I have been fascinated with Omelianchick for years. Her unique way to emote joy on floor and even on beam, was absolutely remarkable. Literally nobody has been able to match that sort of joyous artistry.
Vous oubliez Olga Korbut ! qui souriait avec ses petites couettes, voyons, une biélorusse, les russes ont été exclut des JO de Paris car ce sont les plus fortes, toutes les gymnastes des pays de l'est sont d'un niveau plus élevés, élégantes, naturelle, entièrement des filles pas transformées ni trafiquées, mais très entrainaient, elles ont la grâce, l'élégance, la souplesse, et prend plaisir......
Thank you, dear Boban! Also, your videos were a Godsend for the creation of this! 🙏. ESPECIALLY Yelena's 88 AA vault. You were the only one who showed her and Oksana embracing when she came down from the podium. It was absolutely crucial for my script! 💗
I’m a 1970 born girl, too. I fell in love with her gymnastics as a high schooler, watching the 1986 Goodwill Games. She is one of my all time faves and I couldn’t agree more that she was so unique in her style, innovation, and presence -- her routines always demonstrated how much she adored this sport. Well done video!!
I can relate to everything you wrote. She was amazing. Oksana was also more influential than she gets credit for. Soviet gymnasts from the mid to late 80s we’re amazing.
She is my all time favorite gymnast. The quality of her movement, the originality of the skills she performed, the emotion she she had when she was on the beam and floor. Perfection. She is literally what artistic gymnastics should be: difficulty, grace, elegance. I disliked Mary Lou and Elena S. for their brutalist approach to the sport, so heavy, so lacking grace. It was never pretty to watch. Simone is amazing but I'm never awed by her movement in the same way I'm awed by Oksana. Yes, she spins and twists and is amazing, but Oksana was so original. Thank you for this love song to Oksana. I hope she gets to watch it. I hope she gets to see that she has a devoted fanbase who truly think she was the best gymnast of her time. I never hear birds chirping when I don't try a sad releve in my yard and imagine myself flipping around gracefully.
I agree with the above so much-perfectly put. So beautiful to watch. Oksana’s ‘birdy’ floor routine will always have such a special place in my heart. ❤
SO good! Omelianchik was one of a kind and definitely one of my all time favorites. Her form, her innovation, her presence. She was literally the total package. Wish she'd had an Olympics. But she gave us (at least half of) one of the most fantastic World Championships of all time! Thanks, Wally!
it breaks my heart that she wasn’t on the 88 team because it was so iconic but she had been so inconsistent leading up to these olympics. i would have loved to see her in the olympics in 88
As a former men’s British Gymnast, I absolutely love this guy. This was my era, growing up in the 80s and training every night. These were the greatest women gymnasts ever. IMO.
I still have a poster of her that came in International Gymnast magazine from 1985. I was only a toddler then, but back in the early 2000s IG was selling their back catalogue of magazines. The photography was perfection!
The posters behind me are from International Gymnast! I subscribed for many years. Unfortunately, I lost or had to throw away the ones I had on my "Gymnastics Hall of Fame" at my old apartment 😢.
@@Boban1611 Yeahh the back issues!! I ordered this amazing pack containing the issues for the 5 World Championships of the 80s - couldn't stop looking at them! The 1985 Pictorial one was a dream... 😁
The IG issue featuring the 1985 Europeans had this full page photo of Oksana doing a split leap on beam... it's the most beautiful gymnastics photo I've ever seen...
@@MrMartinportnoy It was in 1991 when I was in London with my school class and there I found in a store an edition of IG - I had no idea, that this magazine existed. Remember it was the time before the internet... so I had to figure out how to subscribe and how to send money to them.... To this day I remember the green color of the cheque I had to sent via snail-mail. Unbelievable today! The first back Issue I have is the one from Jan 1986 - which contains the Worlds from 1985 - and in February there was a sort of special issue again with the theme of the Montreal Worlds.
One of my favourites from the mid 1980s. I think she was in the unfortunate position of hitting her peak between Olympics, but she leaves a far greater legacy with her innovative gymnastics. You can't help but smile when you watch her 1985-86 floor!
