Gymnastics: The Women | Golden Skate

Gymnastics: The Women

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I've only seen one rotation so far (bars) but the U.S. women look very strong and determined. :love:
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I thought the US ladies were really good, although they made a few small mistakes. Then I watched the Romanians and they looked better. The Chinese looked very good, but not as good as the Romanians. I did not get to watch all the rotations of the Chinese. The Russians are in the mix but NBC showed only 2 routines. They are nowhere as good as they used to be- so we are told, but how would we know if they don't show us their performances? Hopefully when the team competition takes place, we will get to see more.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
As a team, I don't think the Americans are at their best. I feel like betting on the Romanians fro the Team Gold.

Joe
 

floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Vash01 said:
I thought the US ladies were really good, although they made a few small mistakes. Then I watched the Romanians and they looked better. The Chinese looked very good, but not as good as the Romanians. I did not get to watch all the rotations of the Chinese. The Russians are in the mix but NBC showed only 2 routines. They are nowhere as good as they used to be- so we are told, but how would we know if they don't show us their performances? Hopefully when the team competition takes place, we will get to see more.


We have blanket coverage here in the UK and saw all of Russia in the first subdivision. They are nowhere near to what they once were. Infact the difference in standards is shocking. Khorkina is clearly the standout and Pavlova looks good. Zamalodchikova looks a bit ragged though.

USA were great until floor and vault where a few errors crept in. If they can hit tommorow night they can win the gold medal. But Romania look very consistent although their bars work sucks :rolleye: I thought the scores for them on this apparatus were a little inflated. But their beam was awesome.

Chinese are fab - watch out for Cheng Fei, she's gonna be a star. But they are just so inconsistent abd beam was a bit of a disaster for them:(
 

Skate Sandee

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Start order for Tuesday:

VT: Patterson, Bhardwaj, Hatch, alt. Kupets
UB: Patterson, Humphrey, Kupets, alt. McCool
BB: Humphrey, Kupets, Patterson, alt. Bhardwaj
FX: Kupets, Bhardwaj, Patterson, alt. Humphrey

www.usa-gymnasticsolympic...notes.html

I'm completely bummed McCool is not doing any! I really thought last night was just some jitters she needed to work out. Especially on the FX. She's such a pretty gymnast to watch with her perfect positions. I hope this isn't a huge mistake on the part of Marta, but I'm not happy about this!
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
That is very surprising about McCool. I think Marta is worried about her state of mind after her mishaps yesterday. She looks tense and even frightened. The others look solid and totally unafraid.
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm bummed about McCool, too. She's got such lovely form, but was not at her best in the qualis. I didn't think the US team looked very solid after bars. The Romanian team looked very, very strong and steady. I don't think the Chinese team should be underestimated.

According to the CBC broadcasters, the three up, three count format will help Russia and other teams that don't have as much depth. I think Khorkina is a goddess, and I hope she hits everything.
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
I've always like Khorkina, but she looks awful! She is skeletal, and her face is so drawn. She looks more like 30 than 25. What has happened to her?
 

VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
euterpe said:
I've always like Khorkina, but she looks awful! She is skeletal, and her face is so drawn. She looks more like 30 than 25. What has happened to her?

Its gotta be the stress. She's basically carrying her team and so much is expected of her.
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Wow, that is such a shocker that McCool is not doing anything! She is a lovely gymnast to watch. But, as someone mentioned above, she did appear to be American team member most effected by the Olympic pressure during the qualies. It may not be the kindest choice, but I hope it will be the wisest.

Romania was exquisite as always, but they aren't unbeatable. The Chinese scared me a bit more! They made mistakes, but they have big tricks and beautiful execution. They could definitely be the surprise of this competition. I have a feeling the U.S. ladies are going to be much more solid on Tuesday night (I hope so anyway!).
 

Piel

On Edge
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Is it just me or do the U.S. ladies appear to be more muscular than the Chinese and Romanians? To me the Chinese and Romanians looked lighter and seemed to move with more freedom than the Americans. The American women looked like they were concentrating so hard on what they were doing their movement appears more deliberate while the Chinese and Romanians just seemed to move through their routines with .....I'm not sure what word I.m looking for here more abandon? :confused: For example in the floor exercise the Chinese and Romanians looked more like dancers tumbling, while the Americans looked like tumblers trying to dance. Did anyone else notice this?
 

VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Piel said:
Is it just me or do the U.S. ladies appear to be more muscular than the Chinese and Romanians? To me the Chinese and Romanians looked lighter and seemed to move with more freedom than the Americans. The American women looked like they were concentrating so hard on what they were doing their movement appears more deliberate while the Chinese and Romanians just seemed to move through their routines with .....I'm not sure what word I.m looking for here more abandon? :confused: For example in the floor exercise the Chinese and Romanians looked more like dancers tumbling, while the Americans looked like tumblers trying to dance. Did anyone else notice this?

Someone I spoke to jokingly said that the American and Australian team looked like could eat the whole Romanian team and half the Chinese. She didn't mean that the Americans were big, but that the Chinese and Romanians were so small. You can see a difference in body types.

I agree with you about the Romanians and Chinese having more abandon in their movements. One American who I felt had great dance movement and abandon was Tabitha Yim. Too bad she got injured before the camp. :(
 

Longhornliz

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Poor McCool!!! She is my absolute favorite. She kinda reminds me of when sasha first hit the scene becuause she is so beautiful to watch and has very polished carraige and technique... but she lacks the age and experience to be a front runner right now. Hopefully in years to come she wont have the same experience as sasha, not quite ever able to close the deal if you know what I mean.
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
All Around & Event Finals:

http://sports.yahoo.com/oly/gymnastics/results?day=15

It seems unfair that Bhardwaj placed 8th and McCool 13th in terms of score placement, but they cannot compete in the All Around because of the ridiculous "only 2 competitors from each country" rule. There are ladies with MUCH lower scores who will get to compete. To me, that's just not a fair competition, when you eliminate some of the best competitors just because someone else on the same team did a bit better. :mad:
 
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Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Piel said:
Is it just me or do the U.S. ladies appear to be more muscular than the Chinese and Romanians? To me the Chinese and Romanians looked lighter and seemed to move with more freedom than the Americans. The American women looked like they were concentrating so hard on what they were doing their movement appears more deliberate while the Chinese and Romanians just seemed to move through their routines with .....I'm not sure what word I.m looking for here more abandon? :confused: For example in the floor exercise the Chinese and Romanians looked more like dancers tumbling, while the Americans looked like tumblers trying to dance. Did anyone else notice this?

Yes, the US ladies did appear more muscular than the Romanians and the Chinese. The latter are naturally smaller. The Romanians in particular appeared more fluid. The Chinese did too, when they were performing well. The US ladies appeared to be more 'thinking' through the routines than just doing them. The dance element was definitely missing and I was disappointed with the choice of music for most of their floor exercise routines. Overall, they did a pretty good job though.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
RealtorGal said:
All Around & Event Finals:

http://sports.yahoo.com/oly/gymnastics/results?day=15

It seems unfair that Bhardwaj placed 8th and McCool 13th in terms of score placement, but they cannot compete in the All Around because of the ridiculous "only 2 competitors from each country" rule. There are ladies with MUCH lower scores who will get to compete. To me, that's just not a fair competition, when you eliminate some of the best competitors just because someone else on the same team did a bit better. :mad:
I think that makes sense if we think of the Olympics as a competition of nations, not of individuals. In ice skating, too, I think that is the difference between the spirit of the Olympic games and that of the World championships.

Mathman
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Mathman said:
I think that makes sense if we think of the Olympics as a competition of nations, not of individuals.
Well, that's why we have the team event. It's also a competition of individuals--supposedly to find the best in the world. How can that be done when some of the best in the world are left out because of a technicality? :confused:
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
RealtorGal said:
Well, that's why we have the team event. It's also a competition of individuals--supposedly to find the best in the world. How can that be done when some of the best in the world are left out because of a technicality? :confused:

Did they trim the number of gymnasts? I remember in 1996, the top THREE from each nation get to compete.
 
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