Lilia Podkopaeva (sp?)
Mary Lou Retton
Carly Patterson
Elena Shushunova
Shanon Miller
Daniela Silivas
Ecaterina Szabo
Svetlana Boginskaya
Svetlana Khorkina
Tatiana Gutsu
Other
Lilia Podkopaeva (sp?)
I wonder if there are old tapes of Nadia and Olga on the internet? I would love to see these two gymansts that everyone seems to talk about.
I agree with someone that said Ponor from this year's Olympics is wonderful. I wish I had more opportunity to see her. I loved her routines in the team competition.
I hadn't watched gymnastics since about 92 because I was tired of watching children injure themselves for the glory of a large, somewhat creepy coach. But while the large, somewhat creepy coaches are still around, WOMEN are now competing and my favorite is Mohini Bhardwaj.
Go Mo!
Laura
Of the ones you've got listed, I vaguely remember Szabo as being the one who started this whole disturbing trend of embedding glitter into her make-up. Ever since, Romanians and Russians have all tended to look like they're covered in nuclear fallout. All I remember about Boginskaya is her crooked yellow teeth. Watching Miller compete against Gutzu was always weird, because they looked like identical twins (and still do, to some degree). Let's acknowledge a major elephant in the room...From the neck up, Khorkina looks like Tweety-Bird. As far as floor exercises go, I always liked Dominique Dawes and the way she always sprung forward again at the end of her tumbling runs. A trick that over the years, has obviously made an impression on frequent rival Mohini Bhardwaj.
No doubt, by countrymiles, Olga, Ludmyla, Nadia ... and Svetlana, of course .. whining or not whining (everyone knows she's right!), who gives a damn!
Anke
Cathy Rigby
Olga Korbet, what a charmer she was! I can still hum her floor exercise music.
BA
Nadia is still my fave of them all. I have her Beam, AB and FX from Montreal on tape as part of a Gynastics doco about Turisheva & Korbut vs Nadia that was aired a few years ago. The audience reaction during her AB routine (the first of her 10 routines) is priceless - you can quite clearly hear the collective gasps as she goes thru her elements (as an aside, Canadian audiences are always good value at a standout performance - the happy squeals of disbelief following Midori's 3T-3T during her FS @ Calgary always brings a smile to my face).
In this doco is Turisheva's famous AB routine from the very first World Cup in London in 1975 when the AB apparatus collapes around her during her dismount, (which she stuck) and she walked off without even a backward glance - what a competitor!!!! I never care much for Kim as a gymnast and as a judge, even less....
I also loved Szabo and Silivas and the exquisite, but almost forgotten Dobre. Does anyone remember Aurelia???
OwenEvans
If you ever get around to making a copy of that tape, I'd love to purchase one from you. I've always wanted a tape of Nadia's Olympic competition. I totally agree with your opinion of her.
Catalina Ponor
I like Svetlana Khorkina too, she should come back to Oly2008 and kick some buts! :D
dunja
I chose other, as Nadia is my favorite gymnast of all time, followed closely by Olga Korbut and Ludmilla T. (I'm not even going to attempt to spell her last name).
I basically like all gymnasts just for having the courage for trying their moves however I have to say that at the moment ,Mohini is probably my fave
Of the ones listed, my fave is Carly Patterson. Of the current crop of gymnasts, I also like Hollie Vise, Nastia Luiken, and Mohini Bhardwaj (who I've been a fan of for a LONG time and whose family still lives in my hometown). But I chose other on this list because my all time fave has got to be Lilia Podkepayeva. She had the tumbling, the elegant balletic dancing, and the beauty to really make a statement in gymnastics. She was wonderful! I am really glad to have her routines from Atlanta 1996 on tape but I would LOVE to have the 1995 Worlds as well when she won the womens' AA there. Anybody have that on tape?! :D
I believe she was banned from judging for a period of time because of her blatant favoritism towards Russian gymnasts.Originally Posted by OwenEvans
I hope she slinks back to Russia never to return to the public sports arena. She's the perfect example of bad sportsmanship.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OwenEvans
I never care much for Kim as a gymnast and as a judge, even less....
I believe she was banned from judging for a period of time because of her blatant favoritism towards Russian gymnasts.
RG, I think you are right. Kim shafted Silivas during the 88 AA comp, allowing Shushunova to claim the gold by the smallest margin. However, IMO, the biggest "wuzrobbed" was Nadia at the 80 O's in Moscow. The AA came down to her final routine on BB, which she nailed except for the slightest balance check. She had previously scored at 9.95 and a 10 on the BB in the Qual and Team comps and only needed 9.9 to win, but, you guessed it, the judges argued/stalled for nearly 30 minutes, just to slow things down so everyone could see what Davydova scored on her final set and work out what was needed to put her in first. Nadia received a 9.85, thanks to 9.8s awarded by Russia and (I think) the GDR for the silver medal.....
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