IratePanda
Member
- Mar 2, 2021
- 258
- 493
I've mostly watched to the end--skipped a few bits that didn't interest me. I never realized that the judges tried to resolve the tiebreaker. American TV coverage made the joint gold seem very cut-and-dried.
I still wonder what might have happened if Baraksanova had competed in the AA final instead of Shushunova. Would Baraksanova have enjoyed a longer, more successful career? She looked pretty bad in early 1986 (shaky performance at the American Cup, dead last at USA vs. USSR), but I always felt that she just gave up after Montreal. She was still beautiful to watch, but she lacked drive and confidence.
If Shushunova hadn't competed in the AA, how might her career have unfolded? Would she still have won in 1988, or would she have fizzled out like Baraksanova did?
My heart still breaks for Yurchenko.
It was nice to see some lesser-known and/or underrated gymnasts, most notably Anja Wilhelm/FRG and Bojanka Demireva/BUL. I've been meaning to start a thread celebrating hidden gems of the 70s and 80s, and these two would get top billing.
Adorable moment: A Japanese gymnast (Maiko Morio?) shook hands with Alena Drevjana/TCH, who then gave her a kiss. The Japanese gymnast laughed with a mixture of surprise and delight.
On a personal note, this was the last Worlds when I was younger than most of the athletes. I say "most of" because some of the ROM ages were, ahem, fudged. (Silivas was ostensibly one year my senior--almost to the day--but in reality, she's at least a year younger than I am.)
ETA: It's very strange to watch Camelia Voinea 39 years before the Paris FX fiasco.
Good stuff! What shall we watch next?
I still wonder what might have happened if Baraksanova had competed in the AA final instead of Shushunova. Would Baraksanova have enjoyed a longer, more successful career? She looked pretty bad in early 1986 (shaky performance at the American Cup, dead last at USA vs. USSR), but I always felt that she just gave up after Montreal. She was still beautiful to watch, but she lacked drive and confidence.
If Shushunova hadn't competed in the AA, how might her career have unfolded? Would she still have won in 1988, or would she have fizzled out like Baraksanova did?
My heart still breaks for Yurchenko.
It was nice to see some lesser-known and/or underrated gymnasts, most notably Anja Wilhelm/FRG and Bojanka Demireva/BUL. I've been meaning to start a thread celebrating hidden gems of the 70s and 80s, and these two would get top billing.
Adorable moment: A Japanese gymnast (Maiko Morio?) shook hands with Alena Drevjana/TCH, who then gave her a kiss. The Japanese gymnast laughed with a mixture of surprise and delight.
On a personal note, this was the last Worlds when I was younger than most of the athletes. I say "most of" because some of the ROM ages were, ahem, fudged. (Silivas was ostensibly one year my senior--almost to the day--but in reality, she's at least a year younger than I am.)
ETA: It's very strange to watch Camelia Voinea 39 years before the Paris FX fiasco.
Good stuff! What shall we watch next?
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