From: rachele@cs.rice.edu (Rachele Harless)
Subject: CMT: (long) GYMNASTICS: preview of the women's all-around
Keywords: gymnastics
Organization: Rice University, Houston
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 17:18:09 GMT
Expires: Mon, 10 Aug 1992 05:00:00 GMT

I just thought I'd give everyone an idea of what to watch for in
tonight's all-around finals for women....  first of all, what to look
for in each event, second a few short profiles on who I think will do
well, and lastly a ranking of the competitors by optional scores.
I've never done this before, so please don't rag on me if I don't make
myself clear!  I tried to keep this short but was not successful...

Please note: for the first time in the Olympics, the gymnasts will
start over from a score of zero in the finals (both all-around and
event).  None of the scores they have earned thus far carry over to
tonight's competition.  Ie, no one starts with an advantage.  

Vault

Look for what is called "repulsion" or "block".  This refers to how
much of a push a gymnast gets off of the horse... the greater the
repulsion, the more power a gymnast has.  Also look for height and
distance... the easiest visual marks in the eye of a judge.  Clean
form in the air is, as always, important.  Most gymnasts will do what
is commonly called a "Yurchenko-full".  This consists of a round-off
onto the board, a back handspring onto the horse, and then a 1.5
somersault off of the horse in the layout position (body completely
straight) with a full twist added... a very few can complete two twists.
A mark of an especially good vault is to open in the air... if you are
piked or tucked, this would mean you pop out of your (hopefully) tight
position, and if you are in the layout (and have nowhere to popout to,
grin), then spreeaaaad your arms wide to the side.

Uneven Bars

A mark of a good bars worker is straight handstands... the more
vertical the better (you would be surprised at how many gymnasts hit
handstands about 10-15 degrees off).  Legs should stay tight and
together throughout the routine (except when they are obviously
intended otherwise).  The release moves need lots of height and good
rotation, and especially, good form.  Many gymnasts lose their form
when flying over the bar (go figure) by bending their knees -- this is
bad.  Also, a release move should be caught when the shoulders are
even with the bar or sooner.  A skill you will see everyone do is a
"giant" which is just swinging around the bar stretched out... a good
giant floooats over the top of the bar.  A front giant (back leads the
way) is harder then a back giant (when the front leads the way...).
Something that is much harder than it looks is a full pirrouette on
the top of a bar... this requires quick hand changes and lots of
balance.  If someone does, for example, a giant to a full pirrouette
to a release move or dismount, that is pretty impressive.  For the
dismount, look for it to rotate above the high bar.

Balance Beam

Some gymnasts go with elegance on this event, and some prefer the
quick, crisp style.  It doesn't matter which the gymnast chooses, as
long as she does it well.  Extension is very important on this event,
and oftens sets competitors apart from the rest.  Common mounts are
press-to-handstands...  more impressive (but more risky) are acrobatic
moves off of a springboard and onto the beam.  Look at the ankles of
the gymnast...  strong, sure ankles are often a sign of a good
"beamer".  Everyone must do an acrobatic series (most do a back
handspring, layout, layout)... many gymnasts lose form on these.
Leaps must be high and light.  An impressive element to perform on the
beam is a planche -- a gymnast, standing on her hands, holds her body
in a horizontal position.  It requires a lot of balance and strength,
and if done in the reverse position, a lot of flexibility, too.  Look
for the dismount to be *punched* off of the beam, achieving a lot of
height... a dismount preceded by flip-flops is very difficult.

Floor Exercise

Dance and tumbling are the two main elements here.  A lot of excellent
tumblers lose elements on their dance because it isn't smooth or
doesn't follow the music.  Leaps should be done with the shoulders
lifted and legs fully extended.  As for tumbling, their passes almost
always begin with a roundoff, one or two back handsprings
(flip-flops), and then some big skill.  If a gymnast substitutes a
"whip" (back handspring without hands) for a flip-flop, that
demonstrates a lot of power in her legs.  Tumbling usually can be
broken down into twisting (rotate around length of body) and
somersaulting (rotate around axis through the hips).  Just about every
good tumbler does a "full-in" at some point, which consists of two
somersaults, executing a full twist on the first one... you'll be able
to spot it after a while.  Most gymnasts tumble three passes, and a
couple even do four!  There are three basic positions -- tuck, piked,
and layout (that is in order of easiest to hardest).  Also, an
exciting trend is the "punch front"... at the end of a tumbling pass,
a gymnast will not land into the mat, but instead *punch* into the
mat, completely change momentum and rotation, and do a forward
somersault.  Look for a strong last pass... that really impresses the
judges.  Any tumbling that rotates forward is harder because it is
harder to "spot" the landing.

In general 

There are three main categories: difficulty, form, and amplitude.
Form is always always *always* important.  Amplitude refers to how
"big" a skill looks.  Difficulty is not as much of a factor as it
should be... the "Code of Points", which is the rule book for the
judges, has not been updated since right after the 88 Olympics.  But
it is still very important, because it'll impress the judges.

Moevements should always flow... only exceptions being *short* pauses
before tumbling on beam or floor.  Landings usually determine the
winner.  Every competition in recent history has come down to whoever
has the best landings.  No steps, no wobbles, no hops, no shuffles.

----------- The Competitors --------------

Zmeskal qualified with the highest optional total of the night.  Her
best events are floor and vault (she's received 5 tens on this event),
but she is defending world champion on beam (and floor).  Bars are her
weakest.  She has upgraded her beam and floor since 1991... look for
her strong tumbling on floor and super landings on all events, and
consistency throughout.  On floor, she has tumbled a whip,ff,ff,double
layout for her first pass, whip,whip,whip,ff,double tuck for her
second pass, and ff,piked full-in for her last pass.  Dynamite!  She
also now does two tumbling series on beam.

