The absolute best thing that could be done for gymnastics right now would be bringing a handstand/strength/balance requirement back to balance beam. It just baffles me that they haven't done it, it's such a classic part of gymnastics, and if they're trying to bring back artistry, it's an essential part of what makes beam beautiful and artistic!
Couldn't agree more! It's all tumble tumble tumble. That one armed hand stand was amazing! Grace, beauty and artistry and fun tricks have left the building with modern day gymnastics. It's all jerky movements with power and tumbles.
I loved everything Kristie Phillips did. I had incredible back (and everywhere else!) flexibility, but struggled with strength and endurance (three decades later finding out I have Ehlers Danlos Type III). So she was my HERO - I still have my copy of USA Gymnastics with her on the cover! I even had her haircut 😂!
Sadly, we have lost so many awesome , beautiful, and difficult tricks over the years due to the focus on tumbling. We have also lost a lot of the dancing on the floor routines for the same reason.
I was looking for the mount that was on the original photo. My late husband, Michael Robbins was featured on the first magazine cover of International Gymnast(Glen Sundby) doing it and I had never seen it done since. That was around 1960. Many difficult and beautiful routines were lost when gymnastics went onto only using the Olympic 6 event system. They used to do their floor routines on the bare floor and when mats were introduced it cut out all of the floor balancing routines. He was LA City champion in 1955, competed in the last meet with the flying rings, scored in the NCAA finals for UC-Berkeley and a Muscle Beach guy.
@@nanrobbins2916 sorry to hear about your loss, but that is so awesome he was pioneer in this sport. I don't personally remember having just bare floor but I do remember when the springs that are in the floor weren't near as big as they are now. It's no wonder why and how they are able to do the insane tumbling they do now a days. Don't get me wrong they are still very difficult but without the springs under the foam padding and mats the gymnast would not get the height they do in order to pull off many of the tumbling passes they do now.
Side note: The "Li mount" is named after Li Yifang (CHN) in the Code of Points, but apparently she has never performed it (?). The examples shown are performed by Li Li, so the Code may have got it wrong, which certainly wouldn't be the first time.
Li Yifang did perform the skill (handstand to Healy). But she did it in the middle of her routine, not as her mount. Check out footage of her on beam from early 90s Worlds. I'm surprised the move was named after her, though. I always associate it with Li Li--even though Olga Strazheva actually did it in international competition before both of them. Li Li at least has that lovely back spin named after her.
I don’t know why but I love the look of the Li Mount. It’s just so pretty to watch! The Rankin is also amamzingly unique. That mount should be rated higher
I know that today's gymnasts are very strong and do difficult moves but I prefer to watch older events likes these. I enjoy the different mounts, dismounts, and moves. More pleasing to my eye.
idk if this is radical, but it would be fun if they had some kind of static hold requirement. it can show off so much strength and flexibility (and balance). but I guess the powers that be decided they want constant uninterrupted motion with no pauses or hesitation.
If I remember correctly, in the beginning of the 01-04 quad, they tried incorporating it as a requirement on beam to do a static hold. I think Tim & Elfie mentioned it at the 2001 American Cup. Sadly, they seemed to have done away with that requirement after 2001.
The Baitova just goes to prove that some women gymnasts could do the Pamnel Horse with great flare. I always was amazed at Kristie Phillips first placement of her hands when mounting. She always had an open flex in her hand while just using her grip strength to power herself to an incredible Handstand. I believe if she hadn't chosen gymnastics, she could have had a show on the Las Vegas Strip performing contortion. She was so incredibly flexible. I don't care if you're made of Steele or what, but the Li always makes me cringe. Control decent or not, that has got to hurt! ps. Great video. I don't know where you researched to find all these shots, but Bravo!!
Mounts like that one are tough because they take several seconds to perform and the athletes have to cram so many skills into a 90 second time limit. They still show up in NCAA routines, though, where there are fewer composition requirements and thus a bit more room for this kind of skill. Peng-Peng Lee (UCLA) famously did a very similar mount throughout her NCAA career.
@@Margo-oj5yc So many badly done, ugly 'skills' and zero grace. Grandi , Smelly Scrim, etc, ruined gymnastics. USAG and the Karolyicunts didn't help. LOL!
Agreed,much of the individuality and personal Style and uniquely rare elements have been removed from current day gymnastics..Maybe they can bring the uneven bars back together and let the Gymnastics just "Go for it"..it's a dangerous sport anyway and the beauty and femininity and dance elements have been simply replaced with difficult tumbling moves.Personally I Love Old School Gymnasts with the Legends.
I think it would be super nice from a choreography perspective to see an acro series connected to the Rankin mount, I think the way it would contrast the pause in the handstand would be really pretty if it could be done well.
I forget what it’s called, but I absolutely love that mount Dominique Moceanu did in the ‘96 Olympics. I know it’s not the hardest, but I’d never seen anything like it.
Silivas started that in at least 1988 at the Seoul Olympic, she was doing it then. She also did a variation later like in 1989 or 1990 that had her in that chest stand position but she lets go of the beam for a second or so and flexes her arms so they’re straight, putting all her weight on the chest and no arm or hand support. Anyone remember that variation? I can’t recall the first comp I saw her do it but it was just after the Seoul Olympics. I’m old ha. Edit .. double checked and she was doing this variation at the 1989 world championships so check video for that, she has a ponytail by then.
