As important as the midair flight is the landing. If you don’t understand what it means “to stick” a landing, you will when Zmeskal finishes her vault. She attacks the four-foot-high horse with such speed and explosiveness and attains such height that she lands with a truly resounding thump. Then stillness. Then cheers. And points. “The major thing is to stick your landings and not move,” says Zmeskal. “That’s the last impression you give the judge.”
Obviously, hers is a good one. She has scored perfect 10s at the world and national championships, and at the U.S. Olympic trials. Even Zmeskal, who tends toward the expressionless, sometimes musters a smile after a vault. She says she enjoys an event in which control is less important than “letting yourself go.” Her coach Karolyi, who worries about absolutely everything, says he never worries about Kim’s vault. “It’s the event that always puts the crown on her head,” he says.
