It's always interesting to me to see Chusovitina in older videos. Different hair, different look etc, but then I think about the fact that she's still going. She's had a remarkable career. Easy to forget she was part of that Soviet dynasty in gymnastics.
I'm glad Onodi switched to Hungarian Rhapsody. That was excellent music and her Olympic routine was stellar. She and Milo were both incredible in Barcelona.
Hetti all the way. (I am completely biased, btw because she was always a favorite of mine) Karolyi's gymnasts had the absolute worst/most embarrassing choreography ever seen in artistic gymnastics. I find that exceedingly disappointing considering the the relentless overtraining their gymnasts endured. They deserved better.
Onodi literally competed THREE different floor routines in 1992 because she did her old routine at the beginning of the year before doing West Side Story. Unreal! Love her!
I also really thought at the time and now that Onodi should have won. Zmeskals wins in 91 and here were the first drops of poison in the well of artistry. At the time it was barely perceptible, but I think that over time many people began to rue the day when this aerobic style of performance won over true artistry in dance and lead to the sport we call gymnastics today. In a sport that literally has “artistic” in its name this is very sad. We certainly want to see evolution and advance in difficulty, but it should not come at the expense of the artistic expression and technique in the sport. Thanks for the recognition of Vanda Hadarean, such an elegant athlete, but one of many casualties of a head coaches lineup order. Wally, you are the best!
Can't like this enough. Honestly I hate watching the Americans now - like Russia in Figure Skating, artistry is gone in place of attempting the highest scoring elements. Step out of bounds? No problem, your element score will basically make it not hurt you. I miss the old days.
@alayna504 don't even watch it anymore. They don't stick landings and it seems that they don't care. I saw biles fall on her landing on her vault and she still took 2nd-she would have won if her coach wasn't on the mat during her landing which she got a deduction for. The last time I watched was 2012. Biles is ruining the sport- not making it better.
I’m pro Henrietta’s Hungarian rhapsody! It’s one for the ages for me and she in general was just such a well rounded gymnasts. Love the nostalgia and love your channel!
I thought Henrietta’s was the better routine- it was a perfect blend of artistry and difficulty. I always felt bad for the Karolyi gymnasts bc their floor routines were always so badly choreographed. I agree with you regarding Vanda- I thought she was the most artistic of the Romanians that quad- beautiful lines and expression.
I've always been aware of this competition but I've never actually seen/watched it. Now I'll have to--especially to watch that Onodi West Side Story FX. Thanks as always Wally!
Hello! Fellow romanian here, actually "Neculita" it's just a common family name, it doesn't translate into bitch. If you want to insult someone in romanian and tell them bitch u say "curva" or "tarfa". Either way keep it up, i'm invested in this videos concerning the 90's because i'm related to Cristina Bontas, she and my mom are cousins and through your videos I discovered her amazing talent.
Oh man the commentator's comment on Kim's routine would sum up floor for the entirety of the 2000's and 2010's. With very few exceptions, a lot of routines would just suck. The new artistry deductions are helping Onodi was such a floor queen, her Hungarian dance from a few months later was off the chain.
Oh, I haven´t noticed new artistry deductions. There´s nearly no artistry in todays so called "artistic" gymnastics. I´m so sad about it 😞. That´s why I love watching videos like this one.
@@katerinakralova1996 In the last quad there were only 2 routines that I actually liked: Vanessa Ferrari’s and Leanne Wong’s. I’m hoping I see some good at the Olympics this year.
@@katerinakralova1996I don't know. I thought Eythora Thorsdottir, Shilese Jones, and Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos had lovely floor routines last season.
@@thesovgc someone did look at the artistry deductions and the Dutch did have the least. Meanwhile, the US came in 7th (!) even though yes they won TF and the gymnasts were extremely successful.
I 1,000% agree with you about Vanda Hădărean!!! IMO, she was #2 on the team behind Milosovici. I know it would have been hard to surpass Bontas...but she should have been above Gina Gogean. My biggest complaint is Bontas making Beam finals (in general)...but Hădărean should have been there above ALL Romania!
