"Remote Karolyi ranch is Olympic training ground"
Nastia has been going to the Karolyi Training Camp for 6 years (she's 18 now):
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Liukin, the daughter of two former Soviet gymnasts, first began coming here from her home near Dallas at age 12. "I had no idea what to expect, and I loved it," Liukin said. "I thought it was the coolest thing. Six years later, here I am, still coming every single month."
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p.s.: Shawn went to her prom:
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The girls stay in cabins, sleep in bunk beds, do homework and stay in touch with the outside world via the Internet. Last week Johnson, 16, brought pictures of her prom dress to show the other girls.
"I love coming here," said Johnson, who lives in West Des Moines, Iowa. "It kind of takes you away from all the distractions at home. When you come here, it's nothing except gymnastics. It is hard practices and it is long practices, but it's a good time. You relax with your friends and kind of calm down."
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Sam 6 years too:
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Samantha Peszek, 16, came here for the first time six years ago.
"I thought it was the coolest thing ever," Peszek said. "I took so many pictures. I remember an ostrich or something, I went to take a picture and it stuck its head through the (fence). It almost bit me."
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Martha Karolyi, team, and competition:
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"We're not bringing in the kids and ordering them around," Martha said last week when the Olympic hopefuls were in camp. "The kids are coming in with their own personal coach because the personal coach knows best their own gymnast. Then we try to take a common approach and build up a system which has some similarities in preparation, but we maintain the individual touch. We make sure every gymnast is treated as an individual."
The ranch also is the "melting pot" where Martha brings together a team allied in the goal of winning the Olympic team title
