Khorkina..."Wuz Robbed" ???

Well said, Eliza, and ITA. I can understand Khorkina's frustration; she's always been different. But she certainly picked the wrong time to be different with her mouth. Sveta could have gone out of these games a queen, with people remembering her grace and innovative moves done with a body meant more for Rhythmic Gymnastics than Artistic Gymnastics. I've been such a fan of hers. I wish she would have let her gymnastics do the talking. What a shame.
Rgirl

I respect her longetivity in the sport, but she has some maturing to do. Sticking her tongue out was a little brash.

I think Pavlova deserved silver and Khorkina no better than bronze...
She's won so many titles despite falling on vault, sloppy and slow routines on beam and cheated tumbling on floor that she's not used to not being overmarked. I admire her longevity but her attitude and self-indulgent comments throughout the years make her one of my least favorite gymnasts. Honestly, if she had been 20cm shorter, with those routines, i don't believe she would have had more than 4 or 5 international medals (all on bars) to this day...Her success is not her fault, but her arrogant attitude is. You shouldn't get points for being tall and thin miss Khorkina, and if you start marking comps on "grace, elegance and beauty" rather than on tumbling, why not just take part in those fitness world champs that they broadcast on eurosport.
Anyway, some have grace, beauty and elegance AND tumbling:how Khorkina can claim that Ponor has "no sparkle" is beyond me.

Sour Grapes....

SK behaved badly, especially considering she is a "senior citizen" in this sport for the young - most of her competition probably spent years looking up to her before only one of these youngsters, Carly, kicked her a$$ this year.

If you can't deal emotionally with a subjectively judged sport - for better or for worse - then put on a pair of sneakers and run the marathon. No question there about who crosses the finish line first.

A side note from my husband - after seeing SK in her leotard, who in the world would pay $ for a nude photo? He says "we've got plenty of fence posts in our own back yard I can see for free."

DG

Originally posted by Doggygirl

A side note from my husband - after seeing SK in her leotard, who in the world would pay $ for a nude photo? He says "we've got plenty of fence posts in our own back yard I can see for free."

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Absolutely.

Koroleva said:

Absolutely.

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Just of a lower placement than what she actually received, IMVHO.

euterpe said:

For years, Olympic ice dancing and pairs had been won only by Russians and from the cheating scandals it seemed the Eastern bloc judges were committed to keeping that status quo.

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That is a very unfair statement because the Soviet (and later Russian) skaters were superior in the pairs and ice dance disciplines, and that is why they won consistently (not due to bloc judging). In the singles disciplines they were never dominant, and they did not win that often. Of course in these disciplines nobody is saying that skaters from USA or GBR won because of western bloc judging! In fact in the mens discipline, Petrenko was the first man from the former Soviet union to win an Olympic gold. The reason their athletes did not win that much after the breakup of the Soviet union was that the talent pool became smaller and the government support (monetary) for sports disappeared. Some hopefuls might have thought the athletes would crumble right away but it took some time, because many of the young athletes had trained in the Soviet system, upto that point, and they continued to excel. There was also the matter of cultural pride. So the breakup of the USSR did not impact the results immediately but we are starting to see it now. Even now you do see some talented athletes, and they take pride in their tradition. The number of top athletes has decreased - we no longer see the Russians in a position to sweep the podium, but they have at least one medal contender in each discipline. There still are those who are capable of winning, and they have a very competitive attitude. They expect to win on their own merits and not due to some Soviet entitlement. Khorkina was a top gymnast, and I don't believe she expected someone to just hand her a gold medal. She was bitter no doubt, and unsportsman like, but I see it as an individual reaction. I would not generalize it to include all Russian athletes.