I would love to see a return to strength, control and creativity in gymnastics...as well as some prettier, more fluid dance movements on floor and beam!
I loved watching Oksana Omelianchik's beam and floors because she had so many original moves. Todya's gymnastics is so boring and cookie cutter. Things like the Phillips should be rewarded because it's not another freaking wolf turn.
She was the absolute best gymnast of her time when it came to originality. I loved watching her programs because you never knew what she was going to do and you had to rewind the tape over and over to try to figure out what she was doing.
This is awesome! It's so bizarre that they ban or give low points for safe and yet difficult and beautiful moves. They make the sport less than it can be. The strength and creativity of these gymnasts deserve much respect.
All of these mounts are Amazing! The "Phillips" looks Especially difficult, and appears to only be suited to those gymnasts with an extremely flexible back and flawless Balance💙🌟💙🌟💙🌟💙
I think athletic pole dancing should be added to the Olympics because it uses so many similar moves to those don’t by the gymnasts in this video. It’s all about strength, stretches, elegance and is actually a very hard sport.
Some of the new rules are so stupid... i was watching some old gymnastics videos in which most of top gymnasts did triple twists, one of the most beautiful skills on floor. Today they are mostly doing double twists. But why?? I think it's because to do a very intrincate skill like a triple twist the gymnast need take a breath on floor corner. I would like to know who are the responsible for making gymnastics a progressively boring, ugly and uninspiring sports??
I am always amazed by the beauty, strength and flexibility of gymnasts. I can’t imagine the amount of bruises these women endure while mastering such moves! I hurt just watching some of these!
@@hannahwalmer1124 yeah, I was aware of the bonus, but it's still pretty rare to see a D+ mount these days, just like on bars, you're lucky to get anything above an A.
For average people with no aor no good education in sports this is altogether fantastic. Just imagining an average person jumping towards a beam and them standing in a handstand on one hand is absurd. It takes years of really hard and often painful work and of course besides the physical capabilities the will and the courage to do it again and again and again. For that these girls and women are to be admired.
I agree that the Philips is beautiful & unique and beam routines have become very formulaic - but is part of the reason that we don't see a lot of moves like that is because the hyperextension of the back is quite bad for gymnasts' bodies?
Plus you have to be extremely flexible to even pull it off. All gymnasts have some form of flexibility, but some have more than others why others have less
Kristie has an exceptional degree of back flexibility, almost reminiscent of a cat. You are correct that very few gymnasts can do it without risking injury. It's not worth it.
That RANKIN is INSANE! The powers that be seem not to know how to bring back originality to beam hence the reason why routines are generally not exciting to watch.
I like all these mounts but I loved watching the 96 Olympics and seeing Dominique's mount in the clip and the flares I usually see men do on the pommel and the Philips mount is cool too
I think we need to remember it’s called artistic gymnastics and bring the artistics back. Rather than disjointed acrobatics and tumblings for the sake of a high score!
RANKIN... The Strength you have to have not only in your Arms, makes this my Favorite,, its Amazing!!! I really miss my days of Gymnastics Competition; Saturday Compulsory Routines on Sunday Optional Routines... I think it should go back to that 1970/80's.. 12 Years In Gymnastics, Competitions for 10yrs, Then Coached 2yrs.. ... ahhhh..
Hey have you ever checked out 1976 Olympic Team Champion Svetlana Grozdova? She did, for that era, a remarkable beam routine that was "off the charts" in unique and difficult skills. She unfortunately did not medal on beam finals after a fall which is heart wrenching in my opinion.
I hope they start incorporating different techniques. Almost all the beam routines today are identical and quite frankly a little boring. Dont get me wrong, I completely respect the routines today and their difficulty, but each one looks the same except for maybe the dismount. This video shows real originality.
Maybe instead of just two kinds of gymnastics, artistic and rhythmic, create a new one called power gymnastics so we can see the old school type for the artistic gymnastics (that is not that artistic now given the focus on powerful moves and tumbling skills) and what we have now as another category.
It is understandable that certain things disappeared. Due to the fact that they are very dangerous. It is nice and exciting to look at but at later age it can also give disabilities.
I'm absolutely gobsmacked that these mounts have been mostly, or altogether discontinued in gymnastics today! they're incredible! and these women are incredible that they're named after. a different time, a different era. nothing ever stays the same. 😔 💕✌
Omgosh! I kind of sucked at gymnastics but I could do the Phillips! I could do a backwalk over on the beam horizontally. I had a weird moment when I got stuck on a giant on bars & my back was extra flexible ever since. My but hit my head. It’s been 30 years but my back is still a bit flexible.
You should pay closer attention before making such ridiculous comments. They're not putting weight nor pressure on their necks at all. It's called a "neck stand" because the neck is below the horizontal horizon of the beam.........
they all look very painfull, sometimes I put my foot too far on the step of the stairs, that already hurt. Imagen that bar, no cushioning, it is rock hard!
The greatest mount is the one where they jump on a springboard and somersault onto the beam and land solidly on their feet. Nothing harder than that. All others are mere child's play compared to that mount.
judges dont like to see new moves because there is nothing to compare it to, so its difficult to score. there should be more scoring for artistic and originality, not just technical ability.
