REWIND: Week Two 01/10 : 2004 European Championships

[MaryClare]

There’s a few different coverage available, but here’s Eurosport’s English coverage.


Why this competition? Well, it feels like a curtain closing. The next quad would mark the final demise of Eastern European gymnastics (Belarus, Hungary and Bulgaria had already gone). And worldwide, the dominance of the USA, and China for a briefer period, meant that euros was no longer the high calibre event it had been in the 90s.

It’s also a meet that was somewhat “under watched”, or at least that’s what I remember of it. It was only shown on the Eurosport network, which in 2004 was only available as a premium cable/sky option. Many gymnterneters attended in person, and there were some low res videos of individual routines, but it was many years before full coverage surfaced on YouTube.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

For me, the most interesting aspect of this competition is the extent to which many people didn't see Romania's Athens success coming. I didn't watch this at the time, only caught up after the Olympics on various dodgy downloads. And I know hindsight is a wonderful thing etc etc... but there was a gauntlet thrown down here alright.

 

[MaryClare]

For me, the most interesting aspect of this competition is the extent to which many people didn't see Romania's Athens success coming. I didn't watch this at the time, only caught up after the Olympics on various dodgy downloads. And I know hindsight is a wonderful thing etc etc... but there was a gauntlet thrown down here alright.

So it wasn’t just me, this was a real difficult comp to access. I wonder if that is a big part of the Romanian surprise in Athens. We’d seen all the videos of US nationals and trials, but we’d seen almost nothing of Romania

 

[IratePanda]

Good Lord! I remember following quick hits on GymWorld (yes, that GymWorld), but I've never seen any footage from this competition. Here are some quick comments after my initial viewing:

1. Zamolodchikova is almost unwatchable.
2. Sofronie was the only Romanian I liked in Athens. This meet affirmed why.
3. I disliked Ponor's gymnastics back then. I dislike it even more now
4. Kozich and Krasnynska were delightful. After this meet, I thought Kozich would have a much greater impact in Athens, but it wasn't to be.
5. Beth Tweddle's UB is so much fun to watch.

 

[irichluck21]

International Gymnast sold DVDs of the Team and All Around finals and another of the event finals. I bought them. High quality footage but no commentary which was a bummer. That was the first and only time IG did that. I guess sales were not strong? I still have those DVDs somewhere in my house.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

One forgets sometimes just how much Beth's bars evolved over her career.

 

[Snowfan]

Beth really could do anything on bars and she adapted each quad to the new code and was always a top contender. The first time I saw her was 03 worlds and she became one of favorites. I was always rooting for her. I'm glad that she commentates now. She has become quite good over the years.

 

[MaryClare]

One forgets sometimes just how much Beth's bars evolved over her career.

Yeah, if you look at her 2002 routine when she first started making finals, it’s almost unbelievable that it’s the same gymnast doing the 2012 routine

 

[RichardL]

I remember seeing her at the 1999 Canberra Cup, where I was still a huge fan of the young WOGA group (Talbert and Vanden Eykl at that meet) and while the potential was certainly there in retrospect, it felt very rough at the time.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Baby Beth! I'd forgotten she ever did the Fontaine.

They mention her being tall in that 99 routine, and she is for a 14 year old of that era. Looks like she was probably five three already there, or close. Which looking back, probably helped? No growth spurts to contend with as a senior.

Anyway, the 04 Euros routine is a good one of course, but I think it's telling that Beth's career properly took off at the time when she became more of a release than a pirouette gymnast.

 

[irichluck21]

Mostepanovafan uploaded Juniors

 

[RAFIKI]

I'm looking forward to rewatching this one. 04 Euros was the height of Gymworld meet ups. A group of us bought tickets as soon as they became available so we got most of the front row by floor. Top seats and some of us also got a house together (pre-airbnb days). nbb (Gymworld founder) also got a space in the arena foyer where we could meet and put messages up on GW business cards. I remember writing "RAFIKI is now a BEL junior fan". There was also a GW T-shirt for the event; so many randoms came up to me and asked where I got it because the logo was super cool.

I was living in the USA at the time so Amsterdam was a much more expensive Euros than usual. Really glad I went though, great comp and I was well prepared for Athens having seen this and US Classic + Nationals live. I agree about this being the end of an era. After this competition Euros alternated its format year by year so 2005 was AA, EF and 2006 TF, EF. Becoming European AA champion lost its prestige somewhat and I think Debauve (2005) might be the most forgettable Euros AA champion ever. In 2002 it was shocking when Romania only sent one gymnast (Belu was having one of his periodic hissy fits about gymnast not working hard enough). One of the Russian coaches (Arkayev?) said quite disparagingly something like "we Russians respect the European championships". Now Euros is at the point where even gymnasts who haven't reached their potential in terms of European medals will skip it to preserve themselves for other comps. One thing that has improved over time is the audience. 2002 was so empty and 2004 had quite a small crowd capacity but some of the recent Euros have been extrememly well attended.

