Much of the reason why I love Chinese gymnastics boils down to amplitude and extension. Thankfully these days we are seeing more expressive floor routines and much more effort being put into choreography. This is a direct and welcome result of the heavy artistry deductions in the code. Likewise the skill cap (i.e the exact opposite of the bars and beam routines from 2005-2008 giving these gymnasts a weighted advantage) and the devaluing of vault (goodbye 6.5 amanar of the following quad after that giving USA a huge boost) has meant that execution is more important now in holding on to valuable tenths. Not that the race for higher d-scores or racking up connection bonus are no longer things, but certainly there is a greater emphasis now on cleaning up routines than there has been in the past under this code. You tend to hear a lot more 'getting back into the gym to clean up my routines' now than 'I'm so happy I hit 4 for 4'. Several countries such as Netherlands, Belgium etc. are making names for themselves for expressive, intricate choreography and there is beautiful execution to be found in abundance in every federation, even the *gasp* power gymnast strongholds of the USA and the UK. But amplitude and full extension as a trait is harder to find. Thankfully, that's where China step in.
Of course, there are several gymnasts with great amplitude on vault. And floor. Simone Biles exemplifies this, driven from the technical perfection she displays. And there are gymnasts with flighty bars elements and nice, high beam layouts. McKayla Maroney of all people had an extremely high and flighty geinger which was a thing of beauty. But many powerhouse gyms and gymnasts fall flat when it comes to amplitude on beam and bars. Too often we are seeing beams with difficult tumbling ruined by weak leaps, low landings and bad toepoint. Bars with release moves and difficult transitions in combination can often suffer from flexed feet and legs apart that quickly destroy the overall beauty. A routine that has it all is to be prized.
Back to beam; there are many beam layouts in particular as a skill example worthy of devaluing. If it's not piked down and legs are together I'll like it but if it flairs or opens out I LOVE it. Similarly, I'll take a springy well-executed leap series with a wobble than a perfectly landed one with anaemic leaps. BHS-LOSO-LOSO is one of my favourite beam series and its popularity and popularity in the past does not in any way diminish it for me. If the legs are straight and toes pointed I am delighted but it's so much better if the chest is upright between landing skills and if a split or near-split is achieved. It seems that these days the emphasis in a series like that is solely on keeping it clean and in line with the beam and quick enough for credit but that the emphasis on making those skills individually beautiful or noteworthy is gone.
Jordyn Wieber BHS -
Deng Linlin BHS - from decencybedamned tumblr
Deng Linlin layout - copyright inside gymnastics
Ragan Smith layout - copyright ocregister
Tan Sixin YOG 2010 is poetry in motion. Beautiful leap miles above the beam and what a line on bars. Taken from pinterest
Seeing Kui Yuanyuan lose sight of the beam and wobble slightly on a layout full in combination because she had flown into the rafters with it is an absolute joy to me. That is a skill that to this day is rare and even then with questionable body position. And of course, the beam of the 80's and 90's was less springy than it is now. Think about the hype that Nia Dennis, Morgan Hurd, Gabby Douglas and Viktoria Komova get/got for landing their standing fulls/arabians in an upright position. It just looks so much more impressive. But it's not just the acro, I live to see leap series, straddles especially, with big amplitude. Leaps are of course where things like extension become more noticeable too.
Yep, the beam final that Gina Gogean won
There are pretty layouts and then there's this
Russian gymnasts can show some beautiful extension but pale in comparison to the overall extension-amplitude-form-execution of China. Flexed feet are not as glaringly obvious as they have been in quads gone by, existing for the most part on bars and mid-leap. Certainly some countries who are the worst offenders are placing emphasis on toepoint and maintaining it throughout the routine which is obviously great as flexed feet are very jarring and break the line. But true and proper extension cannot be tacked on at a later stage and must be cultivated from a young age. i.e programmes must incorporate it from the very beginning.
copyright - getty images
Olga Mostepanova had extension in spades. The reason why her split handstand sequence at the beginning of her beam stands out so much and also looks markedly different to other variations of it we have seen since is because it is perfect. Her toes are not just pointed, they are in a perfect line extending from the hips and through the knee. This is of course most often seen in ballet where it is essentially a requirement but was gloriously common in gymnastics throughout the 80's and 90's. Olga fully deserved that perfect 40 for the sublime perfection she brought to the sport.
