CLEVELAND -- Annia Portuondo-Hatch is caught between two countries.

The gymnast is a U.S. citizen. She's married to an American and has lived and worked in this country for five years. Cuba, though, still has a claim to her and refuses to let her go.

The conflict will probably be resolved in time for the 2003 world championships and the 2004 Olympics. In the meantime, Portuondo-Hatch is content to compete nationally.

She's expected to contend for a medal at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships when the women's competition begins Thursday night.

"We have to wait until December,'' said Alan Hatch, her husband and coach. "But after December, they can't hold us.''

Born and raised in Cuba, Portuondo-Hatch won that country's first world championships medal, a bronze in the vault in 1996. She met her husband the following February, when the Cuban national team and Hatch's club were both in Puerto Rico for exhibitions.

She retired in 1997, and the couple married later that year. In 1998, she moved to West Haven, Conn., where Hatch runs a gymnastics school, the Star Academy.

"I didn't even speak English!'' Portuondo-Hatch said, laughing.

She began teaching, never giving competition a second thought. But last year, almost four years after what she'd thought was her final meet, she got that old itch again.

"A friend had a son and she started competing again,'' said Portuondo-Hatch, who turned 24 in June. "I said, 'I guess I'm still in shape,' so I started competing, too.''

Her husband was stunned.

"I first couldn't believe it, because I knew how she felt in '97,'' Hatch said. "She told me, 'I think this is my last one, I really don't want to compete anymore.' But I supported her 100 percent.''

Portuondo-Hatch began training in May 2001, slowly working herself back into shape for elite-level competition. She didn't start with any big goals because she and Hatch had no idea how far her comeback could go.

"We were just going into competing to just have fun and see what she could do with it,'' Hatch said. "We knew she could do well, but we didn't expect her to do as well as she has.''

In March, she finished first on the vault at the American Classic and fifth in the all-around. Then, last month, she pulled off a stunning upset, beating national champion Tasha Schwikert at the U.S. Classic.

"She's not even in top form yet. We're still improving the skills she can do,'' Hatch said. "This year is more of a practice year for us. We're still testing the waters.''

They don't really have a choice. Though Portuondo-Hatch hasn't competed for Cuba since 1997, she only became a U.S. citizen in December. Under International Gymnastics Federation rules, in the first 12 months after getting citizenship, an athlete's former country can block him or her from competing for the new country.

The United States has asked Cuba to release Portuondo-Hatch, but Cuba has refused twice.

If Cuba continues to refuse after the year is up, USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi said the United States will petition the FIG's executive council for Portuondo-Hatch to be allowed to compete for her new country.

"Nothing is automatic,'' Colarossi said. "But I would expect they would look very favorably on her situation. She hasn't competed for Cuba for six years.''

Portuondo-Hatch will probably have to sit out the individual event championships this fall, but it's next year that's the key. The world championships are in Anaheim, Calif., and the meet is a qualifier for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"I don't see it as a setback because we'll still be training for other championships and other competitions,'' Hatch said.

Still, it will be nice when all of the political red tape is out of the way.

"It will be really exciting,'' said Portuondo-Hatch, who travels to Cuba to see her family without any problems. "Just to become an American and say I'm an American, it's something different for me.

"I'm not only doing it now for myself, I'd be doing it for my country. To do well would be great.''