Miller has probably some of the most difficulty of all the
competitors.  On beam she has two tumbling passes, including three
layouts in a row, and dismounts with a full-in.  On bars she does
*three* releases and dismounts with a full-in.  Floor tumbling is a
little weak, and she loses a bit of form sometimes on all events.  Her
choreography on beam and floor is superb.  Her problem has been
consistency in the past.

Boguinskaya is a beautiful gymnast but lacks difficulty on all event
except beam where she mounts with a front tuck.  She has good rhythm
on bars but only one release (beautiful full pirrouettes), and her
tumbling on floor is simple compared to the other competitors.  Her
vault is pretty good.  Like Shannon Miller she has terrific
choreography.

Bontas is a superb tumbler, capable of a double layout with a twist
(only two girls ever have done this, and she is one of them).  Bars is
her weakest event.  She has a gorgeous but sometimes inconsistent vault.
Her beam is impressive (watch how she does her ff,layout,layout
sequence, it's almost as it she digs into the beam... very odd).  But
floor is where she shines.  Sometimes she will vault a double-twisting
Yurchenko, if it's a good day for her.

Lysenko is perhaps the most talented EUN gymnast.  She is superb on
all events.  She is capable of a double-twisting Yurchenko on vault.
On floor, this tiny gymnast uses big movements and excellent
choreography, and super-duper powerful tumbling (middle pass: RO thru
to double tuck, punch front, RO thru to double twist, punch front!).
On bars she has the hardest and most unique mount and dismount of the
competitors, but loses form sometimes.  On beam she mounts with a
layout on directly to two more layouts, and dismounts with flip-flops
to a full-in.

Milosovici was one of my favorites at the 1991 Worlds, for her style.
She was the 91 world champ on vault and the 92 world champ on bars.
She has terrific form usually.  She is a great tumbler, her first pass
a whip through to tucked full-in, punch front (first female *ever* to
do that, takes immense power in the legs and great technique).
Unfortunately I have not seen a lot of her work lately.

Gogean, with a lot of luck could take a medal.  She is a new gymnast
however and so will have to prove herself.  Her bars are *outstanding*
(keep an eye on her releases, as you truly don't want to miss them),
and though I have not seen her vault I have heard she is quite
powerful.

Gutsu, (now that she has "qualified"), has the chance to take it all.
She vaults a double-twisting Yurchenko.  Her bars features a
pike/layout dismount.  This woman is The Ultimate Twister on beam: a
back tuck with a full twist from a *standing* position (ie no rotation
gained from flip-flops to aid her), a full-twisting-back-
handspring-swingdown (called a Rulfova) that makes everyone gasp, plus
a full-in dismount that is preceded by *three* flip-flops.  On floor
she has outstanding tumbling (so-s choreography), with her pass being
a beautiful double layout with legs split on the first layout.  She
did not do this in the team competition, but I hope she does it
tonight.

Onodi, from Hungary, did poorly in the optionals in the team
competition, but is generally regarded as an outstanding gymnast by
everyone.  She is the 92 vaulting champion.  She tumbles 4 passes on
the floor, with the widest variety of skills of all the competitors
(1st: piked full-in, 2nd: *triple* twist, 3rd: double twist, punch
front, and 4th: double pike).  She has an original and creative
beam.  Bars has been her problem, although she has won medals on this
event before... her releases, especially, lack in height.

---------------------------------------------------------
Following is a ranked list of tonight's competitors.  THIS IS NOT AN
OFFICIAL LIST OF RESULTS DISTRIBUTED BY THE FIG.  These are simply my
calculations of the gymnasts optional totals from the optional
competition, which I bothered to calculate because tonight's
competition will be optionals only.  Look for Onodi and Gutsu to move
up in the list.

 1. Kim Zmeskal, USA                39.687
 2. Shannon Miller, USA             39.675
 3. Svetlana Boguinskaya, EUN       39.662 
 4. Cristina Bontas, ROM            39.649
 4. Tatiana Lysenko, EUN            39.649         
 6. Roza Galieva, EUN               39.611 *
 7. Lavinia Milosovici, ROM         39.600
 8. Gina Gogean, ROM                39.537
 9. Betty Okino, USA                39.499
10. Li Yifang, CHN                  39.437
11. Yang Bo, CHN                    39.425
12. Sylvia Mitova, BUL              39.399
13. Sonia Fraguas, ESP              39.348
14. Lu Li, CHN                      39.336
15. Cristina Fraguas, ESP           39.324
16. Tatiana Gutsu, EUN              39.262
17. Stella Umeh, CAN                39.237
18. Luisa Portocarrera, GUA         39.212
19. Andrea Molnar, GER              39.149
20. Henrietta Onodi, HUN            39.074
21. Deliana Vodenitcharova, BUL     38.050
22. Monique Allen, AUS              39.049
22. Kim Gwang-Suk, PRK		    38.049
24. Alicia Fernandez, ESP           39.037
25. Choi Gyong-Hui, PRK             39.037
26. Virginie Machado, FRA          ~38.850
27. Marie-Angeline Colson, FRA      38.750
28. Lisa Read, AUS		    38.724
29. Diane Schroder, GER            ~38.650
30. Kathleen Stark, GER		    38.586
31. Mari Kosuge, JPN               ~38.500
32. Chloe Maigre, FRA               38.373
33. Elvira Becks, The Netherlands   38.324
34. Benedicte Evard, BEL            38.323
35. Kylie Shadbolt, AUS             38.273
36. Pavla Kinclova, TCH             38.187
37. Li Chun-Mi, PRK,                37.900

* Roza Galieva is injured, and so Tatiana Gutsu will be competing in
her place.

~ I don't know the exact scores, these are only approximate guesses.






















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