What could Bela Karolyi possibly have left to tell Kim Zmeskal? He already spends seven hours a day with her, six days a week, and has been coaching her for nine years.

But while she is competing, he is as intense as ever--motioning to her, head bobbing, arms flying. She stares up at him even more intensely--nodding, her ponytail bouncing.

This, after she has scored a 10 on the vault.

"Well, I'm not perfect yet--I need more correction," Zmeskal said. "And I know some mistakes I made today, that's for sure."

Zmeskal did have an unusual day last month at the Olympic trials in Baltimore, where she actually botched a couple of routines. Nothing drastic--she didn't fall off the beam or anything like that.

But even a few wobbles are uncharacteristic for this 16-year-old. With her toughness and athleticism, Zmeskal has thrived on a career in the spotlight thrown on her two years ago when Karolyi predicted that she would be the next Mary Lou Retton.

Never before has a superstar gymnast in this country stayed a superstar so long. Usually, they fade under pressure or they grow, up or out.

And never before has Karolyi had a gymnast touted for so long before the Olympics. Retton, also a student of Karolyi's, was unveiled to the world shortly before the 1984 Olympics. Nadia Comaneci, Karolyi's protege when he was in Romania, was virtually unknown before the 1976 Olympics at Montreal.

But Zmeskal seems to have gained in mental strength during the last two years. She was the first American to win a world all-around championship and is the favorite to win the gold at Barcelona.

"We don't know what it is about Kim that makes her so strong," said Clarice Zmeskal, Kim's mother. "I am sure she feels the pressure, but we don't talk about it. When we pick her up from the gym, it stays there. And when she's at Bela's ranch training, our phone conversations are about other things, things she needs, like that.

"She carries a lot inside of her."

So, what happened that day in Baltimore when Zmeskal wobbled?

"I got a little ahead of myself," she said.

Karolyi had a tirade after the trials ended and went anything but softly into the Baltimore night. He said that Zmeskal wobbled because her confidence wavered. He blamed the U.S. Gymnastics Federation's method of scoring the trials, which allowed another gymnast, Shannon Miller, to finish first, even though Zmeskal had won the meet. If that sounds confusing, it is.