Fan Ye extension for days - copyright getty images
Extension extends (haha..) itself to bars too. A perfect bodyline is most obvious in handstand with the dead straight line going from wrists through shoulders, hips and knees to toes. It should stay the same throughout giants excepting clearing the bar or tap swings and pirouetting skills. Most gymnasts have a straight upper body by the virtue of being in the handstand position at all and straight legs/toes but the vast majority are not fully extended at the hips. This can sometimes be obvious as a slight pike position is seen in profile or less so in that the position seems straight but is nevertheless not fully extended so the line isn't as good as it could be. Note the 2008 bars final as a classic example. He Kexin and Yang Yilin had perfectly extended pencil-like straight form throughout their routines. Liukin also exhibited a beautiful bodyline and showed it especially through her pirouettes just like the other two but her line is lacking the tension and total core tightness of the others.
He Kexin - copyright intlgymnast
Nastia Liukin - taken from alibaba
The extension is what makes sets Chinese barwork apart. It will always have that edge over Russian or any other standout routine as a result even if it has other flaws (we all really love dead hangs). It adds a cleanness, precision and sharpness to each skill. Watching a shaposhnikova with arms extended regrasp and turn precisely into the next skill is thrilling, as is seeing a pirouette snap back into position after the rotation. It's as noticeable to me compared to a less-tight routine as the difference between Madison Kocian's and Viktoria Komova's inbars i.e. they look like different skills.
It's not that I don't see the absolutely massive flaws and problems Team China is dealing with. They overemphasise bars and beam to the detriment of other events, they are still dealing with filtering for body type, they don't have the conditioning of certain other federations and they will never challenge for gold without being able to field solid DTY's and strong floors. There are no Cheng Fei's climbing through the ranks and although they do have talent on vault/floor it's not enough and it's not present in their AA gymnasts. I will enjoy watching a floor routine with beautiful leaps, turns and execution but if it's coming from a top 4 nation and it's another triple full-double tuck-2.5 twist derivative....I have no patience for that. I can't root for 5.3 or worse floors being fielded as some of the best on offer and never will.
BUT...by god do they do the other events in such style. I can't not be excited at seeing such dedication to the form and the finesse of the skill that they have always and continue to show in their work. Not that there aren't form issues amongst their ranks but as a whole they are carried by beautiful extension, amplitude and execution. China need to go more mainstream. We know the names of the top gymnasts in the rest of the top 4/5 countries and it's not just language barrier/different social media that's the issue. There's a general lack of interest or some inherent dislike and when these gymnasts are performing such beautiful gymnastics it's a crying shame. The age scandals (which I absolutely could not care less about as they only rear their head when there's a significant threat of the US being beaten) seem to have cast a lingering shadow over Team China. More accessible than ever on youtube, these girls need to be celebrated more. GO CHINA!!
There's something so impressive about watching a thrilling routine from the past and absorbing the fact that the gymnast wasn't even of age at the time. Personally, while I don't condone breaking the rules, I don't allow it to taint or spoil the enjoyment of the routine in any way as political decisions were and are nothing to do with the gymnast themselves. The below either admitted themselves or were categorically found through investigation to fall below the age limit at the time.
Lavinia Agache - Romania
Copyright - Tom Theobald
Lavinia competed at the age of 13 at worlds 1981, with her date of birth altered from 1968 to 1967. Interestingly, she also competed at the junior gymnastics championships in Japan the same year. She came into her own when she was actually a senior later that quad, but still managed to shine at such a young age, with super strong beam and floor routines in typical Romanian fashion. Not elegant, but very energetic and fun to watch with some nice original elements thrown in. Lavinia was somewhat overshadowed by teammate Ecaterina Szabo but was a great gymnast in her own right and was a solid contributor at worlds 1983 and the Olympics the following year.
Olga Bicherova - USSR
Source- gymnast.bplaced.com
Olga is one of the better known underage gymnasts, having won the 1981 worlds AA with an altered date of birth. She had an abundance of the qualities that made Soviet gymnastics great, displaying fabulous extension, form and elegance - with a mature ease far beyond her years. A true all-arounder. Her win drew criticism thanks to her baby face, especially from the US who also mention Lavinia and others (unproven), but reserve the focus for the winner, of course. Olga competed through the rest of the quad and beyond successfully despite the killer depth, but was a victim of the Olympics boycott like so many others.
