Star Gymnasts

GRACE AND GUTS, BUT WHAT ABOUT HER STAGE FRIGHT?

Henrietta Onodi, Hungary

"She is so far ahead of her country's other gymnasts that finding training partners has been a problem. "There was a year when I trained alone," says Hungary's Henrietta Onodi. "It was terrible." Her isolated, gutsy quest has won international renown. "She's got the hearts of everybody," says Donna Strauss, a U.S. coach.

The question is whether the green-eyed, dark-haired 18-year-old can conquer her stage fright. Dogged by a history of erratic performances, she could be her own worst enemy if she suffers a small slip early in the competition and loses her concentration. Behind the scenes, Onodi's precompetition jitters can be comical. "Henni always forgets something," says teammate Ildiko Balog, "like her leotard or her competition number." But if she stays calm and summons some hey-look-at-me showmanship, she could hit gold. At 4 ft. 10 in., her lithe, well-proportioned frame creates the illusion of greater height, and her floor routine, set to West Side Story, offers a grace and artistry rare in the tumbling-heavy all-around event.

A LITTLE SHORT IN THE TOOTH

Kim Hwang Suk, North Korea

Even in a sport where champions are tiny, Kim Hwang Suk makes her rivals look like giants. The North Korean is just 4 ft. 4 in. tall and weighs only 68 lbs. On the uneven parallel bars, however, no one stands above her. At the world championships in Indianapolis last September, she scored a perfect 10 to win the event and was called back to the podium twice for bows.

But her triumph rekindled speculation about her age. The controversy began at the Stuttgart world championships, where she listed her birth date as Feb. 15, 1975, which met by 46 days the competitive minimum of 15. "Nonsense," insists Bela Karolyi, the U.S. trainer, who admits to faking birth dates in his native Romania to allow underage gymnasts to perform. As evidence, Karolyi points out the missing front tooth in Kim's engaging smile. "I lost it when I hit the bar in practice," explains Kim. "But she was missing two in Stuttgart," replies Karolyi. "One grew in." Whatever her age, her maturity as a competitor is beyond question.

BIG ON THE SMALL SCREEN

Li Jing, China

No one can say that the popular Li Jing -- China's premier gymnast -- is a stuffed shirt. "Gymnasts only look big because TV screens are so small," he says with a wink. Among his teammates, he's the life of the party. "Li Jing is always a joker," says his coach Zhang Jian. "Except, of course, during competition, when it counts."

At those moments he becomes a different Li Jing, serious and concentrated, his legs moving about the parallel bars and pommel horse like impossibly fast knitting needles. At the world championships this spring, the 22-year-old took first place in both those events, plus a second on the high bar. His pre- eminence is the result of 13 years of practice, ever since the Hunan native was uprooted from his hometown at the age of nine and taken to Beijing for training. "It was not easy at first," says Li of leaving home so young. "I missed my mother a lot." Now, however, his mother does not have to wait for one of his annual visits to see his face. Since 1990, when he won the all- around title at the Asian Games, Li's photo has become a familiar sight in Chinese magazines and newspapers. "Sure, I'm famous at home," he says, "but not like a movie star or anything." There he goes again with that self- deprecating thing.