BY JEMELE HILL
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

ATHENS, Greece -- They told Annia Hatch her butt was too big, her body too muscular and her feet too flat.

Sadly for Hatch, it wouldn't be the first time her native country of Cuba decided she wasn't worth the investment.

When she was 6, Cuban coaches told her she never would be a gymnast because of those perceived physical flaws. Eventually, Hatch was accepted at an academy because one coach lobbied the rest to keep her because of her flexibility.

When she was 17, Cuba kept her from the Olympics altogether. When she was 21, the country kept her out of the world championships.

Now at 26, she is competing again -- for the United States.

"It was just a dream come true that I am here," Hatch said Sunday.

Given her history, it's a wonder Hatch is even in Athens. The Americans finished second to defending champion Romania at Sunday's qualifying and Hatch did not perform her best, but it's difficult not to admire her resolve.

Hatch is an anomaly at 26 because in gymnastics that translates to 85. She retired at 17 after the Cuban federation didn't send her to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics -- even though she had won seven national titles and won the country's first medal at the world championships by taking bronze in the vault in 1996.

"She's here," said Alan Hatch, whom Annia married after moving to the United States following her retirement. "We're going to make it. I'm sure we're going to be fine."

If perseverance were a competition, Hatch already would have a gold medal. She seriously injured her knee last year, which was supposed to signal the end of her career. But Hatch stormed back at the Olympic trials and made the team.

Hatch didn't compete for four years. She resigned herself to a lifetime of coaching and opened Stars Elite Gymnastics Academy in West Haven, Conn., with her husband. It seemed like an appropriate choice. Many gymnasts have pursued coaching after they stopped competing in their late teens.

But upon hearing that a former Cuban teammate was still competing after having a son, Hatch decided it was time to perform again.

"The Olympics are just icing on the cake," Alan Hatch said. "It really wasn't for the Olympics that she came back. It wasn't for any other competition. It was mainly for the fun of it. That's why she came back."

But returning as a competitor wasn't so simple. Cuba used a 10-year commitment she signed at age 14 to keep her from competing at the world championships in Hungary in 2002 -- after Hatch had been training for more than a year.

International Gymnastics Federation rules were on Cuba's side. They say an athlete's former country must give permission to compete for a new nation in the first 12 months after the athlete gains citizenship. Hatch's commitment didn't expire until December 2002.

So Hatch didn't perform again until the 2003 American Cup in Fairfax, Va., when she roared back with a fourth-place finish in the all-around. If an entire country couldn't keep her down, the competition in gymnastics certainly wouldn't either.

Despite the rocky relationship she has had with her homeland, she still loves Cuba. Her parents, two brothers and sister still live there.

"Definitely, I feel proud about who I am and where I come from," Hatch said. "This is what America is all about. Everybody comes from everywhere."

But her relationship with Cuba has left a wound.

"That is another time," Hatch said when asked if there was any lingering hurt. "I'm over with that, and I'm thinking about the future."

Helping the United States win a gold medal might provide some salve. The Americans, the reigning world champions, didn't perform especially well in qualifying Sunday, finishing with 151.848 points, behind Romania's 152.436. China was third at 151.085. The finals are Tuesday.

Although Hatch was added to the U.S. team because of her proficiency in the vault, she posted mediocre scores of 9.387 and 9.450 on her two vaults.

"She could do better," said team coordinator Martha Karolyi. "That's honest. She has the ability to do it. I think the next day of the competition, I am expecting her to do it. She is probably the best in the world at what she does. But she had trouble with her landings."

It seems landings are Hatch's specialty.