Any gymnastics fans here? | Golden Skate

Any gymnastics fans here?

Lucy25

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I posted this at the MKF, but I thought there may be gymnastics fans here, too. There was an article in my county paper today about Tatyana Gutsu (She lives here in south eastern Michigan now). She is training for the 2004 Games! She is 27 and has been full training for a while now. Her coach says she has most of her skills back. Even more amazing (or weird, depending on how you look at it) is that she is now an American citizen, so she will be trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials. I do not know how realistic this is, or how she will qualify to go to the trials, but I think it is an incredible story. There is no mention about her going to the Karolyi camps or anything. This article is not online. Tatyana coaches in the area, gives motivational speeches, and has lived here now for many years. I will keep you posted if I see other news.

For those of you who don't know who Tatyana Gutsu is, she edged out Shannon Miller for the all-around gold medal at the '92 Olympics. She was from the Ukraine. (I still say Shannon was robbed)

For those interested, the article was in The Oakland Press (3/3/04).
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I am a casual gymnastics fan. And yes, I remember that Gutsu girl! LOL! Shannon Miller was one of my sentimental favorites because of what took place in Barcelona. The decision for Gold could have gone either way (though I thought Shannon deserved it), and Miller really proved her worth by being so consistent from 93-96. I'm very excited about the Olympics this year and our American team. I watched some of the World Championships and was extremely proud of the U.S. girls. They look strong and I'm sure will come out swinging (or vaulting, or tumbling, etc) in Athens.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
I remember her! Thanks for the info. Gosh, remember her crying and her teammate(Svetlana Boginskaya)hugging her.

Whatever happened to the Magnificient 7? I know Shannon Miller is married.

Whatever happened to Vanessa Atler?

BTW, many elite gymnastic women love figure skating. Shannon Miller learned to skate and from what I read, was a quick learner and very good, so much that she probably couldve done it as her chosen sport.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Wow!!! I remember Tatyana Gutsu. I thought she deserved her win. That's so weird about her trying to make a comeback. I don't watch gymnastics now but is the US team so weak that there is a possibility that she could make the team?

On a gossipy note, remember the girl the Russians pulled out so Tatyana could compete in her place: Rosa Galieva? There's a lot of bad blood between them b/c of that substitution though it's not Tatiana's fault they replaced Rosa.

I saw a recent picture of Tatiana and she looks kind of floozy like. It seems as though she had taken a page out of Nadia's fresh off the boat look and is wearing 80's blue eyeshadow and tight clothes.

Shannon Miller is going to Boston University Law School.
 

Lucy25

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Hey, thanks for replying to my thread. I tend to either kill a thread or start one that goes no where!:laugh:

Soogar - The women's team going into Athens is incredibly strong. It will be very difficult for Tatyana to make the team, unless she is counting on being a specialist. The article did not mention her focusing on one event, so I have no news on that. The article had a picture with her giving a speech and she had her long hair down and was wearing a suit. I did not even recognize her. She looked ver classy in that photo.

I have mixed feelings about the Olympic trials because not all the girls can make the team. For the first time in a while, many very talented girls will have to stay home.
 

Hermione_Granger

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Lucy25 said:
There was an article in my county paper today about Tatyana Gutsu (She lives here in south eastern Michigan now). She is training for the 2004 Games! She is 27 and has been full training for a while now. Her coach says she has most of her skills back. Even more amazing (or weird, depending on how you look at it) is that she is now an American citizen, so she will be trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials.

I can't remember her name, but it reminds me of the
Cuban-born girl who competed in the US Nationals last
year. She's around the same age as Tatyana, give or take
a year or two.
I wish them both and every girl that's trying to get on the
team the best of luck.

As for the original question -- Yes, I love gymnastics. :)


--Hermione
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
^^^You're talking about Annia Hatch who is quite good and if healthy, would be a great asset to the US womens team. She is FAB on the vault where the US gals tend to be weakest. She had a knee injury last year and was one of the World team member injuries in Anaheim. I hope she is healthy again soon! :D

And the US womens team in Athens will just be crazy awesome. We could send TWO entire teams because there are so many talented ladies this time around. What a dilemma! Who do you pick from them all!??! Even the men's team has more depth and experience than its had in quite some time. The gymanstics in Athens is going to be awesome to watch this summer! :D :D :D :D :D

If Blaine Wilson is not healthy enough to compete in Athens, its going to take some therapy for me to recover. :( I SOOO want him to have that team medal that he's worked so hard for all these years and he's helped carry the US mens team for so long. It would just be so sad for him to not be able to be there. :cry:
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Blaine Wilson is still competing? I haven't watched gymnastics since 1996 but I think he was around then.

