Mary Lou - will there ever be another? | The Boneyard

Mary Lou - will there ever be another?

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meyers7 said:
Sorry, one of my pet (sports) peeves.
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So here's one of mine. Modern gymnasts are incredible athletes, but their floor exercises lack the fluidity and charisma of the Rettons, Korbuts, Comanecis and Rigbys.
 
meyers7 said:
She shouldn't even have won. Szabo should have. She was cheated on the vault.
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Wrong. She had a hop off the landing on the balance beam. At least a .1 deduction. Ignored. Karma came along later.
 
Mary Lou was in the right place at the right time. If the Soviets had been there, she wouldn't have sniffed the medal podium. That said, she capitalized on her chance and made a living the rest of her life off it. Good for her.

Simone Biles is going to go down as the greatest gymnast ever, though. She's going to burn the gym down around her in Rio. Scorched earth.
 
Bibles is an unbelievable gymnast. She is so strong and graceful. I notice that most if the gymnasts today are larger in build than the earlier ones. I had not watched gymnasts perform lately and was surprised by their build. I guess that is where their strength comes from.

Briles darn autocorrect.
 
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It's a response to the emphasis placed on acrobatics rather than ballet. Different body types excel now. I for one think it's a welcome change - eating disorders were rampant in the 80s and 90s in the sport because the pressure was on to stay stick thin and look a certain way. That led to more injuries, etc. The gymnasts now are older (they raised the age limit for international competition from 14 to 16) and often compete for more than one Olympics - into their 20s.
 
Sonny44 said:
I remember watching Mary Lou in the '84 Olympics like it was yesterday. This is a really nice (short) 2 part documentary. Brought tears to my eyes.

Enjoy, my friends.



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Wonderful warm up. Thanks
 
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And Biles had the highest score on 3 of 4 apparatus in the qualifying round. USA looking great! I, for one enjoy the more athletic style and gymnastics performed by young women who don't look like starved children!
 
I shudder at the thought that some commentator will inevitably refer to a spectacular gymnastic action by Simone as a "Biles movement.":(
 
sarals24 said:
It's a response to the emphasis placed on acrobatics rather than ballet. Different body types excel now. I for one think it's a welcome change - eating disorders were rampant in the 80s and 90s in the sport because the pressure was on to stay stick thin and look a certain way. That led to more injuries, etc. The gymnasts now are older (they raised the age limit for international competition from 14 to 16) and often compete for more than one Olympics - into their 20s.
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Look at female gymnasts until 1972 when Olga Korbut arrived on the scene- mostly they were young women in their late teens & early 20s, not girls barely in their teens. They were both graceful & athletic.
 
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Sonny44 said:
I remember watching Mary Lou in the '84 Olympics like it was yesterday. This is a really nice (short) 2 part documentary. Brought tears to my eyes.

Enjoy, my friends.



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I remember it too. I'd never seen a gymnast built like an NFL fullback before and I couldn't believe she had any chance against the Rumanians, who IMO were better than the Soviets at that time thanks to the example of Nadia Comaneci.
 
Beemer said:
I remember it too. I'd never seen a gymnast built like an NFL fullback before and I couldn't believe she had any chance against the Rumanians, who IMO were better than the Soviets at that time thanks to the example of Nadia Comaneci.
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The Soviets dominated both the 1983 and 1985 World Championships (among many others).
 
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