Elena Abrashitova, USSR Nationals, 1990
These days, we see a lot of ungraceful low to beam which looks like it's flung in against the gymnast's will. There are exceptions of course, but it's still an area that needs attention. Instead of being an important link in the flow of a beam routine, it's now seen as an inconvenient break to the upping of d-scores with acro skills. Not of course that that is the fault of individual gymnasts, it's just lamentable that this is the direction beam routines are taking.
Why this particular low to beam? Because it combines three of my favourite beam skills, Korbut flip, Valdez into back hip circle. Also because I see it as a valid low to beam now in this code, it's not particularly time consuming, risky or something that only a few can master. Korbut flips are amazingly still quite common these days, forty years after their inception, but the other two are about as common as an acrobatic bars mount. Just a great combination.
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