a post about Amanar

No, I’m not talking about the gymnast.

I believe that vault is the one apparatus which has truly become increasingly more difficult throughout the past twenty years or so (undoubtedly, this exponential development has been enhanced by the safer new vaulting table). While a Yurchenko full was considered world class in the past (for example, Svetlana Boginskaya won the 1988 Olympic vault title by mastering this very skill), it is now below standard at best (to most, it has become more of a level 10 skill than anything else). Today, even the “average” elite gymnasts are vaulting double twisting Yurchenkos. Some can even perform 2.5 twisting Yurchenkos, named after the Romanian gymnast Simona Amanar.

While all this added twisting and turning is fabulous for the sport, I can’t help but think of a time when we actually saw something other than Yurchenko-style vaults in international competition. Vault is certainly the least artistic of the four events (by definition, really), but in years past, at least there was some room for originality. Personally, front handspring and Tsukahara-type vaults are some of my favorites, but we haven’t seen much of either since the 1997-2000 quad (with the odd gymnast performing a Rudi or double twisting Tsuk here and there). Nowadays, it seems that the only way for a gymnast to vault her way to gold is by performing the Amanar.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Some Amanars are fantastic, and certainly very impressive (it is a hard skill). Monica Rosu’s was nothing short of spectacular, and when Cheng Fei is on (translation: when Cheng Fei is naughty and cheats her shockingly cruel fruit-and-water diet), hers is really beautiful (Chinese form plus power equals love).

Still, I never thought I’d see the day when Amanars would bore me. The thing is, this Code of Points hardly encourages originality on the apparatus, because, really, what’s the incentive for a gymnast to throw a Podkopayeva-style vault, for instance, if her A-score will not be nearly as high, anyway? What’s the point of variety if it is not rewarded? It seems that now gymnasts are throwing Amanars left and right because that’s the way to get the big scores (example: while I was thrilled that Pavlova landed her Amanar in the Beijing event final, I can’t help but disagree with the idea that this sloppier vault should receive more points than a clean, well-landed double twisting Yurchenko. Not that it mattered in the end, anyway, because we all know what happened with that infamous second vault).

I’m not saying Amanars (or Yurchenko vaults) should disappear. I just want to see other stuff, too (and by other stuff, I don’t mean “Chengs.” It seems that this quad, Amanar plus Cheng is the perfect formula for a gold medal on vault. Difficult, yes, but boring. Oh so boring. Give me something different!). I’d hate for the Amanar to become the standard.

Remember the days of layout fronts (beautiful, horribly underrated vault), layout halves, layout Podkopayevas, Produnova’s handspring double front, et cetera? Ah, how I miss them.

Courtesy of the lovely Yang Yun from China.

a tribute to my favorite quad

Now that the 2005-2008 Olympic cycle is nearly over, I am impatient to leave this horrible quad behind. It has probably been my least favorite four years ever, gymnastics-wise, and that is saying something, because 2001-2004 wasn’t all that dandy, either. Of course, there have been moments of brilliance throughout the past eight years (Pavs Pavs Pavs! Cheng Cheng Cheng! And a few others…), but that is nothing (and I repeat: nothing) compared to what we saw back in the day, and, well…let’s just say I’m feeling a little bit nostalgic. Here’s a tribute to my favorite quad.

The Sydney Olympics may have been a bust, but 1997-2000 (even with the elimination of Compulsories) was nothing short of spectacular. The Code, although not flawless, was interesting enough, and there seemed to still be time for personal expression and dance, given the high number of standout choreographies we saw. I particularly liked the Code when it came to beam and vault.

The beam routines were characterized by plenty of skills in combination, which usually involved an acrobatic element and a jump. At the same time, the gymnasts often chose to do a few of those little, simple skills that I love so much (such as handstands or back walkovers). There were many great beam workers throughout the quad, including Ling Jie, Liu Xuan, Kui Yuanyuan (who was absolutely robbed off the beam title at the 1997 Worlds), Yekatarina Lobaznyuk, Andreea Raducan, Dong Fangxiao, and Elise Ray (among others).

Kui’s lovely beam:

I really think that this was the best vault quad in the history of the sport. Double twisting Yurchenkos were valued at a 9.9, which made them pretty popular, especially among the top athletes, but, at the same time, there was always that possibility for more difficulty (and 0.1 more points in Start Value). For that very reason, vault finals often included double twisting Tsukaharas (one of my favorites!), as well as Khorkinas (I and II), and Podkopayeva-style vaults. Yang Yun impressed us with her lovely front layouts, and, of course, there was Yelena Produnova’s legendary handspring double front.

Produ was so fierce. If I’d been a judge back then, I would’ve been scared of her. I’m sure she could make them cry (or at least kick their asses if they didn’t score her fairly).

There were some good bar moments as well. The Code wasn’t particularly spectacular in this area, but many of the gymnasts certainly were. Of course, Svetlana Khorkina reigned over the event (thanks to her fabulous originality), hence the nickname “Queen Sveta” (although this can also be attributed to her very, um…over-confident personality). However, the Chinese gymnasts usually put up a good battle (especially the exquisite Ling Jie, who popularized inverted bar work), and some American and Ukrainian gymnasts were great to watch too.

Even though the full in dismount started to disappear from the floor exercise (with the exception of power gymnasts Yelena Zamolodchikova, Simona Amanar, and Viktoria Karpenko), we still saw some great combination passes, and double layout mounts and triple twist dismounts were quite common among the top gymnasts. The annoying middle passes involving front fulls and Rudis that we had seen so much of in the previous quad were practically nonexistent by 2000. Most importantly, this was the last quad where we had real dance from the majority of the athletes, even those who weren’t particularly balletic or elegant (e.g. Jamie Dantzscher, Ludivine Furnon, Vanessa Atler, etc.).

