O__o Her handling is just... wow! Already in the first seconds of the routine, in the first moves, you can see the difference between it and the handling we use to see nowadays... I had never noticed it before!
I agree (personally I was hoping Raskina would win the Gold) but Yulia was the best on the day and thats all that counts. And this routine is stunning.
@rhythmic3gymnastic The music is: "The feeling begins" by Peter Gabriel from the album "Passion: The Last Temptation of Christ," the soundtrack for the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1989). =)
I like her so much better then Kabaeva, even little kabaeva! While Kabaeva is fun to watch and is obviously the better gymnast, Yulia's routines have that "pull-you-in" quality that makes you want to watch them over and over. In every one of Alina's routines she smiling ear to ear, and though I love a fun routine (Risenson's 2008 clubs is my fav!) Yulia really seems to leave a piece of her soul on the carpet.
This was a totally different CoP era under a 10 point system, back then scores were very close for comfort for mistakes, she didnt need to change her routine after Kabaeva and Raskina made mistakes, Yulia just needed to be clean and she hit all her routines!