Humphrey’s low-key personality is the polar opposite of her high-energy personality on the floor exercise, where the all-arounder excels. Humphrey, who signed with Alabama in November of last year, was a member of the 2003 World Championships gold-medal Team and by virtue of competing at the 2002 Worlds as well, makes her one of the most internationally seasoned of the team. Humphrey, who celebrates her 18th birthday on Aug. 14 - the day before team prelims - trains alongside McCool at Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) under coaches Armine Barutyan-Fong and Al Fong.
The newly added gymnasts join 2004 Visa U.S. co-champion Courtney Kupets and 2004 Athens Olympic Test event winner Courtney McCool, who earned automatic berths after finishing 1-2 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 27 in Anaheim, Calif.
The six gymnasts hail from five different clubs, demonstrating a geographic spread of elite caliber athletes and represent a continuing trend of athletes who have lived and trained at home throughout their careers. Team alternates will be Chelsie Memmel, Tasha Schwikert and Alysse Ishino.
The three-person Selection Committee was comprised of Roe Kreutzer, chair, and chair of the Women’s International Elite Committee; Martha Karolyi, National Team Coordinator; and Larissa Fontaine, Athlete Representative.
The six Olympians will now return home to make final preparations before a final training camp at the end of July. The team travels to Athens on Aug. 4 and begins competition at the 2004 Olympic Games on Aug. 15 with Women’s Competition I, which serves as the team, all-around and individual event final qualification.
The women’s U.S. Olympic Team press conference is slated for Aug. 12 at the Athens Main Press Center. For more information and complete athlete bios, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org/pr/.
2004 U.S. Olympic Team
Courtney Kupets,17 (Gaithersburg, Md.)
Courtney McCool,16 (Lee’s Summit, Mo.)
Carly Patterson, 16 (Baton Rouge, La.)
Mohini Bhardwaj, 25 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Annia Hatch, 26 (West Haven, Conn.)
Terin Humphrey, 17 (Bates City, Mo.)
All nominations are pending USOC approval.