REWIND : Week One 23/09 : 1998 Goodwill Games

[Sasha]

Damn, balance beam is eating people ALIVE here.

I had totally forgotten about Meng Fei, she was wonderful. Ling Jie too - her bhs-Onodi-front aerial is my favourite beam combo of all time, even though hitting it is like catching lightning in a bottle.

 

[RichardL]

My memory is that she was injured in 1996 and otherwise would have certainly been on the team.

I'm sad that the footage didn't catch Ling Jie's Rulfova mount, which she goes on to miss in the EF.

 

[Matilda23]

Meng Fei had broken her hand in 96 iirc

 

[RAFIKI]

I enjoyed rewatching that and have two pages of notes! I’ll have to condense them before approaching the keyboard.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Is 1997 officially when Romanian bars went to shit? What happened?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Is 1997 officially when Romanian bars went to shit? What happened?

Pretty much. It was a weak event in Atlanta but they weren't terrible. Marinescu, Amanar and Milo were all fine.

I always thought it was interesting that their bars collapse coincided with the end of compulsories. Amanar really encapsulates that. Her compulsory in Atlanta was lovely, and her optional was serviceable enough. Then tanked in the space of 12 months.

 

[irichluck21]

Romania won compulsory bars in Atlanta.

 

[Matilda23]

Adrian Goreac left Romania in 1990 maybe they had something to do with the bars decline.

 

[MaryClare]

Romania won compulsory bars in Atlanta.

Most Romanian gymnasts don’t particularly struggle with bars fundamentals, so that doesn’t surprise me. Plus their training method of high reps lends well to compulsories in general.

If you watch Ponor on bars, you’ll see what I mean. Where as Sabrina Voinea has issues on bars that are more commonly seen from US gymnasts who struggle with bars

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Most Romanian gymnasts don’t particularly struggle with bars fundamentals, so that doesn’t surprise me. Plus their training method of high reps lends well to compulsories in general.

If you watch Ponor on bars, you’ll see what I mean. Where as Sabrina Voinea has issues on bars that are more commonly seen from US gymnasts who struggle with bars

I always thought Ponor’s bars were shockingly unpainful to watch.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Ponor's swing and transitions always struck me as pretty good, considering some of her other issues.