My favourite gymnast of all time 100 percent. So much character, beautiful lines, incredible tumbles. ❤ Thank you for making this I don’t thinks she gets the recognition she deserves. 🙌🏼
What a lovely video, well researched,great knowledge of the sport, and beautifully presented! Oksana was as interesting to watch between acrobatic elements because of her dance technique and artistic expression as she was on the more daring elements. It was wonderful to see such a tribute to a gymnast (one of many) whose rise and descent came between Olympic Games. I loved your comment that Oksana was really the only gymnast who could equal Danielle Silivas in compulsory floor, they both had a light fairy like quality in their artistry and dance. Thank you Wally, one of your best!
I didn't become a fan of hers until well after her career was over. But, she quickly became one of my favourites. I loved her '85 routines and her expressive nature. She was absolutely adorable. I was devastated to learn she wasn't on the '88 team. She definitely was not at her best at the '87 worlds.
I've always wondered what her real birthdate was, because IG used to have this birthday list, where she was first recorded as born on Dec. 31 1969, but she's now listed everywhere as born on Jan. 2 1970 🤷🏼♂️❓️
Great video! Thank you so much for putting this together. Oksana O. and Daniela S. are my two all-time favorite gymnasts. They peaked during 1985 - 1987, when in my humble opinion, the sport of artistic gymnastics also was peaking. Sadly, it was downhill from there, as the major changes to the code of points, combined with the eventual elimination of compulsories, turned the sport into pure acrobatics. And not even beautiful acrobatics, because of course acrobatics can be beautiful. What we see today is downright ugly. The women don't even seem capable of pointing their toes. They curl them! Truly hideous.
Wow - what a thoroughly enjoyable video. Really good to learn new facts about Oksana - as she is my favourite gymnast. You can see the time and effort that you have put into making this video. It must have taken ages putting it all together - you should be very proud of your work. I so look forward to your videos - you are the best! Thank You ❤
I didn’t get a notification on this so just saw it today. Excellent, as always! Where have you been? Not posting or just for Patreon? Hope you’re well!!!!
I've been working on my Instagram series documenting every World and Olympic winning routine since 1970. I do post monthly videos on Patreon. My life has been incredibly chaotic recently, but hopefully it will get back to normal soon. I have a couple of video ideas for this channel 💗.
I know you said the USSR made the right choice making her the alternate for 1988. Do you think she could have outperformed Shevchenko? I also think Baitova was kind of sacrificed going up first. This was an excellent video, by the way
Thank you! I know you have high standards, so the compliment means a lot. I don't think she could have outperformed anyone on the team honestly, except possibly on beam. Her low landings on floor, in particular, were a detriment. She showed beautiful expression and artistry, but all the gymnasts who made the team just didn't have the same built-in deductions that 1988 Omelianchik did IMO. Also, Baitova was competing on a broken wrist in Seoul, yet she still did not water down her difficulty. Legend. I feel a bit sorry for Olga Chudina, who beat Baitova, Strazheva, and Omelianchik at the USSR Cup--yet still was only the non-traveling alternate. The coaches definitely learned their lesson from 1987 😂.
@@thesovgc That's a good point. I think her compulsories were probably better than most, and I do think her optional floor could have been an issue, I just think Shevchenko was kind of flat on most of her routine, but who knows, Oksana may have been inconsistent in practice, which could have been an issue. Pity though. Keep up the great work!
@@metsdudenjI probably enjoy Shevchenko more than many, but it's really unfortunate she watered down her routines to what she had shown in 1986. She had perhaps one of the best full-ins off beam I've ever seen. Also her 1 1/2 to full-in on floor was 🔥. I also floved her Pink Panther floor, but her 89 floor was even better!! I do agree that Omelianchik had lovely compulsories, particularly on beam and floor. She likely was the only one who could even come close to Silivaș on compulsory floor.
@@mokunju8296 Hot Take: Shevchenko's 89 choreography is better than all the routines in Seoul + Omelianchik except for Boginskaya's Carmen. I agree that Yelena's Pink Panther was *chef's kiss*, but she'd had it for three seasons at least by Seoul. Oksana's Ballet Russe felt fresher to me. I think they were both great, though. I will forever be gutted Strazheva couldn't compete floor and get the double front named for her.
