REWIND : WEEK NINE 19/11 : 1992 Olympics

[phoenix7]

I wish Bontas had had her Olympics in 1988 instead of 1992. She was exciting at 1989 worlds, and the 88 Romanian team was so tired ...

 

[rlayt]

Strug was there.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

To be fair, even Milo didn't actually think Milo should have won, on the day! Sounds like she was fighting and winning her own private war against Zmeskal and Okino - did Karolyi have more gymnasts there?

I am always surprised at the extent to which people write Boguinskaya off in these games. She came so close to bronze. Yet the CIS coach said he considered swapping her out to make room for Gutsu instead of Galieva - why!?

I wonder if they just assumed judges wouldn't reward a return and therefore obviously decrepit Olympian?

That would've been an odd choice.

I can see that they may have thought she had lower scoring potential than the Tatianas, especially if we assume Lysenko was capable of getting through some floor routines unscathed in training. But not Galieva. Roza was very 9.912, and she had nowhere near the name recognition of Boginskaya. That sort of thing did have to be factored in.

I always wondered if they'd have pulled Boginskaya for Gutsu in the vault EF, had the option been available. The vaults she did to win the European title were potentially the best pairing on the Unified Team.

 

[irichluck21]

What was the rationale for splitting the team up for compulsories? Was it so that all teams had a similar advantage in terms of subdivision placements?

 

[Matilda23]

Teams were split for compulsories in Indianapolis 91 World Champs too.

 

[phoenix7]

Why did they swap Chuso for Boginskaya in the floor final, does anyone know? Injury or strategy?

Was it a .1 deduction for a step out in that code? If so, there would have been a four-way tie for bronze - Chuso too.

I like all her later 1990s routines, but not a fan of this one - just a bit static and ponderous.

 

[RichardL]

Chuso was co-champion at 1991 Worlds and would have certainly won gold or silver without the OOB and awkward landing on the Chuso. Bogi wouldn't have been able to out-do her 9.925 top score from team optionals, and there was no guarantee going in that that would've medaled. I would've made the same coaching decision if I were interested in messing around with the rosters.

 

[phoenix7]

Henrietta Onodi has been in the news too recently, of course. I hope she's doing better.

I love her 1992 floor for its changes of pace - prefer it to the famous West Side Story choreography. It's majestic, and she hits the beat of the music so well with her landings.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Beautifully performed as Boginskaya's floor was, her difficulty was very low for a top gymnast in Barcelona. And she wasn't hitting the landings out of the park either.

By the EF, it had become clear that the top scores weren't going to be thrown out to anyone not doing the big skills. The only three to break 9.95 in those Games were Milosovici, Onodi and Bontas. Those three were the judges clear favourites, and they were all big tumblers. There were also multiple examples in earlier rounds of gymnasts with big skills unofficially starting from higher than 10. Hence Gutsu's 9.925s with the big step on the DLO, and Onodi getting 9.912 in the AA when she had to really scramble to stay on her feet.

So in that judging climate, it made more sense to pick the one with the highest theoretical score. Remember also that it took Bontas making a mistake to let anyone else in for bronze. There was no indication she was going to do that.

Though in the end, Boginskaya would probably have made it a 4 way tie.

 

[RedBirdie]

Henrietta Onodi has been in the news too recently, of course. I hope she's doing better.

I love her 1992 floor for its changes of pace - prefer it to the famous West Side Story choreography. It's majestic, and she hits the beat of the music so well with her landings.

Onodi's routine is a masterpiece. It's just that the West Side Story routine was somehow an even better masterpiece. How could someone do two incredible routines just a few months apart?! But she did. Both are amazing.

Damn, to this day, I get goosebumps when she lands that last pass right on the big dramatic beat!

 

[irichluck21]

Zmeskal might have made it interesting if she was hitting cold. IIRC she had the highest optionals score in the AA/TO.
I would have to go back and check, this is just from memory.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Zmeskal might have made it interesting if she was hitting cold. IIRC she had the highest optionals score in the AA/TO.
I would have to go back and check, this is just from memory.

She won optionals, but Gutsu would've beaten her comfortably if she'd stayed on beam. 39.687 as against 39.262. Zmeskal could've had bronze though. Milo left room.

 

[IratePanda]

Zmeskal might have made it interesting if she was hitting cold. IIRC she had the highest optionals score in the AA/TO.
I would have to go back and check, this is just from memory.

Yes, her TO score would have tied her for 3rd AA with Milosovici.

 

[irichluck21]

But also the AA finals might have bumped Zmeskal's scores as well/ She took herself out immediately with that floor.

 

[Denn]

But also the AA finals might have bumped Zmeskal's scores as well/ She took herself out immediately with that floor.

In the end it would not have mattered. Give her 9.925 on floor and a 9.90 on beam and she still gets only 6th.

The bars scores were spread out at the top and that was the decisive factor for Gutsu.

Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic individual all-around - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

In the end it would not have mattered. Give her 9.925 on floor and a 9.90 on beam and she still gets only 6th.

The bars scores were spread out at the top and that was the decisive factor for Gutsu.

Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic individual all-around - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah, bars is the decisive factor here. Zmeskal was as good as Gutsu on the other 3 events and could potentially have even edged past her, but she was never making up the gulf on bars. There was half a tenth between them in both optionals and the AA, and that was a lot in 1992.

Zmeskal also wasn't likely to catch Miller without some help either.

 

[RichardL]

I wish we could've seen Zmeskal do her Trials tumbling in Barcelona! That was a potential gold medal winning routine.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I wish we could've seen Zmeskal do her Trials tumbling in Barcelona! That was a potential gold medal winning routine.

Never knew Mitch commentated on the US Trials! The whip DLO is fantastic.

Was it the floor that made Kim water down in Barcelona? I know lots of the gymnasts disliked it.

 

[rlayt]

Kim looked tired, injured and beaten down by the time the Olympics started. There’s always been Karolyi over-training and “nutrition” to contend with.

 

[MaryClare]

Was it televised in the UK? I can’t think of any other reason there would be a UK commentary team. How unusual