1988 Olympics Women's Gymnastics Event Finals - complete 

Great competition that was marred by very inconsistent, unfair judging. Sillivas should not have won floor with some of her landings, your silver medalist in bars was a joke and so on and so on.

​@@saragrant9749Rubbish. Silivas was the best on floor throughout each competition, from Compulsories, Team Optionals and Finals. Or have you forgotten that back then scores carried over from the Team events?? NONE of the finalists came close to Daniela Silivas in Compulsory Floor Exercise where she received a richly deserved perfect 10.00! She was at least .50 better than any of the other finalists' Compulsory Floors alone!

@@mysticalmargaret6105 no, I haven’t forgotten. Her final floor routine was not even close to a 9.987, not with how she landed on her first tumble. It was a laughable score given only by reputation and nothing more. 9.887 would have been more appropriate.

Agree! Daniela deserves gold for being the only gymnast that could make the “robot move” cool

She really was an amazing gymnast. She was also a wife and a mother. While my heart breaks for the gymnastics world, it breaks even more for her husband and their son who are left behind. 💔🙏🏻

​@KristinCortez For years I tried to wrap my brain around it. I blamed terrible quality of Russian health care, thought perhaps Elena had fallen to some habits that compromised her health (not having seen her for 30 years). But then last fall, Mary Lou Retton came very very close to dying of the same thing. The pneumonia hit her out of nowhere, and she was negative for Covid, RSV, everything. A complete wtf. 🤯 So now, seeing a pattern, I'm kind of worried about Tatiana Gutsu.😬

@@KristinCortezI had heard she passed but at first didn’t understand how it could happen to someone that young. When I heard pneumonia… just bizarre and tragic.

@@DianaDeLunaagree so young. My teammate from college passed only at 42 from pneumonia and was always the beacon of health. 😢

@@DianaDeLunaI had bad pneumonia in late May- early June 2024. I was hospitalized two weeks had to have a chest tube. It was staphylococcus. Probably MRSA. All those antibiotics and the bacteria alone kicked me into an autoimmune reaction with high platelets. Don’t know about what Mary Lou’s was or the others but sepsis sets in and you’ve got a problem.

With some very generous scores.

Agreed!!

She really did, and helped to open the door for the American gymnasts during the era of Soviet controlled judging.

@@saragrant9749 I had no idea it was a majority Soviet panel. TY!

@@pam0626 it wasn’t, but the Soviets carried a huge level of influence on those judges- because they heavily influenced the FIG. Quite often the judge who was from a non eastern bloc area was the one whose scores reflected reality- and were dismissed as a result. You can argue otherwise but history doesn’t lie.

@@saragrant9749 🤣

Hahaha :)

she can't control that she got a 10 with a hop

And I bet you have no problem with the countless eastern bloc countries that were awarded exaggerated scores simply because of who they were through history… but of course an American or non Eastern bloc person is an issue. Hypocrisy much?

@@saragrant9749 Actually, I have a problem with most imperfect 10s. They should have all scored lower. Silivas's compulsories are some of the very few exceptions that I think deserved the 10.

@@Ian.D. there have absolutely been some very deserving tens, and I agree with Sillivss’ Compulseries. Her score on floor final was extremely overdone and highly unfair to the other athletes who performed cleaner routines but received lower scores. The performance I think of as a ten as well was her bars- THAT was pure perfection. I just know that over the years a lot of people have pointed out the scores of the Americans in 1984 while completely ignoring a great number of others- from the USSR and East Germany in particular- that were even more blatant. Fair is fair.

Maybe then but not now

@@Allison-ti5vv you know who is tho

lol not even close. Queen of an era where eastern bloc origin mattered a great deal is more like it. Here for example… Bars? Awesome. Beam? Near perfection. Floor? A complete asinine joke and vault? Even more of a travesty.

👍👍👍

​@@saragrant9749 Daniela, is something, you never by..😂😂😂...The hate from your words tels evrything, about you 👎👎..a big lack of common sense..

I only wish she’d kept going after 1988, she could definitely have made the 1992 team. Did she choose to retire after these games or did injuries force her to stop?

