Q&A with former Olympic phenom Shannon Miller

At the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City, Shannon Miller was a 12-year-old Edmond girl who entered our lives with a gold medal on the uneven bars and a bronze in the all-around.

Now she's a 31-year-old woman who remains the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history — male or female — with seven career medals, winning two silvers and three bronze at the 1992 Games in Barcelona and two gold medals at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Roughly six hours after completion of the gymnastics competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Miller granted a Q&A with The Oklahoman:

Q: Were you at all disappointed in how things turned out for Team USA in Beijing, or with the implementation of the new scoring system?

Miller: "I'm certainly not disappointed in how the Olympics turned out in regard to the U.S. gymnasts, who did a tremendous job. Was it everything they wanted? Maybe not, but they certainly did a fantastic job. As far as the new scoring system, I think we're all disappointed to see the 10.0 (scale) disappear. That's what our sport was all about.”

Q: Is the new scoring system too complicated, for both the gymnasts and the fans?

Miller: "It takes a while to get used to and a little while to learn. For those fans who only watch gymnastics every four years, I think the commentators did a tremendous job explaining how the system works. I'm not sure there's ever going to be a scoring system that's perfect. It's just not possible in gymnastics. It's a subjective sport and is always going to be that way. It's not a race to the finish line. That's just always going to be a part of it.”

Q: How did you deal with the aggravation of questionable judging in your sport?

Miller: "As an athlete, you know it's subjective, and that's why my goal was never a specific score. It was never a specific medal. It was always hit my routines to the best of my ability. If you do that, you can feel great about your performance regardless of what the judges do. That falls under the category of things you can not control.”

Q: Many felt you were victimized in 1992 when you lost out for the all-around gold to Tatiana Gutsu by .012 (39.737-39.725).

Miller: "It's a really tough lesson to learn, but you know throughout your career that you've been on both sides.

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