Q&A with former Olympic phenom Shannon Miller

By John Rohde

Published: August 20, 2008

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. Sometimes you get the benefit of a doubt, other times you don't. When you're at the Olympics and you don't get the benefit of the doubt, and it's someone else's day, that's the really tough part.”

Q: What's so wrong with awarding two medals if there's a tie?

Miller: "That's not an International Gymnastics Federation rule. That's actually an International Olympic Committee rule that came into place in 1997 after the Atlanta Games. That surprised many of us in the sport because we believed if you got the same score you should get the same medal. It was just unfortunate it happened this year. There were certainly other judging fiascos that went on.”

Q: Is watching the Olympics tough for you?

Miller: "It's so difficult to watch. I get ulcers. These are kids I watched grow up in the sport, and now I get to interview them and commentate their competitions. It's like a mom watching over their shoulder and I'm on the edge of my seat.”

Q: Does the judging frustrate you as a fan?

Miller: "It can be frustrating when it's so close, or when you see a competition in person or on TV and you think to yourself, ‘No, that shouldn't have won,' or 'This should have won.' You're always second-guessing different things, but in the end you have to go with what the judges see at the time. For better or worse, that's what we're left with.”

Q: It never seemed as though Alicia Sacramone emotionally overcame her fall off the balance beam in the team competition. It seemed to carry over into other events for her.

Miller: "I'm not sure if it carried over or not. I thought Alicia did a fantastic job on vault. She is by far the best vaulter in the United States, and has been for quite some time. It's devastating to fall at the Olympic Games, especially in the team competition. You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Alicia has been such a strong leader, whether it's through her performances or her pep talks. I just hope she walks away from this experience knowing that she helped Team USA, whether it was getting the team silver medal, helping some of the younger athletes who came along, or helping young kids get involved in the sport.”

Q: She looked devastated.

Miller: "It's gymnastics. Every now and then, you miss. You can't be too critical of yourself. That's just a tough day at work.”

Q: What's more advantageous with the new scoring system: To do a simpler routine and perfect it; or to do a difficult routine and leave more room for error?

Miller: "It completely depends on the athlete. You've got a Shawn Johnson on uneven bars who, yes, is going to have a simpler routine, but she's going to nail it every time. Then you have a Nastia Liukin, who has an incredibly difficult bar routine, but it can possibly be hit or miss.”

Q: Maybe I'm biased because you're Shannon Miller, but it seemed to me the routines your team did in Atlanta were much cleaner than what we saw in Beijing. Did it seem that way to you?

Miller: "The skills of what these athletes are doing right now are so far beyond what we did in '96. It's just incredible to watch.”

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