PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Johnson rumbles across the floor exercise mat like a sparkling bowling ball gaining speed and power until she reaches the corner and throws herself into a sonic boom of flips, twists and a forceful landing.
She offers a smile and swings her shiny ponytail.
Across the way, Nastia Liukin uncoils her legs and lifts herself onto the uneven bars.
In the next two minutes she twirls and twists herself into pretzel positions, doing one-handed circles and swinging from the top bar to the bottom bar with three breathtaking release moves before finishing with a double twist and landing lightly onto toes that have been nothing but pointing straight.
She bows her head slightly to the wild applause.
It is these two girls -- Johnson, 16, from West Des Moines, Iowa, and Liukin, 18, from Parker, Texas -- who appear poised to become two of the biggest Olympic stars and rivals for one of the most coveted Olympic gold medals in the women's gymnastics all-around.
Tonight at the Wachovia Center they will display their gymnastics strengths and differences in the first of two rounds of competition at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Based on results over the last two years it is all but certain, barring an injury, that Johnson, the two-time defending U.S. champion and defending world champion, and Liukin, the only woman to beat Johnson in an all-around competition in two years, will have earned the two automatic spots to the six-woman Olympic team.
While Johnson and Liukin ache to win their sport's ultimate prize, there is no chance they will turn their rivalry into Tonya-Nancy.
It was during the lead-up to the 1994 Winter Olympics when figure skater Tonya Harding allegedly participated in a plot to use a bar and whack the knee of rival skater Nancy Kerrigan at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, which served as the Olympics trials.
Kerrigan ultimately won a silver medal, but the scandal had dominated the Lillehammer Olympics because Harding was allowed to compete, adding drama that brought both record embarrassment and TV ratings to the sport.
It seems unlikely that Liukin, who is 5 feet 3 and 100 pounds, or the 4-9, 90-pound Johnson are plotting anything so dire.
Last week when Johnson was forced out of her home gym because of flooding, Liukin text messaged her, expressing concern and wishing Johnson luck. Johnson sent her thanks and signed her text, "Love, Shawn."
