2023 Paris world cup

[Denn]

To all: I really don’t think Johnson’s 2008 floor music is bad. AT. ALL. You could totally make a better FX to it, and the real issue is what @ruby said:

Artistry was also pretty much non-existent in 2008. Music and choreography almost did not matter at all.
Nastia had great music and looked great doing the most basic poses but her choreography was rather uninspired compared to what we see today.
In any case music and dance definitely did not make a difference in scoring.

 

[MaryClare]

HUH??? Mary Lou Retton? Nastia Liukin???

Mary Lou maybe, although it’s difficult to compare the pre internet age but Nastia was nowhere near as popular as Shawn. Most people appreciated Nastia’s gymnastics, and it came at a time when the open ended code was very new and many people were concerned that it would mean you had to be a trickster to be competitive at the highest level. Nastia disproved that, which was big at the time. But she never really endeared herself to gymnastics fans, casual nor dedicated

 

[KristyJ]

HUH??? Mary Lou Retton? Nastia Liukin???

Let alone the Mag 7, specifically Shannon, the Dominiques, and Kerri

 

[MaryClare]

Let alone the Mag 7, specifically Shannon, the Dominiques, and Kerri

You are missing the point. I’m not talking cereal boxes. I mean the general gymnternet consensus of different athletes.

One poster alleged that Shawn was unfairly criticised by the gymnternet and that criticising her became effectively a trendy thing to do.

In my opinion, whilst there were many of us at the time who were not fans of Shawn’s particular style of gymnastics, there was nowhere near the level of criticism towards her that most high profile gymnasts face. The only gymnast that’s been more universally liked has been Biles.

It’s not really a comparison that can be made with gymnasts who competed pre gymnternet when the ability of fans to watch meets and express opinions were extremely limited. If you didn’t like Kerri Strung what were you going to do? Write a letter into intl gymnast magazine?!

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

As someone who was 18 when Beijing happened, so much of my opinion was informed by the nbc media train at the time, despite being an avid follower of gymnastics. Shawn was the golden girl, she could do no wrong, AA was her deserved “inheritance”, whatever. It took a long time for that narrative to unravel in my mind. When I watch her floor routine now, I don’t mind the music, I’ve seen the movie, I get why she chose it. All I heard at the time was “double double” and something like “more mature / international audience”. But with today’s lens, I suddenly realize how shit the dancing is. So now all of a sudden I can understand why the younger crowd / reddit crowd is really into Roberson. They’ll have to just grow out of her.

NBC does seem to love pushing the power gymnast with mediocre but passable bars that will lead off Team Finals the year of the Olympics.

Kimbo, Carly, Shawn, Jordyn, Simone. Obviously this is because they either finished 1st or 2nd in the AA in the pre-Olympic Worlds. It’s been quite fascinating though that 4 out of 6 times they were usurped by the 2nd ranked AA athlete at the time with an outstanding UB set: Shannon, Nastia, Gabby, Suni.

 

[makam]

I don’t think top8 in the world bars are in the mediocre category…and with Simone withdrawing, i don’t think usurped quite fits either. If they had gone head to head, i think Simone would have won with an average or even below average day.

 

[irichluck21]

I don’t think top8 in the world bars are in the mediocre category…and with Simone withdrawing, i don’t think usurped quite fits either. If they had gone head to head, i think Simone would have won with an average or even below average day.

Not to mention that Simone is a former World silver medalist on bars.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

NBC does seem to love pushing the power gymnast with mediocre but passable bars that will lead off Team Finals the year of the Olympics.

Kimbo, Carly, Shawn, Jordyn, Simone. Obviously this is because they either finished 1st or 2nd in the AA in the pre-Olympic Worlds. It’s been quite fascinating though that 4 out of 6 times they were usurped by the 2nd ranked AA athlete at the time with an outstanding UB set: Shannon, Nastia, Gabby, Suni.

Carly was 2-pered on bars (8th in qualifications, thank you Wikipedia) at the 2004 Olympics. She was more than just passable on the event at her best even with a 9.9 start value. Even with today’s standards, she hit her pirouette handstands really well. I’m more surprised she never made a major floor final.

 

[RAFIKI]

IIRC it was the cat leap combo that took her out in Athens.

 

[cats]

There’s really no arguing that bars is considered the relative weak piece for all of those athletes, is there?

I think Patterson’s best bars were definitively better than her best DTYs but consistency was an issue, or at least that’s how I remember it. She also was part of a US quad that produced six major medals and three titles on bars and went to a bars gym, so kinda hard to stand out.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

IIRC it was the cat leap combo that took her out in Athens.

It was indeed.

 

[RichardL]

Carly was 2-pered on bars (8th in qualifications, thank you Wikipedia) at the 2004 Olympics. She was more than just passable on the event at her best even with a 9.9 start value. Even with today’s standards, she hit her pirouette handstands really well. I’m more surprised she never made a major floor final.

She would’ve challenged Ponor for the title if she hadn’t biffed her cat leap combination qualifications. Cat leaps! My god that COP.

 

[Denn]

She would’ve challenged Ponor for the title if she hadn’t biffed her cat leap combination qualifications. Cat leaps! My god that COP.

I know she got 9.712 in the AA, but I feel like FX scores often are slightly inflated in AA competitions and certain in THAT final where Khorkina got the gift of her Olympic life on FX. LOL… I really feel like Ponor had that title in the bag if she more or less hit, but I agree that Patterson could’ve easily gotten silver over Sofronie (I still think WHO WAS SHE?!)