The China women gymnastics team of Beijing 2008 is truly “magnificent six” of China. Do you agree?

[Iminhanoi]

The China women gymnastics team of Beijing 2008 is truly “magnificent six” of China. Do you agree?

American own “magnificent seven” the legendary women gymnastics team of 1996.

And China truly own “magnificent six” in Beijing 2008. They performed fantastic; in vault, UB, balance beam and floor.

 

[MaryClare]

No. Other than Cheng Fei and He Kexin, nothing special.

Also the age cheating casts a dark shadow over that team

 

[Bob]

Loved Cheng Fei what a great career she had.

 

[irichluck21]

IMO the best Chinese team(s) were the 1995 and 1996 teams. Super talented. Could have won team gold in Atlanta, but their gymnastics was as beautiful as it was inconsistent.
IIRC, China won optionals in Sabae. Compulsories was their achilles in 1995 and 1996.

 

[RichardL]

IMO the best Chinese team(s) were the 1995 and 1996 teams. Super talented. Could have won team gold in Atlanta, but their gymnastics was as beautiful as it was inconsistent.
IIRC, China won optionals in Sabae. Compulsories was their achilles in 1995 and 1996.

Mo Huilan was certainly a huge part of both teams. She was the best gymnast in the world in 1995 and should have been able to win AA easily and medal on all 4 events, except of course the inconsistency that you mention. The biggest disappointment of that quad for me, even though she did manage to win a world EF title and win major medals on bars and vault. She was one stumble on a back 2 1/2 on floor in '95 EF away from the coveted "major medal on every event" cohort that we discussed a few weeks ago.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

The 1996 team was absolutely better, and the 2000 team had more style. Cheng Fei was past her prime in 2008, and He Kexin, in addition to being underage, had some very labored casts in her routine.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I will say though that I will never understand how much China’s vaulting deteriorated after 2008. This vault always shocks me by how good it is.



What the hell happened?

 

[phoenix7]

I agree with you.

Jiang Yuyuan was something special too : not the most competitive floor, but a huge performance.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

China 08 were obviously a very talented team who were able to put it together at the right time, and were dominant in the end. That's hugely significant. We knew that at the time, and it's become all the more so given the events of the last decade. Plus they could actually vault!

However, @MaryClare is right that the fake DOBs will always hang over them, always be an asterisk. Which is unfortunate for them, since that was true of Chinese teams that preceded them as well as some from elsewhere too. But that's what happens when you do it in the internet age.

Worth pointing out that the Beijing team had much weaker competition than 90s and Sydney Chinese teams. Marta sabotaged her own team with stupidity, Romania had been neutered by the open ended code and Russia Russia'd. Compare that to Atlanta and Sydney, it's night and day. You can only beat what's in front of you, but there wasn't that much in front of the Beijing team, in the end.

I don't think the Atlanta team design gets enough credit for being history makers on the wider gymnternet either. They were the first team who had been put together for a non-AA format. China were trailblazers there. It didn't work, but you can see the agile thinking in a way that's not the case with the teams who beat them.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

China 08 were obviously a very talented team who were able to put it together at the right time, and were dominant in the end. That's hugely significant. We knew that at the time, and it's become all the more so given the events of the last decade. Plus they could actually vault!

However, @MaryClare is right that the fake DOBs will always hang over them, always be an asterisk. Which is unfortunate for them, since that was true of Chinese teams that preceded them as well as some from elsewhere too. But that's what happens when you do it in the internet age.

Worth pointing out that the Beijing team had much weaker competition than 90s and Sydney Chinese teams. Marta sabotaged her own team with stupidity, Romania had been neutered by the open ended code and Russia Russia'd. Compare that to Atlanta and Sydney, it's night and day. You can only beat what's in front of you, but there wasn't that much in front of the Beijing team, in the end.

I don't think the Atlanta team design gets enough credit for being history makers on the wider gymnternet either. They were the first team who had been put together for a non-AA format. China were trailblazers there. It didn't work, but you can see the agile thinking in a way that's not the case with the teams who beat them.

Yeah, enough isn’t said about how absolutely bleak the depth in the world was from 2001-2009. Just absolutely pedestrian gymnastics hampered by the two worst codes in the sport’s history. The best competitions in that timeframe were probably the US domestic competitions before Martha was able to dismember the limbs of most athletes later in the season.

 

[Iminhanoi]

I will say though that I will never understand how much China’s vaulting deteriorated after 2008. This vault always shocks me by how good it is.



What the hell happened?

Why didn’t she compete at vault in team final? (She made one routine (UB) in team final)

 

[irichluck21]

He Kexin had the 2nd best vault on the team in TQ. Jiang Yuyuan crashed her Amanar.