Kim Gwang Suk - North Korea
Kim is without doubt the youngest gymnast ever to compete at worlds. Her exact age when she emerged as a senior at 1989 worlds is not known, but she may have been as young as 9 or 10. 4'4, she unleashed the counter-Kim or Marinich, a ridiculously hard release and in combination that only a handful have competed. Her bar routine is one of my all-time favourites and she also had some quite nice work on beam. She competed through to 1992 Olympics as the reigning bars world champion and Detective FIG only managed to nab her when her federation submitted her as being 15 for 3 years in a row in the early 90's. Which is still mind boggling, at least put some effort into the swindle! Kim fell off the radar after a ban was imposed, which is tragic as she would definitely have had a good few years left had she hypothetically remained healthy.
Yang Yun - China
Copyright- AP/Amy Sancetta
Yang Yun, the beautifully classic performer, was a complete surprise when she admitted on state TV that she was 14 in Sydney as she always looked very mature and older than 16, certainly older than teammate and fellow underager Dong Fangxiao. Yang was a beauty to watch on all 4 events, even vault (watch this immediately) and was particularly stunning on beam also where she displayed fabulous originality with gorgeous lines and extension. Sadly she fell in the Sydney AA which she would have won otherwise (after Raducan's score was officially wiped) - although her admission of her age though dismissed by the FIG on investigation would have rendered that a controversial win also. Yang did manage to pick up bronze on bars but sadly disappeared off the scene nearly as quickly as she arrived onto it, the Olympics was her sole competition of note.
Olga Mostepanova - USSR
Copyright - Tom Theobald
Olga is IT as far as the personification of Soviet gymnastics is concerned - although sadly majorly lacking in the medals to prove it. One of the greats, who would have won all around her in LA 1984 Olympics (instead racking up perfect 10's at Olomouc), Olga was underage during the competitive season of 1983. An accomplished all-arounder, she was best known for her stunning beam, complete with that press handstand mount. Her extension stood out even amongst her teammates which is saying a lot. Of all of the gymnasts and other athletes screwed by the 1984 Olympics boycott, it seems like a particularly heinous crime in her case, especially as she peaked that year and wasn't quite the same at worlds the following year.
Gina Gogean - Romania
Gina is remembered for a few things- somewhat safe routines (although she was not always boring) and collecting quite the stack of medals during deep quads, but competing underage in 1992 is not one of them. Her super lengthy career started off on murky terms, being officially too young during the Barcelona Olympics. At this point of her career she was far from the star of her team. Despite competing strongly at Euros that year, she failed to make much of an impact at the games. Not that she was long developing into a strong all-arounder with multiple titles under her belt with the sole exception of, big surprise, uneven bars. A big help in her super consistency during her senior career was the unfortunate killing off of more difficult and unusual elements she had as a junior. Being boring really paid off for her!
Alexandra Marinescu - Romania
Alexandra, after huge success as a junior, had the great misfortune to a) be hyped as the next Nadia Comaneci and b) to be pulled from the AA at Olympics and worlds, the only two big competitions she competed at, in favour of teammate Simona Amanar. To be individually picked out for hype when she had such giants of accomplished teammates as Gina Gogean, Simona Amanar and Lavinia Milosovici shows
how promising she was. Lacking the powerhouse tumbling of the others,
she stood out for her elegance instead, with beam being her best event.
The fact that her career was so short, especially when they went to the
effort of changing her age in the first place is a tragedy, as is the
fact that her name was blackened when the reason given for her forced
withdrawals from the AA was that she was a poor worker.
Dong Fangxiao - China
Dong was another gymnast who had overshadowing gymnasts on her team to compete alongside with, in this case the likes of Ling Jie and Liu Xuan and the less accomplished but outstanding Yang Yun and Kui Yuanyuan. Dong was more of a team player than a star in her own right, but was a good all-arounder and strong on floor. Her investigation stripped China of their 1999 and 2000 team medals.
Hong Su Jong - North Korea
Copyright - Thomas Schreyer
Hong Su Jong is the infamous gymnast whose age falsification earned North Korea such a lengthy ban that they missed the London Olympics. Before the federation ban, she also earned a suspension for the use of Furosemide(a diuretic used to aid weight loss/combat fluid retention...which is downright odd in those circumstances when I type about it all the time in the context of cardiac babies!). Controversy aside, Hong was an extremely talented vaulter for which she earned silver at 2007 worlds, but she was also awesome on bars. Her handstands would earn her quite the battering these days, but such lovely clean work. Hong's career, by contrast to most of those mentioned here, was lengthy - she competed in the 2004 Olympics right the way through to 2010, although she missed Beijing through injury. She was, aside from the originator, one of the first to compete the Amanar vault, bringing it back mainstream along with Shawn Johnson. She is sister to Hong Un Jong who has not been involved in an age controversy. They may be twins, but the latter competed much later than the former.