And the only one that could make a perm and robot move cool! She’s my fave ever!

Hahahahahha sim , pq no Allaround ela chorou . Agora ela riu

Definitely showed the level of sportsmanship and respect she had… 🙄

@@saragrant9749 Yeah shes a great gymnast but I can't actually think of a more prolific top gymnast who I dislike more as a person. Remember in the aa where she tried to literally psyc out Elena right before the most important vault of her life. Absolute loser behavior, and I'm glad she never got to feel what it's like to be the best gymnast in the world because of it.

@@RuaridhDavidson well, there was also Khorkina celebrating when Presecan stepped out of bounds at Euros one year, Shannon Miller celebrating when Roza Galiyeva fell off balance beam in 1996, and Carly Patterson's "Gee that's too bad " in 2003. Podkopayeva's glacial glare at Mo Huilan (who smirked !)in 1996, Nadia Comaneci blowing cloud of chalk dust in Stella Zakharova's face in 1979 that stand out as worse to me than Silivas' leaning against the boards or giving a half smile. Then again , I never held that against any of them either. This wasn't gymNICEstics _ -these girls were all ruthless competitors.

@@escaflowne9282take2 Those are for sure poor sportsmanship moments, but its very different trying to psyche out your opponents the way silivas did RIGHT BEFORE her performances. Before the most important vault of her life no less. All those you listed happened after/ as a response to a performance of a competitor ( I think with the exception of nadia though correct me if im wrong). If shushu didnt and have and wasnt known for being utterly nerveless that may have been the push needed to deliver a less than 10.0 vault. Unfortunately for silivas, and thankfully for everyone else, shushunova was a competitor that could not be psyched out by such childish actions.

Elle Burger, the head judge who happens to be from East Germany.

@Mellissa Boomer of the Night not sure why you used the orphanages part as an example of perverse control. I think that was actually one of the better aspects of it all. These orphanages were very bleak and most of these children dreamed of representing their country via such a sport as gymnastics. It was seen as something to be proud of and cherish, which is a great thing to develop in our youth. To respect, support, and love your country and develop camaraderie with other countries, which sports allow. Training and pursuing a sport was seen as a blessing and tons of young kids were brought to evaluations by their PARENTS to try to win a coveted spot at a training facility. The fact that they also considered kids in orphanages was good for those children, even if their motivation was to win gold medals (the adults, I mean). They usually asked who was actually interested in the sport and those who volunteered were evaluated physically. You made it sound as though they were forced and kidnapped lol Nadia actually had a similar story, only hers was in her school. Coaches came and ASKED them who was interested and she volunteered. She had the right physicality and was accepted. The trainings are always hard, including in the US…Karolyi trained US gymnasts btw for the majority of his career and so did his wife. Non-athletes simply don’t understand as well as millennials and sensitive genz’s. They also weren’t starved; it’s physically impossible to perform at this level with zero food. They were placed on strict diets, there is a difference. The amount of American gymnasts suffering from disordered eating is too high for you to make this a ‘communist thing’. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to come at you or anything, but your comment was a but unfair and very biased and misinformed. You seem to be blaming a lot on communist countries and the Soviet Union in regards to gymnastics when in reality these things were also rampant in American gyms nationwide, nit just the Karolyi ranch, and I think some of your statements were a bit hyperbolic. Hopefully this helped you see a different perspective on the matter 🤗🤗

@Mellissa Boomer of the Night That’s inaccurate, they didn’t starve them. You saw Shoushounava right. That’s your ethnocentrism. I would’ve love a spot at one of these training camps. Also you know Shannon Miller went to the Soviet Union to train when she was going right? She said their hard work and training strategies made her the gymnast she was and that she tried to adapt as much of it as possible. Also, her coach Nunno had weight requirements as well. Strict ones. That was here in the U.S

@@krisuler7734 Right. As an American child I would’ve given anything to have a scholarship to one of these “terrible” Soviet training camps. Would’ve been a dream come true. It’s hard work, but hard work equals medals and excellence.

Yep, the Soviet Union. It’s been well known for years that they were in the pockets of those cheaters.