If Tatyana wants to make a team, why doesn't she try for the Ukrainian team? I have no clue how everything is now but Svetlana competed for Belorussia and Chusovitina competed for Uzbekistan when they were older. What were the team results at worlds for men and women? I did hear that an American guy won the all-around.
 

Spark

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 22, 2003
Gutsu said in an interview that she is an American citizen and would be unable to compete for Ukraine. I don't think she has much of a chance at all, with the depth in US women's gymnastics.

Results from the last world championships can be found here:

http://www.worldchampgym2003.com/results/

Russia isn't nearly as strong this Olympiad as they have been in the past. Tatiana probably would have an easier time trying to qualify for a Soviet country. Ukraine has some talented gymnasts.

Martha Karolyi is the national team coordinator, and I'm getting the impression that she'd rather choose gymnasts that are strong on three or four events than gymnasts who specialize on one or two. I remember her saying she'd like to see Hollie Vise (known as a bar/beam specialist) to improve her tumbling and vaulting.

Vanessa Atler has quit gymnastics. She was not chosen for the Olympic team in 2000 and after doing some touring decided to stay in until 2004. However, she changed her mind after a few months and retired. She has a new website where she keeps a diary of her life after gymnastics and posts letters from fans and poetry she wrote. She also has some video montages of her former career. If you're interested in how she's doing, you can check it out at www.vanessascorner.com
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
That't the reason I stopped watching gymnastics: the Russians aren't producing as many strong gymnasts as before and looking at the scores, the scores are pretty low. I liked it better when they gave more 9.9s... it just seems more rewarding. Plus Australia on the podium? Is that right for ladies team?

I wonder if she could use dual citizenship like other athletes. Daria Grinkova (Katya's daughter) has both US and Russian citizenship.

I'm not sure how Tatiana performs now or even how the code of points is decided, but from what I've seen >=1996, American gymnasts are really boring like the Romanians... cookie cutter gymnastics in that every girl looks the same. I liked the Russians b/c there was lots of diversity on one team and the gymnasts were more innovative (like the Chinese as well) so each girl maintained her individuality. Plus there was a huge diversity in body types on the team verses other teams. I think that diversity is good for gymnastics and Tatiana might be able to bring an individual spark to the team (though I don't think she'll make it).

I would say that even if she was good enough to make the team, they might pull a Kim Kelly on her and not let her on anyway since it appears that the Karolyis will take care of their own gymnasts rather than let an outsider on (esp a foreigner who previously competed against them) , unless Tatiana has some big time coach pulling for her.
 
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Spark

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 22, 2003
Yep, Australia won bronze at worlds last year. Peggy Liddick, who used to coach Shannon Miller along with Steve Nunno, is now the national team coach of Australia. They were expected to contend for a medal at the 2000 Olympics in their home country, but didn't perform very well. I think they've got an even better chance at this year's Olympics. Monette Russo in particular is impressive. She's a young gymnast with a very pleasing style. She came in fourth at the American cup, the best result of any non-American gymnast.

There are many great female gymnasts in the US right now, so the Olympic team will be hard to predict. Carly Patterson will be there as long as she's healthy. Chellsie Memmel probably will be too. Courtney McCool is also looking pretty good right now. They'll probably want Tasha Schwikert for her experience and mental toughness, as long as she keeps it together and doesn't suffer any more problems with injuries. I really don't see any room for Gutsu, with all the talent in the US.
 

Ice Princess

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Country
United-States
gymnastics

I love to watch the gymnastics, too! I was in gymnastics for one year in jr. high school! (and my neice!):D
 

Doggygirl

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Me too!!

I'm a fan of gymnastics just like figure skating!! Can't wait for the games to begin. Lucy 25, thanks for starting this thread!! I know a couple gymnastics links have already been mentioned in this thread. If anyone else knows of other good ones, I would love to get a collection going.

Thanks!

DG
 

aliaschick

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
I am a MAJOR gymnastics fan, but not as much as skating. I don't really think Gutsu will be able to make it b/c the US has so many strong gymnasts, but we will see. Good luck to Tatiana
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I am a fan but not as much as I used to be in the days of Korbut, Turischeva and Comaneci. Those gymnasts had such unique style, something that the extreme difficulty now required of the competitors does not allow to be showcased. Yes, I realize it's a sport. But when all the routines started to look pretty much the same, my interest waned. I'll definitely watch the Olympics and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
 
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