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americus 2.0 · 08-06-2021, 05:32 PM

.....unless you're older and watched it back in the 60s and 70s. I came across this video on youtube and just the first 5 minutes are impressive. It's an ABC Sports video put out in 1991 that highlighted the dominant figures in the sport up until then. I've seen snippets of Olga and Nadia but have never seen Cathy Rigby or any of the others prior to the 1984 Olympics. What they did back then was ART. Goodness. It makes the stuff they churn out today look industrial and sad. I know a lot of movements were banned at some point because they were dangerous but the actual artistic part would not have been affected by that but it seems to be the case. Anyway, enjoy some really cool gymnastics.

Link

**MarleyJag** · 08-06-2021, 06:46 PM

I watched them. Mary Lou Retton was pretty good too. I know zilch about gymnastics but I think Simone Biles has to be the GOAT although Nadia has to be in that conversation. She was unbelievable back in the day.

I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

americus 2.0 · 08-07-2021, 11:47 AM

(08-06-2021, 06:46 PM)MarleyJag Wrote: I watched them. Mary Lou Retton was pretty good too. I know zilch about gymnastics but I think Simone Biles has to be the GOAT although Nadia has to be in that conversation. She was unbelievable back in the day.

Dude, I never knew Mary Lou Retton wasn't even a contender for the 84 Olympics until I watched this. She was an alternate at the one of the competitions leading up to it and just happened to compete when one of the girls suffered an injury. MLR knocked it out of the park and made the Olympic team and won a medal..... or FIVE. Freaking unbelievable.

I know Biles is the GOAT but none of the gymnastics has the beauty of the old days. It's like they swapped artistry for power. Tim Daggett said in a competition I watched from 2007 that the floor exercise is a thing of endurance. That's not the impression I got watching Olga, Nadia and the other girls in this video.