tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post5634813161239130873..comments2024-02-11T01:11:11.604+00:00Comments on Beautiful Gymnastics: Celebrating Underage SuperstarsBeautiful Gymnasticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00935698970163328051noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-7229682702370802242019-10-23T04:21:40.509+01:002019-10-23T04:21:40.509+01:00Did you know that Eugenia Golea age was falsified ...Did you know that Eugenia Golea age was falsified from 1971 to 1969. I only just found that out when the commentator said she was was 19 years of age, when she was actually 17 years of age.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05456318563699204218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-56423774961377477142016-01-28T23:55:37.337+00:002016-01-28T23:55:37.337+00:00Thanks for posting that Kim ub routine. That is s...Thanks for posting that Kim ub routine. That is so original and risky. I hope FIG will start reward these routines more instead of the constant transition-fest that we are now seeing from everyone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-60026518938559457392016-01-22T22:23:40.039+00:002016-01-22T22:23:40.039+00:00I agree with the age limit to being 15. Maybe 14 ...I agree with the age limit to being 15. Maybe 14 years old would be too young, but there are a bunch of 14 year olds, especially in the U.S., who are capable of performing immense difficulty like I remember Lexie Priessman doing some high difficulty work and also Sae Miyakawa back in 2013 when she already had the front layout, dbl front on floor and the double layout. So some athletes can handle that pounding for sure, but I agree that back in the day the 10 score system did prevent younger gymnasts from "killing" themselves. <br /><br />I loved the 90s-2000s era, especially 96-00 when we saw the likes of Produnova, Khorkina, Amanar, etc. I thought it was the best quad in terms of combining the past with perfect form and execution (they stuck so many landings in the Olympics) and the future with difficult skills being done (who could forget Maloneys passes on floor). The Sydney Olympics, even though it was the Olympics, really tainted that quad with all of the controversies surrounding it, but nonetheless a great time for gymnastics. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-90489978383783924222016-01-22T21:42:56.058+00:002016-01-22T21:42:56.058+00:00They had a LOT of fabulous gymnasts in the 90'...They had a LOT of fabulous gymnasts in the 90's and early 2000's, but she really did stand out - her and Mo Huilan are my favourites. Her vaults are just ridiculous, I remember being floored the first time I saw them. Floaty vaults, especially FTY's in the early 90's were ten-a-penny but they were so much more than that - really, really stunning. I fully agree she had everything going for her - except a career or any longevity! Such a shame. I'd kill to have years and years of her to look back on.<br /><br />Bahaha, those Olympics were a trainwreck. The funny thing is that they were the first gymnastics competition I ever saw (I was rooting for Raducan over Khorkina and thought that the vault was some sort of a long jump) and all of the weirdness of the AA went over my head completely.<br /><br />I think there's a case to be made for lowering the age limit, to 15 anyway. I wouldn't be overly comfortable with it going lower because of the demands of difficulty on a growing body. These days, there's less motivation to use underage gymnasts - of course, there will always be girls who peak and are screwed by their birth year, sometimes just by a matter of days or weeks but just in terms of difficulty - the sport has advanced so much and it takes times and more body mass to build up the difficulty and to sustain the pounding. Beautiful Gymnasticshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00935698970163328051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-31188074133049532372016-01-22T21:04:57.469+00:002016-01-22T21:04:57.469+00:00I loved your inclusion of Yang Yun on this list; s...I loved your inclusion of Yang Yun on this list; sadly, the age controversy will forever taint her legacy, but she was the one that stood out for me at the 2000 Olympics. <br /><br />I remembered watching her vaults on TV and just being floored at how beautiful it was. It was not gymnastics, but was art in motion and she excelled on the other apparatus in other ways too. Don't get me wrong, I think Raducan was a very talented gymnast too, but Yang Yun had the complete package. Her bars were floaty and effortless, beam was beautiful and had gorgeous lines, and then her floor was more of a performance (wasn't it mentioned by someone that it was based off of a Chinese Opera??).<br /><br />I was gutted when she fell off the beam in the AA and so many other things like the vault being low, Svetlana falling on bars, Karpenko tripping, etc. There were some many wrong things at those Olympics.<br /><br />But in regards to the age limit: I don't agree with the Chinese going against the rules and using underage gymnasts but on the other hand, if you have gymnasts who are underage, but are capable of being among the best in the world, why shut them out and tell them that they have to wait 4 more years at their chance to compete at the Olympics? How do we know that they will be at the same level 4 years from now? So for me it doesn't make sense. At least bring it down to like 14 (they obviously didn't have a problem with that in the past).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-16184399295763103392016-01-22T20:49:00.826+00:002016-01-22T20:49:00.826+00:00I'm not sure which drives me up the wall more,...I'm not sure which drives me up the wall more, body type bias or age controversy suspicion/condemnation of gymnasts without proof though of course there's big crossover between the two! <br /><br />While searching stuff for this, the sheer amount of big media types covering China's controversy in 2008 is absolutely ridiculous and so many of them in a hysterical 'The US have been deprived of medals' note. Depressing stuff. <br /><br />I can't wait to read it! It's just so frustrating when having a preference turns into such a negative, critical mindset. I know I've ranted with reference to it but not exclusively. I'm sure it will burst out at some point. Beautiful Gymnasticshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00935698970163328051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287202282884938977.post-75363351793329459182016-01-21T19:58:07.452+00:002016-01-21T19:58:07.452+00:00Fabulous list. My heart will always belong to Sili...Fabulous list. My heart will always belong to Silivas and Mostepanova, two of my favorite gymnasts of all time. Bicherova falls into the category of underrated Soviets. She, along with Davydova, are highly accomplished and not unknown but tend to be curiously overlooked by fans. Ah, and you are so right about the subtle racism and unfair suspicion cast upon Chinese gymnasts! I'm actually working on a two part post about body bias and one will be about the way the media vilifies Chinese gymnasts. The Karolyi's are full of shit in this regard. Fucking hypocrites. I absolutely agree that it is ridiculous and not to mention tragic that fans get so hung up on age-controversies to the point that they cease to appreciate the great gymnastics these girls gave us. Novemberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06801480064430018702noreply@blogger.com