ROUGH AND TUMBLE

The grande dame v. the showgirl v. the teenybopper. As the experts see it, the women's gymnastics competition in Montreal is a three-way toss-up--with a half-twist, double back somersault, of course. Returning to defend her championship in what has become the glamour-girl event for Olympic TV audiences is Russia's Ludmilla Turishcheva, 23, the all-round competition gold-medalist at Munich, renowned for her controlled grace and classical repertory. The cameraman's favorite will be Turishcheva's celebrated teammate, Firefly Olga Korbut, 21, who flipped, tumbled, smiled and cried both herself and her sport into the spotlight four years ago as she flitted off with two gold medals of her own. And the romanticist's favorite will be Nadia Comaneci, a 14-year-old, 86-lb. Rumanian sprite who risks fancier flights than Tinker Bell could dream of.

The toughest task is faced by Turishcheva. Though the steadiest performer on her team--and the winner of the World Cup in London last fall--the Merited Master of Sport from Rostov-on-Don will be hard-pressed to repeat her '72 victory. She is still not fully recovered from a vertebral injury suffered last summer. A masseur will treat her daily in Canada. She recently observed: "In gymnastics, if you don't feel right, you might as well forget performing." Last month her training pace at the Palace of Sports in Minsk was up to five hours a day and her weight was down 7 lbs. (to 103), thanks to a fresh fruit and vegetable diet. Turishcheva has never looked more determined. Says she: "Nothing matters but first place in Montreal." She may not be the crowd pleaser her two prime competitors are, but she has an attribute that always impresses athletes: she wins.

Unfortunately for Turishcheva, there is a new Olga Korbut. Soon after she won the balance-beam and floor-exercise golds in Munich, Korbut became the world's darling, and the Soviet team's ticket to exhibition performances in Europe and America. But the experience left her thirsty for Western-style perks of stardom, and her already cool relationship with Soviet Coach Renald Knysh turned to ice. She announced at one point that she was "sick and tired of gymnastics," and talked of a stage career. "Capricious," was Teammate Turishcheva's delicate characterization. But the Korbut who trained at Minsk last month suddenly seemed a grownup; her concentration was mended, her mind was on her show instead of show biz, and she had a new weapon, maturity, to spring--along with some brand-new twists--on her foes at Montreal.

Nadia Comaneci, picked from her kindergarten class in the town of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (pop. 60,000) by her coaches because she was "alive," has advanced the sport of gymnastics as much as Olga popularized it. Frighteningly daring, she has developed a series of ultra-acrobatic moves that leave crowds gasping. The Salto Comaneci, to cite one, is a twisting, back-somersaulting dismount from the uneven parallel bars that one U.S. gymnast has a forthright word for: "Madness." Her derring-do, coupled with unusual stability in such difficult and dangerous moves as three back handsprings in a row on the beam, won her last year's European championship. (Korbut did not compete; Turishcheva was injured.) Comaneci has been criticized for being too serious while going through her routines. She responds: "I know how to smile, I know how to laugh, I know how to play. But I know how to do these things only after I have finished my mission."

That's it--grande dame, showgirl and a whopper of a teenybopper.

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