I thought I'd share this, and it's not too long. I LOVE seeing an old competition in high quality, and this is perfect. Check out Boriana Stoyanova's leotard! I am in love with it. This video contains Natalia Yurchenko (getting injured..), Boriana Stoyanova, Olga Bicherova, Ecaterina Szabo, Lavinia Agache, Maxi Gnauck, Olga Mostepanova and Hana Ricna.
This is of course extra interesting because it is the worlds before the Olympics boycotted by the Soviet bloc. Not only were the Soviet Union not in attendance the following year, but neither were Bulgaria, Eastern Germany and other states who all had fabulous gymnasts. The idea that Mary Lou Retton would have been able to take AA gold had 84 been fully attended is almost laughable. Olga Mostepanova would have swept the board without a shadow of a doubt. Check out the results from the Friendship Games, where she scored 12 perfect 10's. Friendship Games She scored 10's on every event in the all-around. I know, I know- what about overscoring seeing as she was the favoured gymnast of the Soviet team who couldn't compete in the actual Olympics? But I don't think any of them were undeserved, she was absolutely at her exceptional peak at that time. And WHAT a Soviet team, there's no way they wouldn't have taken team gold either. I do find the boycott annoying still, just for the waste of massive talent that were denied their chance. Anyway, back to drooling over her beam. HD is amazing of course, yet it has a tendency to pick up not so obvious flaws from the traditional bad quality of the same routines- like Maxi Gnauck's flexed feet on bars for instance. Vault scores are slightly hilarious too, with 9.9's and 9.95's being handed out for loss of leg form, seriously deep landings and steps. Still, wonderful gymnasts at these worlds.
And yes, there is no real news to speak of. It appears that nobody was added to camp at the National Camp that is just over. Waiting until January when it's a total neccessity. Don't see any good in drawing it out that long but anyway. Kim Bui of Germany has been added to the line-up of the Stuttgart World Cup, which also contains Elizabeth Price, Vanessa Ferrari, Larisa Iordache, Rebecca Tunney and Victoria Moors. Excellent stuff. Still one place left though. The dream is Mai Murakami but I think Anastasia Sidorova is more likely. Elizabeth price will also comepte at the Glasgow World Cup, also in December. I haven't heard anything about the rest of its lineup though. UPDATE: Glasgow roster released here. It is pretty much the same at this stage, not a surprise as they are so close together both in time and in location. The Price V Iordache battle which I assume will take place as long as Iordache is healthy will be very interesting. It's a very strong field otherwise also. I am now finally employed so won't be posting quite so frequently I'd imagine..but it means I can't go to either, and they are so close to me! Damn...
Silvia Zarzu and Stefanie Stanila of Romania both competed at a gala in France yesterday. Stanila turns senior next year, Zarzu in 2014. Both are definitely ones to watch. Zarzu in particular is one of my favourite juniors, I hope she is able to get her bars to an acceptable level because she looks well capable of a good vault and already has stellar beam and floor sets. (My other favourite juniors are Rebeca Andrade, Eythora Thorsdottir, Maria Kharenkova, Madalina Blendea, Bailie Key, Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles, Maria Bondareva, Lu Jiaqi and Angel Romaeo). Here is Silvia's beam, (can't embed it) nothing else up yet. Extremely solid set, she's very comfortable up there. Hopefully she can get more flow to her movements in time, I doubt upgrades would be an issue.
Silvia Zarzu beam
I also read on triple twist that Ebee will be at the Glascow world cup too. Good for her. im curious to see how the int'l judges scoee her. I like her but I'm starting to wonder if Marta will push her into the background for Simone Biles.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me if Marta waits until Jan to annouce the revised national team but I was hoping to hear something in Kylas upgrades. In my opinion if she doesn't step it up I think Marta won't take her to scam.
Yes, if she has throws her amanar and Larisa doesn't (decent one in training pre-injury), then she should be able to clinch it. Ebee should change citizenship, because despite her talent she doesn't best any of the other US girls either all-around or on any event and it's only going to get worse when the new bunch turn senior. Simone has the better amanar and will probably be able to equal her on floor. Should be interesting!
DeleteI would be fairly certain Kyla is working on upgrades, but it would be very soon for her to showcase them on hard surfaces so I'd be surprised if she did. Certainly she needs quite a few, she should be able to get the new beam connections to work to her advantage.
My knowledge of gymnastics elements is limited but I do wonder what the upgrades will be.
DeleteIts funny because many are thinking that Marta will make Katelyn change her dismount. I personally don't think the dismount is an issue. Her full twist makes me a little nervous and scared that she'll break her neck. I think shes capable of doing two layouts.
If Kyla could do something like a front aerial-Onodi-sheep jump, that would help a lot. And a turn combination, and something like a pike front into Yang Bo. Just lots of little things. On bars a piked Tkachev straight into Pak carries a bonus. I don't see her doing a release combination, but releases straight into transitions carry another bonus. She could do a harder dismount there as well. I don't see her getting back the amanar. It's not really neccessary if she gets the others up to scratch. On floor I'd like to see her doing a triple full-stag leap, a piked full in, a double arabian and a 1 and a half into 2 and a half half front full. She could chuck in a quad turn and a triple-Y turn as well.
DeleteKatelyn's beam is worth 7.2 in the new code with her current dismount, double pike. If she rearranges one of her combinations it's worth 7.3. If she goes back to her old full in dismount it's worth about 7.5. She could probably reqork the interior of the routine more and get it up to 7.5 even without going back to her old full in dismount.
This blog is fantastic! And wow, the 1983 Worlds. I also remember being unimpressed with the vaults but I often wonder if the judges were trying to make up for Stoyanova's bronze at the 1983 European Chps. where she finished 3rd in vault finals but IMO should've clearly won. Stoyanova was in fantastic form throughout 1983 but never really showed that again afterwards. I also enjoy watching Lavinia Agache and of course Mostepanova. I also wonder what gymnasts like Baraksanova and Shushunova could've accomplished if the boycott hadn't happened in 1984.
ReplyDelete