Favorite gymnast (lady)

[Vash01]

Gymanstics are more current. Skating is getting a bit boring, without the competitions. Who is your favorite woman gymnast (past or present)?

 

[Piel]

I've got to go with local gal MARY LOU. She has represented the sport well and has gone on to excell at the most important job in the world.........being a MOM.

 

[Isabelle]

My 2 favs aren't on there. (Dominique Moceanu and Lilia Podkovayeva)

 

[BronzeisGolden]

I always loved Shannon Miller. She seemed so down to earth and I was proud that an American girl finally stepped up and became a viable (and reliable) World contender (no boycotts, etc). She also was brilliant on the beam...which is probably my favorite apparatus! Others I loved from the past: Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou, Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow

Present favorites: The entire U.S. team (particularly Humphrey & Hatch...way to go!), Carolina Ponor, Svetlana Khorkina (pre-2004 Olympic appearance)...and probably the entire Chinese team.

 

[Kasey]

Silvia Mitova and Henrietta Onodi....but of those listed, it probably would have been Boguinskaya.

Kasey

 

[Fossi]

I don't like that bratty Russian girl that whined for not winning. Is that behavior really acceptable in Russia? What is wrong with them? I remember Irina doing the same thing at SLC when Sarah won FAIR AND SQUARE. Their anti-Americanism probably cost them many fans.

 

[Kathy]

Nadia - I don't think there will ever be another like her.

 

[Vash01]

I have only heard of Nadia and Olga (Korbut), but never watched them. That is why I left them off the list.

 

[hockeyfan228]

My favorites are tied between Vera Caslavska and Ludmilla Turischeva. I also like Nellie Kim a lot, but she was more of a specialist. Of the more recent gymnasts listed, it's a tie between Shannon Miller and Svetlana Khorkina.

 

[Kathy]

If you never saw Nadia's 7 perfect 10's you really have missed something. She was abosolutely amazing. Her performances looked effortless, as second nature as walking. While the tricks they do today are I'm sure more difficult, I have never seen anything that approaches the "perfection" she displayed during those Olympic's. She was only 14, 86 lbs, and had an innocence that was so refreshing, she seemed to have no idea how amazingly she performed - all in a days work. The whole world fell in love with her that day. I have compared every gymnast to her that I have seen since, and while many are great, I have never seen anyone that performed like she did. I kept thinking that there would be the "next" Nadia, but I've come to believe there never will be. She was one of a kind.

 

[RealtorGal]

Forever Olga Korbut. She popularized the sport like no one else has ever done. (Then Nadia advanced the sport like no one had done beforehand.)

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I missed Nadia Comanice on the list. She is to Gymnastics as Sonia Henie is to figure skating, imo.

And Vash, I agree with you on skating being boring without competitions.

Joe

 

[Eliza]

I voted for Shannon Miller. Constitant & elegant.

Also like Boginskaya, she always had really interesting floor exercises.

Favorite not mentioned - Comanechi

Favoriite from these Olympics - Ponor from Romania - My two favorite women's routines from Athens were her beam & floor.

Eliza

 

[Fossi]

I watched the Nadia movie once when it was on HBO. It was an older movie, and they showed an actress doing her routine. I wish it was the real Nadia and her competition. Anyone know how we could get a copy of this? I know she was amazing and everyone just fell in love with her.
Hers is a great story.
I saw her with Katie Couric and Today, and she is beautiful.

 

[Kathy]

I too really wish I had a tape of Nadia's Olympic performances, and would be interested if anyone knows how to get one. I remember watching her in awe during those Olympics, as if it was yesterday. She was so incredible that the image of her performing on bars, the floor and the beam is still etched in my brain. It would be such a treat for those of you who never saw her to be able to see what she did.

 

[Sk8n Mama]

Lilia Podkopaeva (sp?)

 

[Vash01]

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.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

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

 

[IDLERACER]

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.

 

[Germanice]

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