WOW! An unknown, presumably Soviet gymnast judging by one of the video titles, did a double back off the low bar at least twice in competition- at the 1988 Moscow News and the 1988 Junior European Championships. And successfully landed it, I should add. Almost a quarter of a century ago. I love when you think you have exhausted the treasures of youtube and then something like this hits you in the face. Low bar tricks are not unheard of, at the same time, Yulia Kut was training a Hindorff on the low bar. Predictably, she scraped her legs on the ground and did not compete it- she did warm it up though. Anyway, it's not her. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to know.
I should look up Tatiana Groshkova's teammates under Elvira Saadi..it's not Tatiana, but there was nobody like Elvira for pushing her gymnasts to do mental tricks, and it is the right timeframe. It's very hard though to get information on nobodies who don't even have the underground popularity of Tatiana and Aleftina.
Now for some delightful underrated beam routine, with a total absence of the usual queens- Nadia Comaneci, Olga Korbut, Daniela Silivas, Olessia Dudnik, Yang Bo, Olga Mostepanova, Tatiana Groshkova, Aleftina Priakhina etc. etc. Some of the following girls won Olympic and/or world medals, but you still won't hear of these routines!
Yes, I love her and I prefer her work to that of her superstar teammate and best friend, Nadia. There is something about her. Ahhh the grace, fluidity, extension, 540 degree pirouette handstand and her deep arch in her LOSO's. Perfection.
Nobody does back flexibility quite like Irina, check out that reverse planche! Amazing. The rest of the routine is great too of course.
Her low to beam is what stands out to me, but she moves very well here. And a great full-in dismount to boot.
I love a routine where you just know there won't be a hint of a hesitation or wobble. 13 year old Lavinia is masterful here, especially her mount and turn combination. Special mention to her double tuck WITH legs together, when it was common for them to be done with legs shoulder width apart.
Fabulous, she's so floaty. This routine is apparently missing a requirement so was only scored out of a 9.9. Without fully knowing the COP under which is was performed- perhaps the wolf jump was not credited and she lost a leap series if it was needed? Anyway, check out the perfect form in her BHS-LOSO-LOSO-LOSO! And then watch Dawes do the same pass in the same competition. Bleruugh. Gorgeous extension, amazing cradle, difficult dismount. So dissapointed she faded before 96..
Yes I've mentioned her quite a lot. Anyway, here she is on floor in all her glory- perfect precise form, beautiful graceful dance. I can't find myself to care that her difficulty is low. Just a masterpeice. And yes it does beat the various Olympic routines, for me. Her main contenders were Aliya Mustafina, Mai Murakami and Larisa Iordache.
2011- Mariya Livchikova, Ukraine, World Cup- Ghent
Just gorgeous. That double front is truly exceptional. Love her flair and form.
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.