Thanks for this video. I remember back in the day watching the 1988 Olympics and wondering why Oksana wasn't competing. I figured she retired because of injuries. BTW, I saw Baitova compete in the American Cup and thought the Soviets didn't want to send one of their top athletes. I was shocked when I saw her performing at the Olympic Games.
She was the first to do the full-in piked double-back to back handspring on FX. Ecaterina Szabo did the same pass but in the tuck position back in 1982.
When I think in Omeliantxik, Silivas comes my mind Both were very plastic, with unbelievable acrobacy and very charismathic and cheerful with crowd SILIVAS was the Romanisn Omeliantxik and OMELIANTXIK was the Soviet Silivas
Great video on my all-time favourite - thanks a lot 💜Just a comment about 10:50 - technically she did qualify for the vaulting final over Baitova, but for some unfathomable reason the coaches favoured Svetlana... My guess is that Baitova had a double twisting Yurchenko, plus Oksana had crashed one of her vaults in the AA so maybe they thought the Belarussian Swan had more chances to medal. Hope to see more tributes on other 80s Greats! 😁
My all-time favorite gymnast, i was crushed when in 1988 she was just the alternate, but still cherish the videos i have of her from 1985. Glad she was inducted in the IGHOF recently; at her speech there, she was assisted by a translator, does anyone know if this was her daughter? She looked familiar..
Omelianchick was TINY, TINY in the beam win 🏆 at her 1985 World Balance Beam title win! I adore her poise, confidence, joy, and smile. What a sweet look! How old was she there at 2:31 ?
I was born in 1970 too, AroAce ♠️, and I was moonily obsessed with this cohort of gymnasts the way other girls my age were mooning over boys.🥰 Thanks for showcasing Omelianchik and mentioning how she is today. Is she still living in Ukraine during wartime?
Many times athletes like her were over trained and injured by their coaches before they could even compete. By the competition they were injured and unable to recover fully. Many times they were warned to never discuss this. This may have been why some of her competitions were shaky.
@@thesovgcfrom Wikipedia: "Until 2018 it encompassed the same area as the Far Eastern Federal District, which then was enlarged by Buryatia Republic and Zabaykalsky Krai". She is sure a Siberian girl). Thank you very much for your work!
Svetlana Lebedinskaya. The oft-forgotten member of the team. A stunning gymnast, though 😍. She was the AA co-champion at the 1986 USA vs USSR meet and now coaches and runs her own gymnastics academy in England called Swan Gymnastics. (The beginning of her name, lebed, means "swan" in Russian.) She is also infamous for being the object of Bart Conner pervily crushing on her and saying he was in love with her when she was 14 and he was like.. twice that 😭.
That's a good question. Definitely someone after 1996 bc during the 93-96 Code, a back dive with a quarter turn to handstand was considered an "Omelianchik". It's how Miloșovici code-whored her way to the 1993 World Title. I can't think of any during the 1997-2000 quad off the top of my head, although it was written in the Code as a 3/4 turn to handstand. I only remember seeing them in the 2001-2004 Code. The first that comes to mind is Ashley Postell in 2002, which isn't completely surprising considering she had the same coach as Oksana. I imagine someone did one before her though.
@@thesovgc 4 out of the 6 of them I had on what I’d choose the team as if it was me making the decision. But I also wasn’t allowing for the max amount per country/whatever they were each called at the time. I wasn’t born yet so I don’t no how to exactly worth it.
Because she didn't tumble as though she had a death wish. I also think her bars were a little cleaner and a little less labored. I also think she was a more natural and more powerful vaulter.
@@thesovgc On her name alone Omelianchik would have already scored higher than Shevchenko on practically every routine, if she was even in decent shape. Which makes me think she wasn't in decent shape at the time the team was picked.
AHHHRRGGGHHH!!! It is NOT pronounced KEEV. There are two syllables in Kiev (Київ), and I am far from an authority on the Ukrainian language, but I do know that it is more pronounced as (KEE-yihv). That third letter ( ї ) is from what I've learned is like the "yi" in "yippie"...or something on that order, but there are two definite syllables that non-Ukrainians are not hearing and thus butchering the name of their capital city. Бажаю успіху!
