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View Full Version : Olympic gymnastics of yesteryear



Mitchell Andrus
08-21-2008, 7:12 PM
My son and I have been enthralled with the girls on the beam, bars, floor.... "How the **** do they DO THAT?????

I got to poking around on youtube to show him what gymnastics used to look like and how they've evolved over the decades. I now remember why Olga and Nadia were so revered at the time. They practically invented modern gymnastics.

A few gems:

1956 games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7bwngKxHfU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcdO-_4EO8o&feature=related

1936 games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW4VTuAdsjA

Olga, 1972 on a non-sprung floor - nice to hear the live piano again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcYZ3TTrOII


WOW!
.

Jim Becker
08-21-2008, 9:02 PM
I don't know if you noticed, Mitchell, but Nadia was at the games...the TV coverage picked her out at one of the earlier gymnastics events. If I'm not mistaken, she's coaching now.

Pat Germain
08-21-2008, 11:01 PM
^^ Right you are, Jim. Although, the Romanian team aint what they used to be.

Mitchell Andrus
08-21-2008, 11:48 PM
Yep, there were quite a few old faces out there. I liked seeing Béla Károlyi again. A master. One of his first students was six year old Nadia.

There are some people I'd love to have at the dinner table. He would wear me out in about 10 minutes, but it'd be a great 10 minutes.

His Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi

Jim Becker
08-22-2008, 8:49 AM
^^ Right you are, Jim. Although, the Romanian team aint what they used to be.

No, but they did edge out the Russian (female) team in the all-arounds.

John Schreiber
08-22-2008, 9:38 AM
It seems to me that women's gymnastics used to be about beauty and form with some tumbling mixed in. Now it's about concentration, skill and being tiny.

I think there's something wrong with a sport in which only the very young can be competitive.

Lee DeRaud
08-22-2008, 2:22 PM
I don't know if you noticed, Mitchell, but Nadia was at the games...the TV coverage picked her out at one of the earlier gymnastics events. If I'm not mistaken, she's coaching now.She and Bart Conner are running the "Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy". They're in Beijing as guests of the IOC.