Gymnastics

[swanflake]

With the Olympics are less than a year away, it's just the right time to start talking about the most popular summer Olympic sport.

30 years after Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10.0 brought the sport to the world's attention, the International Gymnastics Federation elected to begin a new era and introduce an open-ended scoring system. The diehard fans have almost unanimously called the new Code of Points to be a disaster, but it's all lost on the ears of the FIG. A sport once defined by elegance, risk, originality, and virtuosity now seems to be a circus of mediocre tricks artlessly packed one after another, and for what seems to be no benefit. But as far as the sport may have fallen, there are still a few gymnasts out there with just enough style and competitive fire to revive our hope that maybe we're not too far from where we started--like Nastia Liukin, Cheng Fei, Isabelle Severino, Yulia Lozhechko, and Alina Kozich. The men's field has adapted better to the new rules, with gymnasts like Yang Wei and Fabian Hambuechen still thrilling the crowds. But can any of them overcome the obstacles the FIG has given them to gain the same legendary status as the greats who came before them?

And then there's the world of rhythmic gymnastics. Sometimes hard for people to take seriously to begin with, the corruption which governs the sport only makes it all the worse. On the other hand, the many soap operas that abound at every turn often work to fuel the the glamour that keeps so many fans intrigued by the glitterati of the sport. But make no mistake--it is a real sport, with real athletes, with real dreams, who get up every morning and do the real work necessary so that someday they might be able to be a champion. Irina Viner is everyone's Wicked Stepmother. Alina Kabaeva, Vera Sessina, and Olga Kapranova are everyone's Ugly Stepsisters. But nonetheless, the finest rhythmic gymnasts in the world still go to every competition carrying the hope that just once they can be Cinderella at the ball. And for Anna Bessonova, it did happen at this year's World Championships, but the Olympic Games is the one event that has come to stand for all of the others. At the ultimate ball next year, can she wear the crown again?

Follow along with me on the countdown to golden hours next year in Beijing, China.

[lyrasilver]

Yay! Gymnastics thread!

I watched coverage of the 2007 Worlds on Youtube - I think it was UK coverage. It was so, so nice to see some gymnasts who weren't American. I also watched the NBC coverage of the Worlds last week - it was almost exclusively US athletes. I just wish our coverage would be as comprehensive as the European coverage.

What does everyone think of Shawn Johnson? The media is touting her as the next it girl, and she seems to have a lot of difficult skills, but I don't know if she's the best gymnast in the whole wide world.

[polygal]

My younger sister coaches gymnastics to level 4 now, and she's got this big binder full of all the code stuff. When she was competing, she was one of the last groups before the new code of points was introduced, and she's complained about how ugly the routines look now compared to 4 years ago.

I hate the women's floor exercise. For something that's supposed to be so graceful, what they call the dance element is atrocious.

[nitenurse]

Is Olga Korbut still teaching gymnastics in the US or am I mixing her up with Nadia?

[fairfox]

I hate the women's floor exercise. For something that's supposed to be so graceful, what they call the dance element is atrocious.

ITA with this. I recently watched the World's for the first time in 5+ years and if anything the floor exercise has gotten even worse, in general. The movements are so jerky and strange - there needs to be more work done on the choreography, imo. A LOT more.

[littleblacksheep]

I love watching rythmic gymnastics. Unfortunately I have to try catch it when at my parent's house as they have the right channel for it, but it is just beautiful and amazing to watch. The skill and precision, combined with elegance is just fascinating. It probably will be the only sport at the olympics that I will sit down and watch, but looking forward to it!

[swanflake]

lyrasilver said:

I watched coverage of the 2007 Worlds on Youtube - I think it was UK coverage. It was so, so nice to see some gymnasts who weren't American. I also watched the NBC coverage of the Worlds last week - it was almost exclusively US athletes. I just wish our coverage would be as comprehensive as the European coverage.

Lyrasilver, you can see the full FIG feeds of the finals for free at WCSN.com.

