Greatest AA gymnast at Olympics to not compete in AA finals

[barbara_dewey]

But I see Strazheva as the winner of the thread, with only Biles as competition. Strazh was the USSR national champion in what was probably the strongest team ever.

 

[IratePanda]

But I see Strazheva as the winner of the thread, with only Biles as competition. Strazh was the USSR national champion in what was probably the strongest team ever.

I was gutted when Strazheva injured her knee on beam in TO, and then thrilled when she came back in '89.

 

[barbara_dewey]

I was gutted when Strazheva injured her knee on beam in TO, and then thrilled when she came back in '89.

ITA.

 

[irichluck21]

She would have knocked out Laschenova from the all around.

 

[IratePanda]

I wonder if Strazheva could have taken the bronze over Boginskaya? I'm looking at the Team and AA results on Gymforum, but it's too early to crunch numbers. I suppose it might have been possible if Strazheva had been on fire in the AA final, but the Seoul judges seemed to love Boginskaya (rightly so). Personally, I would have been more invested in a Strazheva-Bogi battle for bronze than I was in the Shushunova-Silivas duel.

 

[david]

Strazheva had a fairly straight forward path to 4th place in the AA final but even if she had scored 10s on beam and floor in team optionals, she would have been behind Bogi going into the AA final and would have needed a 39.775 in the AA final to beat her. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

Her 9.775 in compulsory floor (2 errors) and not sticking enough landings throughout the team competition was primarily what separated her and Bogi. I did think Strazheva was one of if not the most complete AA gymnasts in the field across difficulty, originality, technique, and artistry.