Vanda Hadarean somehow managed to emulate Aurelia Dobre, in spite of Octavian Belu's robotic choreographic tendencies. I'm sure Belu had a lot to do with her place in the line-up and the fact that Hadarean practically abandoned gymnastics after Barcelona 1992. Belu is an imbecile!!!
I thought Onodi should have won as well. Sometimes I think Kim gets a little too much ire. She was a spectacular gymnast and helped set the table for US gymnastics to become the dominant force it is today. Back then, everyone was chasing the Soviets and who knows what she had to go through with the Karolyis.
I thought it was interesting that without Monica there, John Taylor spoke out about her lack of grace and elegance. Monica was riding for Zmeskal hard at 91 Worlds, and he probably felt like it would have fallen on deaf ears 😂
Interesting video, once again. The choreography is important, but in that era, it was hard to quantify and compare the artistry of the routines and not sure if the scoring allowed for that. Zmeskal had the cleanest and most difficult routine and that is why she won. Had Onodi not bobbled on the triple twist, she would have won. Yes she was more artistic, but Kim fulfilled all the requirements and had the most difficult dismount. Did I love the presentation? Meh, but overall it did not hinder the rest of the routine, while the mistakes by others did at some level.
Zmeskal, Onodi, and Lysenko remain among my favorite gymnasts. I am pleased that Kim won the floor that year. While this routine was not my favorite as far as the choreography, I don't find it nearly as offensive as some other people do. I loved when she upped the difficulty to a whip through to a double layout at Nationals and the Olympic Trials that year, but I do agree that Kim's previous two floor routines suited her better than than the Rock Around The Clock routine.
Henrietta Onodi does warrant a ROBBED GODDESS video! She should have been world and Olympic champion in 1992! Her routines were a perfect fusion of difficulty, captivating choreorgraphy and solid dance. I do have a bone to pick with you about Tatiana Lysenko, though! She is NOT a very fascinating performer or dancer. Silvia Mitova has more artistry in the 10 seconds of her ill-fated routine, then Lysenko had all year, lol! Don't get me wrong, she's proficient, but far from glorious. For me the final result would have been: GOLD - Henrietta Onodi, SILVER - Li Yifang, BRONZE - Tatiana Lysenko
@@thesovgcmight I add too… I do wish the sport reverted back to more artistry. It’s like figure skating. It’s now all about jumping (even attempting difficult jumps gets you credit even if you fall). I like clean programs and stuck landings. I miss those days 😢. PS I love your videos!!! Keep up the great work 🎉
I still would've put Onodi first, but that's life. Lysenko has always been one of my favorites. Her floor to Malaguena was exquisite. I also love her 91 routine. (don't know the name of the music. If anyone does know, please post it).
Shazam says Звёздная ночь (which means Starry Night) by Оркестр Роже Роже (some kind of Orchestra). But I can't verify via RU-vid or Spotify and I don't have Apple Music to check the source Shazam brought up. It seems to be a Russian piece though.
Is that a rule? I can't believe I never knew that but now seems obvious lol. I've always wanted to be the line referee for floor with that flag haha. @@thesovgc
@thesovgc hey I would love if you did a video about the 2000 floor final because I know I’m not the only one who believes ester Moyà deserved a medal and I would love to know your thoughts!!!!
I know there are indeed people who agree with you (but you already knew that). I'm just not one of them. I hated Moya's routine. She couldn't dance to save her life. Her rhythm was on par with Aly Raisman. And she didn't have incredible difficulty to make up for it, either. Amânar could have gone out of bounds again and I'd still have her ahead of Moya 😇.