What does everyone think of Shawn Johnson? The media is touting her as the next it girl, and she seems to have a lot of difficult skills, but I don't know if she's the best gymnast in the whole wide world.

Right now, I like Shawn Johnson a lot more than I liked Carly Patterson, but that's hardly much of an endorsement. Shawn has more energy and power than Carly, and while I doubt Shawn has any real, purposeful concept of rhythm, still her energy translates into better rhythm than Carly ever worked with, in my opinion. I don't like the big middle section of Shawn's floor routine at all, but I think the first two passes and the choreography in between is relatively decent. And I like the balance of having two big back-to-back passes at the end of the exercise with the same energy as the opening. I think it's a big improvement to her routine that the Double-Double and the Full-in aren't back-to-back anymore like they were at the start of the year. Having such similar-looking skills so close together in the exercise like that looks like unnecessary repetition to me. Vanessa Ferrari has been doing a Double-Double and a Full-in back-to-back for the last couple of years and probably won't change it, so kudos to Shawn for having better highlight distribution in her routine.

But I still consider her an incomplete gymnast. Her flexibility is quite weak, and she doesn't set her tumbles very well, either. The way she takes off--the way she launches her body out backward causes her to loose a little bit of height that she could be getting if her setting technique was stronger. That's not actually a deduction though--judges don't deduct for that kind of technique; they can only deduct the execution errors as a result of the technique, such as "insufficient amplitude" or "insufficient extension in the preparation of the landing". Shawn is talented enough to pull off all these tricks cleanly with that technique, but if she grows at all or gains any weight she may no longer have the raw physical talent to get them around cleanly and consistantly. Gymnasts need to master the fundamentals technique to be able to adjust their skills to a changing body--that was one big reason Svetlana Khorkina was able to stay at the top for so long. Khorkina needed brilliant technique to be able to compensate for the disadvantages that her body type sometimes put her at, but she was able to build that technique and was able to stay right up there with all of her competitors. Shawn does not have that technique, so I don't anticipate her having a long career at this point.

nitenurse said:

Is Olga Korbut still teaching gymnastics in the US or am I mixing her up with Nadia?

I'm not sure if Olga Korbut has ever coached in the US. Not at a high level, at least. Bless her heart, but Olga Korbut's mental state has been questioned over the years. She's told some stories that many people don't fully believe. She'll always been one of the finest figures in the history of the Olympic Games, though.

Bart Conner already owned a gym when Nadia Comaneci married him, but I don't think she's ever coached full-time there. I'd be willing to guess the most coaching she's ever done has just been in a "Nadia is going to come in today and give us a couple of pointers" kind of way.

polygal said:

My younger sister coaches gymnastics to level 4 now, and she's got this big binder full of all the code stuff. When she was competing, she was one of the last groups before the new code of points was introduced, and she's complained about how ugly the routines look now compared to 4 years ago.

PolyGal, was she an elite in the US? If so, I'd probably remember who she was. I certainly understand if you don't want to, but I'd love for you to PM me and tell me who she is, or if you really want to make it fun, you could give me hints until I guess!

[Daisy Pusher]

I'm probably dating myself, but I always liked Julianne McNamara, even though she wasn't one of the greats. Although the 1984 Olympics were kind of a joke to me, because without the Soviet Bloc, of course it was a no-brainer that the Americans would kick ass.

I don't really follow today's gymnasts all that much. I liked Khorkina because she was such a scenery-chewing diva. I though Andreea Raducan got gypped. I don't get the new scoring system at all, but I don't get it for ice-skating either. And I liked Stick It far too much for a woman close to 40.

[polygal]

swanflake said:

PolyGal, was she an elite in the US? If so, I'd probably remember who she was. I certainly understand if you don't want to, but I'd love for you to PM me and tell me who she is, or if you really want to make it fun, you could give me hints until I guess!

She never got to elite. The furthest she got was a few state competitions.

[swanflake]

kokopelli said:

I don't get the new scoring system at all

I can explain it! In as much detail as you'd like. Does anyone have any specific questions about the new scoring, or should I just give a basic rundown on it?