U.S. spirit and experience is key: Dawes

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. women hoping for a first Olympic team gold on foreign soil have the advantage of more experience and unity than the "Magnificent Seven", one of those 1996 champions Dominique Dawes said on Friday.

Dawes was a member of the team that unexpectedly overcame the dominant Russians and Romanians to clinch the Americans' first Olympic team title on the home soil of Atlanta 12 years ago.

After snatching the team title from favorites China at last year's world championships, the Americans are poised to take on the even stiffer challenge of beating their rivals in front of thousands of home fans in Beijing.

"This team is definitely much more experienced (than we were in 1996). When you have a great deal of international experience, it can only help you to deal with the pressure and all the things that come with that," Dawes told Reuters.

During her era, gymnasts used to train individually and come together only when they were named in a squad for a competition.

After the 2000 Games, however, renowned coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi introduced a semi-centralized system where gymnasts attend training camps once a month at their ranch.

Dawes said as a result the current group of athletes were less likely to get jealous if one member grabbed the spotlight.

"These girls are used to that team atmosphere and focusing on a common goal," she said.

Dawes's team mate Kerri Strug stole the headlines in 1996 after completing a second vault on a damaged ankle, having landed badly on the first attempt. A well-documented rift developed among the "Magnificent Seven", with the other six members opting to go on an exhibition tour without Strug.

With the all-round title looking like it might be a duel between world champion Shawn Johnson and Beijing room mate Nastia Liukin, questions have arisen about how they will cope with one of them coming off worse.

Liukin said the team so close, it would not be an issue.

"Before '96 they didn't have the training camps that we have and maybe they just weren't as close. The training helps us to get know each other so well. We're all happy for each other," Liukin told Reuters this week.

"It's like we're almost just like sisters and not like competitive team mates."

The women's gymnastics events start on Sunday.

(Editing by Alison Williams)