But women’s gymnastics these days is a sport that is not kind to its senior citizens, which is to say anyone who has celebrated a sweet 16. Miller, at 19, has kept the girlish shape that’s essential to perform the complex flips and other winning tricks that excite the sport’s judges. But the accumulated pounding of years on the bars and beams has begun to take its toll. She hasn’t been completely healthy – nor has she finished a major competition – since botching a routine at the national championships last summer. ““When it’s showtime,’’ Nunno said during a morning workout at his Oklahoma City gym, ““she’ll turn it on.''
For Miller, turning on is more physical than emotional. ““She is technically perfect in her movements,’’ says Nunno’s assistant, Peggy Liddick. Her coaches concede she’s shy and introverted and they have encouraged her to ““be a little more “involved’ in her routines.’’ That’s gym-speak for showing a little more feeling to better connect with the crowd. ““That’s not Shannon’s style. ““I’m not a bubbly person,’’ says Miller, whose best event is the treacherous balance beam. ““It’s more important for me to stay focused than to reach out to the audience. You have to stay focused to stay on a four-inch beam.''
Even in the gym, Shannon seldom flashes a smile. She is far more likely to shed tears after a verbal blast from her volatile coach, who once assisted Bela Karolyi. ““I’m not going to say that in 11 years with Steve there haven’t been some rough moments,’’ she says. ““But I know he’s doing the best he can to motivate me and I know he’s always going to be there for me.’’ Those tears mask an extraordinary toughness. Miller won her second world title while competing with an injured hamstring. Her willingness to play hurt has resulted in predictable criticisms aimed at her coaches. ““It’s nothing but sexism,’’ says Liddick. ““When Shannon Miller competed with a hamstring injury, her coaches were the meanest people on earth. When Emmitt Smith played with an injured hamstring, he’s gutsy and no one calls Barry Switzer abusive.''
Miller, an A student in high school (except for one B minus in geometry) and now a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, doesn’t engage in the debate. She wants to stay focused on that beam. ““Two generations have come and gone and still Shannon is competing and setting the standard,’’ says Nunno. In a sport in which burnouts are more the rule than the exception, that is high praise indeed.