She sure did. Unfortunately politics played a crucial role in scoring.

And I rushed home from work!!

Superb weren’t they , there is no one in the last 15 years that comes close to these gymnasts, I love watching these videos thankyou so much ❤

The golden era of blatantly biased judging and unfair scoring is more like it.

The US has some very talented and good gymnasts.

Not sure about the hair cut comment! These are very unbecoming styles!

Back when country of origin also determined scores.

Yep. Current gymnasts are glorified tumblers. Can’t do much else on the floor at all. Lack grace and elegance.

Now they are robots seeing who jumps higher

10 after landing with your chest practically touching your knees is nasty work

If they were from the Soviet Union (unified team) to be specific. The 1992 games were the last time the world saw such blatant favoritism from the judges.

Right... ​@@saragrant9749

The biggest reason it was so much more difficult was because, with the Soviets there the judges were going to only support them- the ones who were paying their salaries. Yes, the Soviets BOUGHT the scores they got throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s unfortunately. It’s actually been documented since then that this was occurring but sadly no consequence were ever paid. Now at least the judges go based on actual performance.

@@saragrant9749 Unfortunately I believe it. I also want to know what the East Germans did to get such generous scores at this event. They should have finished no higher than fifth. Their Beam scores in particular were laughably inflated.

@@mikeg8375 And vaults also

@@mikeg8375that is absolutely true. Eastern bloc countries had a great deal of influence on scoring.

Part of me really wishes that the IOC should right this wrong, As unrealistic as it may be... But I never would have thought they would have gotten it right with 2000 team bronze, So I suppose anything is possible. I'd love to see it someday.

Actually 1988 Olympics was cast on ABC not NBC

@@sherleybozieux The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary were on ABC; The Summer Olympics in Seoul were on NBC. Do your homework because I know I am correct on this.

Mary Lou was an awesome athlete but she sucked as a commentator. She was awkwardly quiet at times which resulted in Bart talking more than he does normally to bail her out... Dick Enberg was a knowledgeable host but unfortunately said some really creepy things that made me cringe... Bart was always an awesome commentator but the dynamic with his two partners did not work...

Dont worry... Its true

@QPHashSS77 Totally agree with you. That Silivas compulsory floor routine is one of the most perfect pieces of gymnastics EVER.

She didn’t deserve the All around Gold.. it was Silivas

There were several highly inflated scores during those games, costing some very deserving athletes their rightly deserved medals. Unfortunately politics played a crucial role in scoring.

​@@billywaynecoakleySoviets always robbed us..a small country but with a big heart 😅❤

Welcome to eastern bloc scoring.

On bars and beam in the individual finals, absolutely- but definitely not floor. In the AA finals, without carryover scores she’d have won.

You know she'll never see this, right? Know what she CAN see? That gold AA medal.

She wasn’t the only one given scores that were questionable in those games- Szabo had errors that were overlooked as well. Just because your precious Romanian princess didn’t win doesn’t detract from the results. And where is Romania now? Oh yes, irrelevant!

😂😂😂

Daniela would have won barring carryover scores. Szabo would have won if she hadn’t FALLEN IN OPTIONAL BARS!!

For certain countries, absolutely.

Teodora Ungureanu sadly underrated & underscored.

What happens when politics determines scores.

That would be Borjana Stojanova. I thought both her and Brandy Johnson should've finished ahead of Silivas on that event.

And floor. Her landings on a couple of passes should have been deducted.

Russian swan.

@@saragrant9749 I love her here too- she was up and coming, and still did so well!!

Sillivas also got some generous scores- especially on floor. That routine was not 9.987 worthy.

What part of Dagmar taking a hop on landing eludes you? A hop should have resulted in no more than a 9.95, the same as Phoebe. Stellar or not an error is an error! And yes, the judging WAS biased in a big way towards the Eastern European countries- anyone with actual eyeballs could see that. You want to complain about Phoebe on bars? How about Sillivas having multiple landing deductions on floor that were completely ignored! How about Shushunova having multiple checks on beam that were ignored!