Daniela Silivas - Romania
Copyright - Ellie Langsley
Daniela Silivas is regarded as one of if not the greatest all-arounders of all time and regularly tops fan polls of favourite gymnasts. Her battle during the 1988 Olympics AA with Elena Shushunova is legendary and thrilling to watch but....Daniela began her career by competing underage during 1985 worlds, at the age of 13. A true all-arounder, she was typical of her nation in that her beam and floor stood out, despite the horrendous choreography meted out to her that year.Super energetic and sparkly, she managed to nab the beam title but didn't come into her own until later in the quad. Certainly she was the best Romanian gymnast of the 80's, and there is seriously stiff competition for that.
It's strange these days to contemplate gymnast's passports and dates of birth being switched and manipulated on the whim of a federation coach. Not that I think the practice has been 100% eradicated (note: I have no interest in suspicions re: named, unproven individuals,ESPECIALLY those concerning a certain team from 8 years ago YAWN), it probably never will be when states like the above still exist and the age restriction remains punitive. Of course, we have no idea of the true extent of age falsification - FIG themselves only uncovered 3 - especially during the 1980's. There is just no way only a small handful of gymnasts competed underage the entire decade. My money is on Romania as the biggest overall offenders, the Karolyi's had no qualms about this practice at the time (despite repeat bellyaching post-defect to the US, which they really have a nerve complaining about every year), and clearly neither did another long-time head coach, Octavian Bellu. They also had much less depth than the super strong USSR (who definitely have several more skeletons in the closet all the same, which coaches have alluded to) and therefore greater motive to bend the rules. They also showed form for skulduggery when they actually had one gymnast impersonate another at a meet in the US in 1981.
Anyway, I'm a big believer in appreciating the performance and the performance only. I find it very sad that there's a lot of people who call themselves gymnastics fans, but who spend far too much time condemning gymnasts from 2 quads ago, and current gymnasts of the same nationality, because why not. If it's really the biggest deal ever to them, then they should also spend their time blackening the names of the likes of Silivas and Gogean too, which will never happen. Nationality (read: of Asian extraction with absolutely zero thought given to the fact that some ethnic varieties have the good fortune to look younger than others with slighter frames to boot) and the identity of who the suspect beats seems to be all important.
Who's your favourite? Does the inconsistency of FIG action and fan reaction annoy you too? Can't we all just get along on the Gymternet? ;)
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'm not one to be nasty about gymnasts. This is more about overblown hype. These girls are talented, but not as much as the hype allows for.
Nastia Liukin
..invented gymnastics if the hype around her is anything to go by. She was the well deserving 2008 AA champion. Nastia is of course famed for her beautiful long lines and extremely difficult uneven bars. Her beam and bars in particular were amazing to watch, especially skills like her Onodi, Ono and Healys which were so well executed. She was not, however, flawless. On bars her cowboyed dismount and bent legs on her giants are obvious, and her artistry is characterised by an uptight upper body and head throw-backs. She's regarded as an excellent dancer by most but her lines carried her and her choreography was dull, empty and stiff. I will also echo the excellent Spanny Tampson in deploring her stupid flexed wrists, which ruined lines. Butt shelves also are not valid choreography but she is of course far from the only culprit there. Nastia DOES deserve her success and was an excellent gymnast still showing several signs of that brilliance today. However her hype detracts from other gymnasts, exhibited by NBC cameras focusing on her face and her dad/coach instead of other routines performed by other gymnasts. Her hype alone got her to Trials, ahead of other gymnasts who performed much better than her. The crazies in the Nastia camp seem to forget that there were gymnasts before Nastia came along, and many were far better, which is not a good thing for gymnastics. I won't even mention her weak vault and floor being made up by her extraordinary bars difficulty as this is the case in general these days, though only in reverse in the US.
Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana's fame has probably been well overtaken by Nastia now, but her dominance for an entire decade was unbelievable. Known interchangeably as the diva and the Queen of the Bars, Khorkina competed in three Olympics, an amazing feat. She was a great gymnast, especially given her height and it is sad that she never clinched the AA gold, especially in 2000 when she was well ahead of her contenders and the vault controversy and the upset of that causing her to fall from bars were the only reasons why she didn't. However, she competed against extremely difficult uneven bar routines like Mo Huilan's and Bi Wenjing's and won every single time, their added difficulty appeared not to matter. Bi did snatch the gold from her, but only in a World Cup. She was also blatantly overscored in the 2004 Olympics to try to get het to win, in order to 'make up' for 2000. This is such BS. 'Making up' to a gymnast score-wise is just ridiculous and I am glad it did not succeed. Khorkina in 2004 was gaunt and emaciated and her gymnastics had deteriorated- Carly well deserved that win. Khorkina's diva attitude and comments such as implying Carly's win was a fix are extremely annoying, I do not like rudeness and egos in any sport. However she clearly had a good side to her, I absolutely loved that she gave up her vault EF place to Zamo- her reaction to Zamo's perfect vault is priceless! She was a strong all-arounder even with her beam and vault getting worse over time, and she did make an impact on gymnastics by altering it to fit her height (especially bars) but I still think her fame in the gymnastics world is a bit over the top.
Mary-Lou Retton
Mary-Lou would never have won the AA had the Olympics been attended by the Soviets. In a way it seems to unfair to cloud her achievement like this but there were at least 5 Soviets who would have beaten her- Olga Mostepanova who achieved 12 perfect 10's at the friendship games that year was a given, but Baraksanova, Shushunova, Illienko, Yurchenko and Frolova would all been frontrunners too, if that many were allowed qualify. Mary-Lou was highly talented, I have no issue with her body-type, it's moreso her form, execution and presentation were wholly eclipsed by other gymnasts of the time. But it's easy to see why there was so much hype around her as the first US AA Olympic champion, it would be odd if it wasn't. The fact remains that she was not up against the best in the world and the hype often forgets that.
That's all I can think of for now. Gymnasts like Shannon Miller, Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci fully deserved the hype that surrounded each, all of them had amazing form, artistry and difficulty. It's harder to think of those that didn't fully deserve all of the hype.
As we all know, the Soviets had an unbelievable depth of talent in the 1980's and early 1990's. Inevitably, plenty were overlooked and never made it to a major international competition and even those that did failed to make an impact. Talent was not a factor- these gymnasts have incredible form, artistry, skill and often extremely high difficulty. Silly mistakes and inconsistency kept them out of the medals and off the radar internationally. Politics also meant that not all received the chance to shine.
Tatiana Lysenko
Tatiana DID make it to several international competitions and she did medal at the 1992 Olympics. Unfortunately silly mistakes kept her from fully realising her potential. She had the potential to take the all-around, and didn't even medal. Her difficulty was astounding, particularly vault where she performed a DTY when everyone else was only doing FTY's. Because they had the same difficulty, Tatian's low landing failed to impress and she was underscored. She could have scored much higher on all of her apparatus if she had kept her difficulty down in favour of stuck landings, but she kept at it. Respect! She was great on all four, even bars which she is not particularly known for. She is certainly known, but definitely underappreciated.
Tatiana Groshkova
Tatiana Groshkova was never chosen to be a part of a major team because of her inconsistency. When she hit, it was incredible. Her beam routine at the 1989 Chuinchi cup is my favourite of all time. Not only was it incredibly difficult with perfect form, it also contained original moves and amazing flexibility moves such as the scale above. Her floor was a work of art, beautiful choreography and dance. The tumbling was not the prettiest but that double full-in has to be seen to believed.
Aleftina Priakhina
Aleftina made it to a Euros, so she was doing better than many of the fantastic unknown Soviets at this time. She had incredible difficulty and was the first to compete a standing full twist on beam AND a double-double on floor, but never made it to a worlds or olympics so neither bear her name. Her beam and bars mount were both very daring, and more associated with Olessia Dudnik. Although her skills and technique were astounding, her form and artistry paled in comparison to others and just like Groshkova, she was lost in the pool of talent. Irina Baraksanova
Irina was a victim not so muchof inconsistency but of politics. Along with Mostepanova and others who had already had a raw deal over USSR boycotting the 1984 Olympics, Irina was pulled from the 1985 Worlds all-around to make way for the big names of Elena Shushunova and Oksana Omelianchik. Her fabulous floor alone, the most balletic I have ever seen and with such gorgeous lines and expression, means she deserves recognition but her other routines are worth a look too, especially her magnificent beam.
I might make a part two of this at a later date, but it is very difficult to find information on some. Some of the gymnasts above might as well have been world-famous compared to some competely unknown but brilliant Soviets!
