dismounts by again standing on the top bar and completing a back sommersault with a double twist over the low bar. On floor, Wilhelm, a powerful gymnast, performed a rare full twisting front handspring. Besides Phillips, Mills and Ginsberg, the gymnast who walked out of the Patriot Center with the most hearts was that of Henrietta Onodi of Hungary. At four feet and 57 pounds, this 13-year-old came through with a consistent performance that put her into the finals. Her best routine came on bars, where she scored a 9.80 which brought the 8572 spectators to their fuet. ''I don't mind being so small," said Onodi through her interpreter. ''I can do much more in the events than larger people." The final standings in the McDonald's American Cup provided a muchneeded boost which the United. States, was craving. This international competition marks the first in a string that will follow, leading up to the Pan American Games and the all-important 1987 World Championships in Rotterdam.