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JUNE 17, 2004

This site has been inactive for about two years. For that, I'm sorry. I don't really feel the need to explain certain personal situations that has caused that to happen, but I regretful at my sudden departure with no explanation. It was wrong of me. The next question arises is why am I typing this here now. Most inactive websites would just fade away. Despite this notice being long in coming, I still felt that I owed an explanation for the disappearance of the site. At the time, I was just entering a new level of education, and basically my life was a mess. Not that it isn't now... But things are more or less under control. Secondly, Athens is coming up. I might not completely bring the site back again, but I want to form something of a support site for Svetlana as she embarks on what is most probably her final hurrah. I still adore her gymnastics even though I have been out of touch for quite a bit. Thirdly, I've resolved quite a few difficulties in trying to find time for the site, and am actually taking a relevant elective in college next semester. Having this site would in fact allow me to practice my Flash skills. Whether or not the upcoming version of the site would be totally made in Flash is not yet decided upon. Finally, I would like to plead to all the Svetlana and gymnastics fans out there to drop me a line with important events that have taken place in the gymnastics world in the past two years. I admit that I'm out of the loop, and have only kept up to date with the major competitions (Worlds and Europeans). Therefore, help would be much appreciated. It would also be good to hear suggestions on a new website, and any help in creating one would also be welcome. Email me at deztoh@yahoo.com or get me on MSN Messenger at desireetoh@msn.com. Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing from anyone, and eventually making a site worthy of Svetlana as she takes on Athens.

P.S. - Only the homepage of this site is available. The rest of the pages are still inactive.

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At the age of 23, Svetlana Khorkina has won practically every medal in the sport. The one gaping hole in her already extensive resume, which contains medals from every single prestigious competition, is the Olympic All-Around Gold which has constantly eluded her. Whether she will make it to Athens for one more shot at it is yet to be known.

Her World Championships record is an accomplishment in itself. She had won the all-around in 1997 and the uneven bars in every year since 1994. In 2001, there was another chance for her to add to her collection of medals, and she took it well. She qualified first for the All-Around Final and never looked back, taking the gold medal. This makes her the only woman to have achieved a podium placing at the World Championships under three different Code de Pointage - Silver in 1995, Gold in 1997 ,and now gold again in 2001. Not only did she prove her critics wrong by winning the All-Around gold ahead of all the younger gymnastics stars, but she took the gold medal on vault and bars as well. She was expected to win on bars, but vault? This was the apparatus that she had faltered on time and again in the past, denying herself many medals. But since the Olympics in 2000, she has mastered this apparatus which is a larger obstacle for gymnasts of her height and lack of tumbling power.

As for Athens ahead, an inside source tells me that it is a high possibility. This person says that she wants to be the 'Queen of Gymnastics' for as long as she can. From the Goodwill Games in Brisbane came two conflicting reports that reported her saying that she would go on to Athens and also she did not like answering questions regarding Athens. I made it my business to find out the truth. It seems that she wants to go to Athens but it also depends on how she performs from now until 2004. If she feels that she can do it, she'll be on her way to Athens and another shot at the so far elusive All-Around Olympic Gold.

Svetlana Khorkina is one of the greatest gymnasts in the modern era. How ironic to think that she might never have been an artistic gymnast at all! Given her height, she was thought as never to succeed. But her will and drive to win made the difference. She is a stong individual and has defied her critics, her height and now, even her age, to show that she can win any medal if she puts her mind to it.

At the previous Goodwill Games in Brisbane, she was faltering in the all-around after her fall on the beam. But she managed to secure a silver medal through sheer confidence and belief in herself. Furthermore, she only garnered the silver after the last rotation, which happened to be one of her weaker apparatus - the vault. In an interview at the Games, she was asked if she felt older, and she only replied that she felt younger and younger when she was compteting.

What a great athlete she is! She is considered old for the sport of gymnastics, yet she is able to hold herself against all the up-and-coming younger gymnasts. She is able to reinvent herself, put together new and difficult routines, and still win despite new challenges. Gymnastics is not gymnastics without Svetlana Khorkina, or at least for this era. This site is my tribute to her, the gymnast that never grows old, or so she says. Welcome to Svetlana Khorkina Online, a site specially created with this incredible gymnast in mind.

Born again on June 5, 2002