 

[Snowfan]

I remember seeing her at the 1999 Canberra Cup, where I was still a huge fan of the young WOGA group (Talbert and Vanden Eykl at that meet) and while the potential was certainly there in retrospect, it felt very rough at the time.

Thanks for this. I didn't know about the Canberra Cup at all and now I'm watching what I can find on youtube. Baby Alana Slater was cute as were several other junior gymnasts. Can't wait to watch the other years.

 

[RAFIKI]

Re Beth
One of the qualities I admire most in gymnasts is the ability to improve, adapt and change over the years. Beth is one of the best examples of this and her bar versatility is so impressive. 2004 saw rapid improvement on her floor as well. In Amsterdam she was scoring high 8s, 9.012 in Athens for a hit and by the end of the year at the world cup final she went above 9.5. It's a darn shame she had so few AA opportunities because of ill-timed injuries and mistakes (add back her UB fall in the 2006 AA and she'd have been GB's first AA medalist) before becoming a specialist. Beth's 4th place AA in 2005 stood as the British WAG best for 17 years though.

I hadn't seen that Canberra cup routine before so thanks for sharing. I remember Amanda saying that "Beth was always better suited to being a senior than a junior" (IG feature) and that quote always intrigued me. Beth won several UB silvers (Euros, world cups) to Khorkina, one of the all time bar greats. I have often wondered if she'd have made the Athens final with the reputation bump a gold would have given her. Another ripple effect of that Sydney vault height mess.

 

[Denn]

I remember seeing her at the 1999 Canberra Cup, where I was still a huge fan of the young WOGA group (Talbert and Vanden Eykl at that meet) and while the potential was certainly there in retrospect, it felt very rough at the time.

I had never seen that. But it made me curious to see what she looked like a year later. WOW, what an improvement! This only got a 9.5, but...

 

[MaryClare]

I had never seen that. But it made me curious to see what she looked like a year later. WOW, what an improvement! This only got a 9.5, but...

I think she’d spent most of 2000 with an injury that meant she could only train bars. Arthur Gander is November, so that might have been her first competition back.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Re Beth
One of the qualities I admire most in gymnasts is the ability to improve, adapt and change over the years. Beth is one of the best examples of this and her bar versatility is so impressive. 2004 saw rapid improvement on her floor as well. In Amsterdam she was scoring high 8s, 9.012 in Athens for a hit and by the end of the year at the world cup final she went above 9.5. It's a darn shame she had so few AA opportunities because of ill-timed injuries and mistakes (add back her UB fall in the 2006 AA and she'd have been GB's first AA medalist) before becoming a specialist. Beth's 4th place AA in 2005 stood as the British WAG best for 17 years though.

Beth's AA results during her competitive AAer period were such a potent combination of bad timing and bad luck. She did AA 6 times in major competition from 05-08. All worlds prelims and all world AA finals. Hit 4 times, came 4th on every occasion, and the two occasions when she'd have medalled with a hit round are when she fell. 05 Euros too, she could really have cleaned up there. I can't find EF qualifier results now, but am I right in thinking she did two vaults then and made the final?

I admire her perseverance so much, because it must've felt like being born under an unlucky star sometimes.

 

[RAFIKI]

Qualification results really are hard to find quickly. It wouldn't surprise me re VT EF. In Beth's retirement tribute video Amanda talked about how she was European VT EF worthy. She had a FTT and a piked barani at 2002 CWG so 1.5Y and FTT would probably have made Euros VT EF in 2005.

I've never seen her touch warm up UB fall from the AA final in Debrecan. I don't know if footage even exists. I have memories of following quick hits and people saying it was really scary and they weren't sure if she was moving.

I admire her perseverance so much, because it must've felt like being born under an unlucky star sometimes.

This.

 

[RAFIKI]

Mostepanovafan uploaded Juniors

The CZE juniors podium training on floor was a video I watched so many times (yezzie gym vid website?). They had some beautiful choreography and artistry. Strangely, I have no memory of their competition floor routines.

 

[phoenix7]

For me, the most interesting aspect of this competition is the extent to which many people didn't see Romania's Athens success coming. I didn't watch this at the time, only caught up after the Olympics on various dodgy downloads. And I know hindsight is a wonderful thing etc etc... but there was a gauntlet thrown down here alright.

Is this one of the most similar results for a team between two competitions ever?

Romania got:

Team gold x 2

AA silver Sofronie Euros, AA 4th Sofronie Olympics. (Alas for Oana Ban!)

Vault gold Rosu x 2

UB did not medal x 2 (shocking I know)

BB gold Ponor x 2

BB silver Eremia Euros, bronze Eremia Olympics

FX gold Ponor x 2

FX silver Sofronie Olympics, did not medal Euros.

Everybody doubled their medal count:

Ponor 3 golds both events
Sofronie a gold and a silver both events
Rosu 2 golds both events
Eremia a gold and a silver Vs a gold and a bronze.

End of a code, end of an era.