I think Henrietta was robbed. That floor routine told a whole story. Artistically, world champion. Technically, silver medal. Her triple .05-.10 and I would hit her gym series for lack of rise, back leg down in the switch, and lack of split. It always baffled me how she could tumble so beautifully but could leap off one leg lol
She has been very gracious about sharing my Reels of her in her Stories, which I appreciate. I would appreciate it more if she followed me back, but you can't have everything 😂
I have a bias for Glorious Soviet Gymnastics (shocking I know), and Lysenko's basics are just on a totally different plane than anyone else in the Final. FOR ME 😂. I think your scores are totally fair though 🙏
@@thesovgc I displayed my scores in a way I'd rank them (if I could judge with smaller increments than 0.05) - only real tie would be Lyssenko (for the stumbles, and that leg leifiting mess after the DLO leaves a lasting impression) and Zmeskal (I'm not sure what is the most unfathomable here : that she actually won or that I put myself through that Geza Pozsar/Barry Nease atrocity of a routine once again)
@@BlankFormatted I love the alternate reality where the qualifying results are the real ones with Onodi winning and Lysenko getting a share of silver 😍
Ideally the top 8 would qualify along with the reigning World Champion who received a Bye for 9 competitors in the Final. This is what happened in the Floor Final. But Kim Gwang Suk didn't compete here, and the bars Final still had 9 gymnasts.
Kim was just an average gymnast who was fabricated into being a great gymnast. I was baffled how at the time of the 92 Olympics a gymnast with average difficult, average execution, average artistry, and virtually no originality was somehow the supposed favorite for the AA title. The only impressive thing she had was power on some of her events, nothing else. I wondered some how Boginskaya was on top of others at that point too with average difficulty, but atleast she had exeptional execution and exceptional artistry (which btw are two entirely different things, for instance Khorkina has exceptional artistry but mediocre execution except on bars, while Gogean and early in her career Amanar has excellent execution but average artistry). Zmeskal did not even have either one of those things. NONE of her titles or medals were deserved including this floor gold over Onodi. Maybe her beam gold at these worlds only since it was a splatfest, but even then the Chinese girl who tied for 2nd probably should have won, but with the step on her landing Kim's win was atleast acceptable even though the rest of the Chinese girls routine was clearly better. If Kim peaked in 88-90 when Brandy Johnson did, with no worlds in the US, and a stronger field, and compulsories carrying more weight, and Karolyi's influence and power not as high as 91-92, nobody would have ever heard of her.
I agree Neculita, a terrible dancer ( same coreographer Dumitrescu as Milosovici 92 , very similar and horrible style , she later coreographed italian team for 00 olympics, look for Crisci 2000, it's almost identical to Neculita). My scores NECULITA 9.9 , ONODI 9.95 ( me too I prefer this floor than her olympics one), FRAGUAS 9.8 ( horrible coreography), VIFANG 9.85( she actually was perfect but can't believe she had 10 start value with such easy routine), LYSEKO 9.85 ( wonderful routine, but bad landings and horrible and sloppy form on doubel layout), CHUSOVITINA 9.75 ( and I am quite generous), SMESKAL 10, despite her horrible and stupid Poszar's coreo, MILOSOVICI 9.4
1. I love that you spell Zmeskal with an S. 2. They absolutely did Neculiță dirty. I was shocked to discover her 90 and 91 floor routines were actually kind of nice. Her 91 routine even had the same music at first before changing to something less abhorrent. I don't think it's a coincidence both Neculiță and Hadarean were in that first Compulsory pairing. They definitely seemed the least favored by the federation. I mean, were Pasca's bars really worth that hideous beam scale being in the same subdivision as Tatiana Lysenko?? I think not.
@@thesovgc LOL I guess. Even there people say Strug was way underscored on bars compared to Kim and talk about how Bela watered her floor down to ensure Kim's win, but that is the closest she ever has to one.
I'm gonna say it. I don't like Mitova's floor. It's at best forgettable choreography being masked by an interesting piece of music. Usova & Zhulin did it much better.
@@timothyhh The rebound tumbling is cool, especially a double layout punch front, which wasn't commonplace at the time. She has wonderful musicality and sells the music. Her choreography and poses fit the mood of the music very well. I think it's the second best routine of this Final behind only Lysenko.
