REWIND : Week FOUR : 14/10 : 2007 European Championships

[MaryClare]

As requested, in celebration of Vanessa Ferrari’s career. Unfortunately the only English speaking commentary I could find was extremely poor video quality and split into 4 parts. So here is the Dutch Eurosport version


My takeaways:

It’s easy to forget that Izbasa was actually a decent AA gymnast.

This was such a nightmare quad for Russia generally, but this competition exemplifies it. You would genuinely think that they were on their way out, like the rest of the ex eastern bloc.

I hate this COP for everything except bars. It made bars what they are today.

A lot of gymnasts from the previous quad were still competing, but very few had any success

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

05-07 was rough for Russia, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good they looked in Beijing prelims. There's a huge difference between them at this Euros and the Olympics. Obviously we all know how that one ended, but I did not think they were going to be closer in quality to the US than to Romania.

Would argue it was a decent quad for vault too. Beam and floor.... yeah.

 

[RichardL]

I was really surprised and impressed by Palesova's 1.5-L turn + side aerial combination. Zgoba was also really ahead of her time on bars.

 

[MaryClare]

I was really surprised and impressed by Palesova's 1.5-L turn + side aerial combination. Zgoba was also really ahead of her time on bars.

I think Nistor did a giant 2/1 by mistake!

 

[tsarinajen]

As requested, in celebration of Vanessa Ferrari’s career. Unfortunately the only English speaking commentary I could find was extremely poor video quality and split into 4 parts. So here is the Dutch Eurosport version


My takeaways:

It’s easy to forget that Izbasa was actually a decent AA gymnast.

This was such a nightmare quad for Russia generally, but this competition exemplifies it. You would genuinely think that they were on their way out, like the rest of the ex eastern bloc.

I hate this COP for everything except bars. It made bars what they are today.

A lot of gymnasts from the previous quad were still competing, but very few had any success

Izbasa really was a good all-arounder. She got victimized by the codes bar need and without an Amanar to compensate, it was always going to keep her down.

Nistor was always interesting too (messy). She had publicly said that she felt she could have at least medaled in the AA in Bejing if Belu and Bitang had been coaching her. Wasn't she being held together with tape by the time the Olympics rolled around.

Russia... oof.
Who was coaching the Russian Juniors then?
And was Pravdina just passed by her teammates in '08?

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Izbasa was 5th in the London All Around!

 

[IratePanda]

Back in 2007, I was laser-focused on the US-China rivalry, so I didn't pay much attention to this meet. After watching parts of the video, I don't think I missed anything. Izbasa was decent but bland. Nistor is almost unwatchable. That's really all I have to say.

 

[MaryClare]

Back in 2007, I was laser-focused on the US-China rivalry, so I didn't pay much attention to this meet. After watching parts of the video, I don't think I missed anything. Izbasa was decent but bland. Nistor is almost unwatchable. That's really all I have to say.

I definitely think that Europe as a whole,, struggled more the open ended code in the early days than USA or China did

 

[RAFIKI]

Arena/format

• Bet the photographers hated the roof structure background.
• Return of the plants!
• I like having the top contenders spread around the groups. I know that seeding makes things easier for TV and spectators, but I like the randomness and variety.
• That march round music again!

Commentary/coverage

• Having a Beijing countdown with it still being over a year to go was odd.
• The only YT comment being about commentators not shutting up caused me to grin. I did enjoy some of the noises they made when BB falls happened!

Gymnasts

• Agree with the earlier comment about how many gymnasts associated with an earlier quad were still going. I'd forgotten that VVDL, Moreno, Kozich and Bismpikou were still competing at this point. Will see if I can find any of Karpenko's routines later.
• Ahhh our Memmel lookalike Kramerenko, nice to see her outside of the infamous 2007 VT.
• This felt like a simpler time when it came to leos but some still found a way to create monstrosities (Nistor diagonal mesh gash, Vericel, Pechancova). Amusing to go from Kramerenko to Clowes wearing the same leotard. Wong and Zgoba also matched.
• Zgoba was ahead of her time in some aspects but standing on the LB in 2007 surprised me. Good save on BB and what a shame about the FX fall.
• Pechancova had a very nice 1.5X L spin on BB and then performed a Romanian tribute with a choo-choo!
• Kozich had great upright landings on FX (shame about that weird collar), I also enjoyed her BB work again.
• Ferrari's FX seemed more rushed than I remembered it, I think the dance might have been better in 2006. Crazy long wait before the 3X and her smile disappeared pretty quickly when she was done. I enjoyed her twist on the full pirouette BB mount, it suited her style. I'd forgotten how fast she worked UB. Kudos for the Comaneci.
• Izbasa had a really odd "technique" on her stalder before the Ray. I was amused by her face as she came off VT. You'd never watch this comp and pick her out as a future Olympic VT champion, testament to her improvements.
• VVDL's FTY looked wildly easy for her. Snoozefest of a FX routine but I loved seeing the half illusion spin on BB from her.
• Pravdina's BB spin entry was the only thing I remembered of her gymnastics so it was good to watch her again. Her FX run stuck out, very powerful.
• Unfortunate day for Nistor. I don't mind her gymnastics as much as others seem to. I'm also an outlier in liking the front to arabesque trend, but Nistor's here was not a good example.
• Really enjoyed Chuso's UB (shocking sentence I know!) I love hop-fulls (Kozich also did one) and it's always a treat to see the 96 compulsory hecht transfer done by choice.
• Would never have guessed that Moreno came 4th on BB in this AA.
• Can anyone beat Vericel for tkatchev foot flexion?
• I always had a soft spot for Bisimpikou. Her skill selection on BB felt quite Russian.

Gymnastics

• Totally concur with the COP trend comments. Having just watched 04 Euros, it was striking how much I enjoyed BB at that comp while just three years later BB was more of a chore to watch. FX was also surprisingly poor, even from gymnasts that have done other routines I like. Kramerenko's FX was the only one that stood out (anyone know who else has had this FX music?).
• Several interesting HB sequences and a surprising number of Y1.5s.
• Do NOT miss L spins on BB from those who should have no business trying them.
• Many of the side somies seemed to be a lot higher than current side somies.
• Ah it's five pass FX time. Recent gymnerds should look up the seven pass FX we had to endure during this code <shudder>
• Surprising to see GB only have one representative in the year that they made TF for the first time. Will have to dig out qualification results to see who else went for GB and what events they did.

Nostalgia/personal

• I did go to this competition but I don't have overly fond memories of it. I remember walking to the arena each day because I didn't want to figure out the public transport (despite having been to Amsterdam before ).

 

[RichardL]

Yeah, the horrific L turns on beam sent me into a spiral that I've only just now emerged from, alas. How did any of us survive this BB COP?

 

[Sasha]

Same. When people complain about floor and beam under recent codes, my first reaction is "it could be worse".