The list of fabulous floor workers was endless, and they came from a large number of countries (nowadays, most “dancers” come from either Russia or China and a few from Australia). Also, we were blessed (even though we didn’t know it yet) by the absence of those horrid double twisting jumps and side passes.

Although I was never really a Vanessa Atler fan, this is one of my favorite routines from that quad:

The most incredible thing about 1997-2000 had nothing to do with the Code of Points, though. It was the fabulous gymnasts in it. I do not remember any other quad where there were so many gymnasts capable of fighting for major all around titles or medals. However, there was certainly no shortage during this time: Andreea Raducan, Simona Amanar, Maria Olaru, Dong Fangxiao, Yang Yun, Viktoria Karpenko, Svetlana Khorkina, Yelena Produnova, Yelena Zamolodchikova, and Yekatarina Lobaznyuk. Even gymnasts like Lisa Skinner, Allana Slater, Elise Ray, and Liu Xuan were considered to have an outside chance (and, indeed, Liu Xuan was awarded the bronze medal in Sydney after Raducan was stripped off her gold). In contrast, only Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Yang Yilin, and perhaps Jiang Yuyuan had a real shot at an all around gold (or medal of any color, really) in Beijing.

It’s a shame the Sydney Olympics were such a disaster, because they could have been the perfect way to culminate four wonderful years. There’s so many things that should have happened that didn’t. Vanessa Atler should have been mentally prepared at Trials and should have qualified to the Olympic team. Yelena Produnova should have been healthy. The Russians should not have crumbled in the team final (whether you are a Russia fan or not, you have to recognize that they were inarguably the superior team in terms of gymnastic ability). The vault should not have been set at the wrong height (even though that means my precious Andreea Raducan would probably not have won the all around final)! Raducan should not have been stripped off her gold (or, at least, she shouldn’t have had a cold!). Karpenko, Zamolodchikova, and Khorkina should have stayed on their feet in the all around. Lobaznyuk should have performed up to full potential. There are probably tons of other things that I can’t think of right now.

Really, for such a great quad, Sydney was a waste.

ten things I miss the most

1. Svetlana Khorkina

…if only for the drama she brought to competitions. She certainly made for some interesting television. When she showed up, you could be sure that there would be death stares, plenty of tears, a lot of yelling, or an impromptu change in leotard involved. Three well-known Queen Sveta quotes: “Russia eez in bad condition,” “A diva eez magical,” and, my personal favorite, “I vant to vin az badly az I vant to mozzer my own child.”

2. the 2000 Chinese women’s team

I liked this year’s team and was very happy they won (a team gold for China was long overdue), but nothing beats the 2000 team because they were a team. It looked like they were genuinely having fun out there, maybe because they didn’t feel pressure to go after the gold (Russia felt it and bombed it). I don’t think I’ve seen team spirit like theirs since. Hit or miss, they were clearly having a blast. And how cute was it when NBC showed shots of them praying during the men’s team final? That’s what I call a team!

3. back-to-back tumbling

A big thanks to Oksana Omelianchik for this fabulous invention. It was just so exciting to watch. “Is she done yet? Nope, she’s not! She keeps going! Keeps flipping! And she flips once more!”

Of course, what made it even better was that, as soon as the gymnast was finished with the eternal tumbling pass, she would break out into some fantastic choreography, such as ’80s-style breakdancing. Oh, those were the days.

4. the Soviets

Politically, I’m glad the Soviet Union is gone. Gymnastically, not so much. Up until 1992, it was as if, as soon as the Soviets entered the arena, they were already saying, “Vee are da Soviets! Don’t screw vit uz, bitches!” In all seriousness, though, I’m pretty sure that everyone agrees that gymnastics has only gone downhill since the breakup of the USSR. Their way of combining artistry and difficulty was a work of art. I am particularly fond of their 1985 and 1989 World Championship teams. Isn’t it sad to think that we’ll never have more Dudniks, Omelianchiks, or Kalininas? The closest thing we have today is Pavlova, but she doesn’t even come close to matching their difficulty (respective to their time periods, of course).

5. Produnova’s funky eyebrow

Usually, I would call shaving your eyebrow into little sections a serious crime of fashion (or grooming?), but since it’s Produ, all is forgiven. She did look pretty intense. In an “I will kick your asses” kind of way. According to my pal Al Tratwig (and please don’t quote him on this, as he is practically proven to be an idiot), she did it to make her look like a warrior. Looked more like a crazy Russian mafia badass if you ask me.

6. death stares

I think Boginskaya had the death stare thing down better than anyone (if looks could kill, Kim Zmeskal might not be around today), even THE QUEEN. We hardly see that anymore. Gymnasts are too nice now, apparently (not saying that I don’t love the sportsmanship we see at competitions nowadays. It’s cute). Thank God we’ve still got Nastia Liukin.

7. cool stuff on beam

Shaposhnikova’s one-armed handstand. Li Li’s back spin. Jackie Bender’s back roll to headstand. Hollie Vise’s scale. The list could go on and on forever. Why can’t gymnasts do cool little skills like that anymore, even if they aren’t worth anything? Oh, I know why. They’re too busy training front aerials.

8. Compulsories

…just because gymnasts can’t seem to learn how to dance on their own. Notable exceptions: the Russians (Pavlova!), Liukin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Mattie Larson.

9. stuck landings

Remember when stuck landings actually mattered? When they made all the difference between a gold medal and no medal at all? I think Nastia Liukin should recieve a pat on the back for all of her nailed landings in Beijing, because apparently she’s the only gymnast that knows how to stick it.

10. the perfect 10

I bet you saw that one coming, huh?