Kristie Phillips is latest gymnastic `sweetheart'

INDIANAPOLIS Kristie Phillips smiled ingenuously, showing all herbraces, and insisted her sister gymnasts of the United States teamweren't jealous.

"They understand I can't help it I get all the attention."

She is 15, weighs 87 pounds, stands 4-11 and has been on thecover of Sports Illustrated.

If she accomplishes her mission on schedule, she will be able toretire at 16 as the world's sweetheart (at least America's) with anincome in the millions from doing TV commercials and smiling from thebacks of cereal boxes.

In short, Phillips is heiress-apparent to Olga Korbut, NadiaComaneci and Mary Lou Retton. If she doesn't screw up or get hurtbefore they drape a golden Olympic medal around her neck in Seoul inOctober, 1988, she won't have to do a lick of work the rest of herlife.

Kristie took another small step in that direction Wednesday whenshe compiled the highest score among 20 competitors from five nationsin the first afternoon of women's artistic gymnastics at the PanAmerican Games.

It was team competition in compulsory exercises, but individualscores are kept and will count in the all-around competition to come.Phillips, of Baton Rouge, La., scored 38.950. Melissa Marlowe, ablond mite of 87 pounds from Salt Lake City, was second with 38.750.Sabrina Mar, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was third at 28.925. Infact, the six women on the U.S. team finished one through six.

"We dominated today," said Kelly Garrison-Steves, who finishedfourth, "but we all know we need more work on our compulsories forthe world." The world championships, to be held in Rotterdam Oct. 18,will offer much stiffer competition than the nations of the WesternHemisphere represented here. There will be Russians, Romanians,Hungarians, two kinds of Germans, Chinese and Japanese.

Hopefully, Phoebe Mills, a 14-year-old from Northfield, will bethere, too. Mills, one of the top female gymnasts of our country,skipped the Pan Am show to allow a heel injury to heal.

They call this "women's" gymnastics, but that is a misnomer.For the most part, these are children. Garrison-Steves, an Oklahomanwith eyes like a teenage Elizabeth Taylor, qualifies as a woman,since she is 19 and married to a gymnast. Mar is 17. The rest ofthe U.S. "women" here are 15.

This is a sport in which a girl goes over the hill when sheleaves her teens. A grown woman with a full set of curves can't dothe things these sprites do.

For instance, Phillips has moved into the top position amongAmerican female gymnasts by touching her bottom with the back of herhead. Standing on her hands on a balance beam, she can arch her backuntil her butt meets her blond curls, then do a split in thatposition. No other female in the world can do this. It seemsimpossible for any vertebrate creature.

Phillips is the current star of Bela Karolyi's stable, whichalso includes Mills and Rhonda Faehn of Coon Rapids, Minn., (whofinished sixth Wednesday). Karolyi, the Count Dracula of theseMunchkins, developed Comaneci before he fled Romania and settled inHouston, where he taught Retton.

Bela didn't make it to Indianapolis to watch Phillips' gracefuldismount from the beam, because he erred in dismounting a horse inTexas and it stepped on him, damaging his ribcage.

However, Karolyi, master of the intricacies of his sport, wouldhave been proud of Phillips. He knows it is not enough for a tinygirl to be able to twist herself into a pretzel. This is show biz.She must be a combination of Shirley Temple, Lolita and a Barbie dollthat gives interviews.

Phillips has learned to bat her baby blue eyes and flash thosebraces at the judges, wave to the crowd as vigorously as Mary Lou,and confide all her thoughts to anyone with a tape recorder.

"This is 90 percent physical and 10 percent media," Kristie saidWednesday.

It is not enough to do her routines with near perfection, shehas found. "You have to have something people notice. People noticemy flexibility, my smile and my attitude. You have to look good allthe time, and not just be wimping around."

If Kristie indeed becomes the next Olympic heroine, she mayhave the same impact on hairstyles as did skater Dorothy Hamill. Ifso, you can expect every moppet who watches her on TV to dye her hairyellow and have it cut to resemble a mushroom cap.

To be one of Karolyi's gymnasts is almost like entering anunnery. He demands total dedication.

But there is a threat to Phillips' concentration. Her hormonesmust be beginning to work. She confessed Wednesday she has a boyfriend, a soccer player from Virginia who will visit her here thisweekend. With Bela away, Kristie's attention may stray.

There is still another threat to American dominance of thefemale side of this sport.

Canada trotted her out Wednesday, and she finished 10th in thecompulsories. She is Amelie Major, a "woman" from Montreal who willturn 14 on Sept. 20 and could pass for 10. She stands 3-10 andweighs 70 pounds, without a trace of that old devil puberty. Shemust buy her lunch from Hartz Mountain. Amelie told me she has beena gymnast since she was 4 and hopes to win an Olympic medal.

Once the television cameras glimpse Amelie, they may forgetKristie. In this fleeting business, a girl must make her fortunebefore she's out of braces. There is always another 13-year-oldtrying to render you obsolete.