Miller-Led Gymnasts Sweep Medals In Pan-Am All-Around

Their coach claimed they would outclass the competition. Then the U.S. women gymnasts made him sweat.

In the end, the class of Shannon Miller, Amanda Borden and Amy Chow shined through as the Americans swept the allaround event Tuesday in the Pan American Games.

Miller, winner of five medals in the last two world championships, struggled on the balance beam, then won the gold when teammate Chow wobbled on the beam. Borden won the silver and Chow the bronze.

“The balance beam is a strange animal,” U.S. coach Steve Nunno said. “This time it bit us all in the butt.”

But not enough to matter. Miller, of Edmond, Okla., and the only Olympian on the squad, rallied after her problems on the beam, clinching the title on the vault.

Swimmer Brooke Bennett, 14, also made a splash. The United States won four swimming events, with Bennett winning the 400 freestyle.

She was joined on the gold-medal stand by the women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Cristina Teuscher, Angel Martino, Alison Fealey and Amy Van Dyken; Barbara Bedford of Etna, N.H., in the women’s 100 backstroke; and Brad Bridgewater of Dallas in the men’s 200 backstroke.