@QPHashSS77 Silivas in no way deserved a vault medal. She even admitted it in her recent interview with David Lease. She basically said "the judges and everyone felt sorry for me after barely losing the AA at a major meet again, so I guess they just decided oh her you go, a bit of a gift for you- a vault medal." Johnson or Stoyanova deserved the bronze instead of her. And Dagmer Kersten 6th in vault finals, what the fuck, her vaulting is horrible.

Preliminary scores carried over in those days. Brandy's prelim scores weren't high enough to catch the top girls, unless they all made a mistake. It wasn't just Silivas, the judging was generous for all of the Soviet, Romanian and East German girls. Otherwise, Brandy likely would've been in the top 3 going into the Finals.

@@tylerbam7183 I always wondered how it was that Dagmar Kersten was even in vault finals. The split legs in post flight was atrocious looking. I'm guessing the DDR leotard helped.

He's american, he can 😜

Many Eastern Bloc gymnasts were given blatantly overinflated scores throughout history, no one gripes about that. And before you say anything, I’ve seen his routine and it was far more subtle than Kersteb with a VERY VISIBLE HOP! The second an American gets a “gift” it’s a travesty. Talk about selfish bias.

@@maxglendale7614 and how many unrealistic scores were given to eastern bloc countries over the years? Right, too many to count!! People don’t whine about that so it shows their blatant bias and hypocrisy.

Nadia Comaneci’s wack acid trip routine from 1978 is worse than all of those

Yes i m wondering the same question. It was easy to have 10 in 1984 1988

The problem for her in the AA was beam- she had some uncharacteristic bobbles that cost her in the end. Also blame the carryover scores- she’d have won in spite of a less than perfect beam without that part factored in.

@@saragrant9749 She was also a weak vaulter. Elena had no weak event, she was the better gymnast and that's consistent Silivas failed to ever place ahead of her in the aa at world/olympic level. Dobre at her peak was better for the same reason.

@@RuaridhDavidson agreed. I was so gutted when Aurelia was too injured to really be competitive at Seoul, being the world AA champion she could definitely have contended sans the knee issue. At least she did leave with the team medal, but what could have been!!

@@RuaridhDavidson Shushunova was a true all around gymnast. Her style wasn't my cup of tea on all events; I loved her vaults, her floor tumbling was very innovative, and her bars had very good difficulty. Beam was jam packed, I wasn't a huge fan of her rhythm/composition for that era, but by today's standards it would be the class of the field. I am not sure I agree about Dobre vs Silivas. Dobre was a better vaulter for sure at her peak than Silivas. Floor was good as Dobre's lines were impeccable, but Silivas had better and more difficult tumbling. Silivas was just flat out better on uneven bars, Dobre's swing left me unimpressed. Dobre had gorgeous beam composition, but tended to have broken connections and fewer flight elements than either Sil or Shush who both had errors in 1987. I'd also add Silivas was a stronger compulsory gymnast (than everyone really). But , she never could do more than a mediocre middle of the road vault at her best . Dobre had a stronger event at the 87 Worlds, but I actually think both Shushunova and Silivas were stronger all around gymnasts at their peaks.

Szabo had a fall on her dismount off of the uneven bars in the team optionals, so her carry over score was a lower than she would have liked. She undoubtedly would have taken the gold in the AA if that hadn't been the case. Perhaps she would have taken a bronze in the bars final if she qualified.

Funny how you only complain about Mary Lou but not all the Soviet gymnasts given ridiculously overinflated scores throughout the years. Hypocrisy much?

She FELL on optional bars. That doesn’t win you an AA gold, get over it.

​@@saragrant9749 so don't say that Comaneci deserves the gold over Davydova 😅

@@andradasa I never did. Comaneci was given some of her 10’s in 1976- on routines that didn’t have a stuck dismount! That is the definition of NOT a perfect 10.

Welcome to eastern bloc scoring.

Very dated use but it means healthy or strong (I think), it was used a lot in Jane Austen times too 😃😅

Lol. It was a marker for the gymnast to place thier feet.

Yup. Welcome to the Soviet and eastern bloc era of scoring.

*insane

Sillivas winning floor was also not correct. She had a couple of noticeable errors too that were not accounted for.