The others were so close though.
He Kexin 15.250
Deng Linlin 15.225
Yang Yilin 15.200

 

[Iminhanoi]

Worth pointing out that the Beijing team had much weaker competition than 90s and Sydney Chinese teams. Marta sabotaged her own team with stupidity, Romania had been neutered by the open ended code and Russia Russia'd. Compare that to Atlanta and Sydney, it's night and day. You can only beat what's in front of you, but there wasn't that much in front of the Beijing team, in the end.

I don't think the Atlanta team design gets enough credit for being history makers on the wider gymnternet either. They were the first team who had been put together for a non-AA format. China were trailblazers there. It didn't work, but you can see the agile thinking in a way that's not the case with the teams who beat them.

Disagree; the team US are extremely strong that year. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, both considered legend of US Women Gymnastics.

 

[Hatsumomo]

The US team was cobbled together with the last women standing and even then. only Shawn and Nastia were 100% healthy. Alicia Sacramone was held together by tape and prayer, both Chellsie Memmel and Sam Peszek had broken ankles, and I think Bridget Sloan had an injury as well.

Not to mention being comparatively weak on UB. Nastia and Chellsie were the only ones breaking 7.0 DV. Ashley Priess and Shayla Worley I think were the only other gymnasts who had UB routines that came close, but Priess did the boss move of retiring the night before Nationals and Worley broke her leg. If the US could have dipped into their junior pool like China did, Samantha Shapiro would've been an option as a one-eventer because her UB was a 7.1, I think.

 

[RedBirdie]

The US team was cobbled together with the last women standing and even then. only Shawn and Nastia were 100% healthy. Alicia Sacramone was held together by tape and prayer, both Chellsie Memmel and Sam Peszek had broken ankles, and I think Bridget Sloan had an injury as well.

Not to mention being comparatively weak on UB. Nastia and Chellsie were the only ones breaking 7.0 DV. Ashley Priess and Shayla Worley I think were the only other gymnasts who had UB routines that came close, but Priess did the boss move of retiring the night before Nationals and Worley broke her leg. If the US could have dipped into their junior pool like China did, Samantha Shapiro would've been an option as a one-eventer because her UB was a 7.1, I think.

Oh man, I forgot about that! It was such a a fuck you move. I loved it.

 

[Hatsumomo]

It was pretty shocking at the time because Priess more or less had a spot on the team for her UB alone. I don't know if MLT said or did something that was the final straw or what, but Priess got there, said fuck it I'm done, and went home.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Disagree; the team US are extremely strong that year. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, both considered legend of US Women Gymnastics.

One third of the US team was. Not quite the same thing.

Of the rest of the team, there were two superstars who could've been almost on the same page as Shawn and Nastia if they weren't injured and incapable of doing anything like their best. Alicia and Chellsie were so good when healthy that the US might still have beaten China even with just the four. But they were held together with string. Then the final two were chosen by default, in the absence of anyone more useful, to do one DTY between them. There was no depth that year. Contrast that to China in 08 where there are multiple gymnasts who could've legitimately been top 3 on an event, like Sui Lu and Xiao Sha, but they didn't need.

So the US position is not at all like the Chinese team. It's true Jiang Yuyuan was injured, and I think if she'd been able to land her Amanar then China might have been uncatchable. But the US were an absolute shadow of themselves compared to China in 08. Fully one third of them had a broken ankle. That says everything.

It was pretty shocking at the time because Priess more or less had a spot on the team for her UB alone. I don't know if MLT said or did something that was the final straw or what, but Priess got there, said fuck it I'm done, and went home.

The fucked up thing about that time period is there are multiple potential explanations for exactly who she'd had enough of.

 

[Concorde]

He Kexin had the 2nd best vault on the team in TQ. Jiang Yuyuan crashed her Amanar.

The others were so close though.
He Kexin 15.250
Deng Linlin 15.225
Yang Yilin 15.200

He Kexin’s fall on uneven bars during team qualifications may have also played a role in the lineup decisions. The coaches may have not included her on vault so she could focus on bars.

 

[Concorde]

Not to mention being comparatively weak on UB. Nastia and Chellsie were the only ones breaking 7.0 DV. Ashley Priess and Shayla Worley I think were the only other gymnasts who had UB routines that came close, but Priess did the boss move of retiring the night before Nationals and Worley broke her leg. If the US could have dipped into their junior pool like China did, Samantha Shapiro would've been an option as a one-eventer because her UB was a 7.1, I think

Memmel had a 7.0 A score, but her jam to handstand was downgraded to a D in team finals(also on Day 1 of Trials), which dropped her to a 6.8.

Worley and Sloan both had 6.7s.

Beiger and Shapiro both had 6.6s.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

He Kexin’s fall on uneven bars during team qualifications may have also played a role in the lineup decisions. The coaches may have not included her on vault so she could focus on bars.

And she also had the bars final to worry about, whereas Deng Linlin didn't make any EFs at all. So there was no need to worry about pacing.