The Couch Gymnast has another original post listing some of the most famous “pint-sized” international gymnasts.
Shawn Johnson is very short for her age at 4′ 9″ (1.44m).
But many have been even shorter, over the years, including Australia’s Trudi McIntosh at 4′ 6″ (1.37m) tall.
Being short is a big advantage — biomechanically — in Artistic Gymnastics.
Artistically, however, I prefer relatively taller gymnasts. And those with long limbs. The lines are simply more appealing to me.
Those include: Svetlana Khorkina, Svetlana Boginskaya and Nastia Liukin.
He Kexin and Nastia Liukin at the 2008 Olympics.
5 comments ↓
Ooh so glad lil’ Trudy got a mention! She was tiny for sure, but she threw MASSIVE tricks…
Full twisting double layout & regular double layout on floor (stuck cold 9/10 times) + the McIntosh vault of course (Full twisting front layout)…
The girl had more stuck landings on floor than any gymnast I can remember, she landed her double somi’s in puddles of glue!
But as for the “tall VS short” debate, I lie somewhere in the middle… I certainly appreciate the power of the little pocket rockets (Oana Ban, Shawn J, McIntosh, Raducan, Zamo, Gutsu) but definitely love the artistry of the taller girls too…
And some of the taller girls can tumble and vault too. I think it depends more on how they are coached and less on how tall they are.
You can’t coach biomechanics. You can help a gymnast achieve the best of her potential, but you can’t cheat the laws of physics.
I didn’t say you could coach biomechanics nor did I say you could cheat the laws of physics. There have been way too many tall gymnasts doing stuff that they aren’t supposed to be able to do for me to think it’s all biomechanics. Pixies may lead the way but the taller gymnasts eventually catch up. It’s the same thing quad after quad after quad.
I think, where taller gymnasts are concerned, they need to find a coach who won’t write them off just because they are “too tall”.
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