A small statistical analysis from IG forum posted by spezi3. In brackets are the number of mentions of each athlete on that site vis-a-vis each apparatus.
VAULT
1. Cheng Fei (21)
2. Yelena Zamolodchikova (18)
3. Yelena Produnova (17)
4. Mo Huilan (14)
5. Oksana Chusovitina (12)
6. Monica Rosu (12)
7. Alicia Sacramone (10)
8. Simona Amanar (10)
9. Vanessa Atler (9)
10. Shannon Miller (9)
Blythe Lawrence said, “If I had to choose a female gymnast of the decade, Cheng would be it.” I’d agree.
BARS
1. Svetlana Khorkhina (18)
2. He Kexin (17)
3. Ma Yanhong (13)
4. Lu Li (13)
5. Nadia Comaneci (12)
6. Kim Gwang Suk (12)
7. Mo Huilan (11)
8. Olga Korbut (9)
9. Beth Tweddle (9)
10. Nastia Luikin (8)Bars had a very nice mix of gymnasts from different eras. There were gymnasts from the ’70s all the way up to 2009 in the top 10.
BEAM
1. Yang Bo (21) – video
2. Tatiana Lysenko (14)
3. Olga Mostepanova (10)
4. Kui Yuanyuan (10)
5. Oksana Omelianchik (10)
6. Shannon Miller (10)
7. Nastia Luikin (10)
8. Aurelia Dobre (9)
9. Li Li (9)
10. Mo Huilan (9)
11. Catalina Ponor (9)The results show that after 20 years, Yang Bo’s beam work is timeless. There was the biggest difference between the number of votes between 1st and 2nd place on any of the events.
FLOOR
1. Oksana Omelianchik (14)
2. Anna Pavlova (13)
3. Daniela Silivas (12)
4. Svetlana Boginskaya (10)
5. Irina Baraksanova (9)
6. Lilia Podkopayeva (9)
7. Cheng Fei (8)
8. Natalia Frolova (7)
9. Shawn Johnson (7)
10. Henrietta Onodi (6)
11. Olga Strazheva (6)
12. Yelena Zamolodchikova (6)
13. Svetlana Khorkhina (6)
14. Andreea Raducan (6)
15. Yelena Produnova (6)There was a 6-way for 10th place. Floor had a real mix of artistic and power gymnasts.
to read commentary, or to comment, click through to IG forum – Top 10 Per Event Analysis
Ha. Oksana Omelianchik, one of the weakest tumblers ever put on the Floor by the old Soviet Union, is #1 on Floor.
I was there in 1985 when she was co-World Champion with Shushanova. This routine was shocking and revolutionary in many ways at that time. The talk of the competition.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
14 comments ↓
Well, Omelianchik was the first one in performing a triple twist punch front, as far as I know. And she had great artistry with great choreographies. That counted a while ago…
Agreed. Cheng Fei was definitely the gymnast of the decade. It’s a shame she seems to have peaked in 2006. I hope she pulls through til 2012, but I have a sneaking suspicion she won’t ever make a serious return to international competition.
She did some COOL tumbling. … But I’m certain she was the “weakest” tumbler at Round Lake, back in those glory days.
1. Oksana Omelianchik-nice presentation super hyper transition not enough quality tumbling.
2. Anna Pavlova-Nice lines cant dance or front tumble
3. Daniela Silivas -Did the same pass twice full in and double full
4. Svetlana Boginskaya -dirty dance no difficulty
5. Irina Baraksanova clean no dificulty
6. Lilia Podkopayeva The best all around MY NO.1
7. Cheng Fei -Super Difficult and Sharp NO.2
8. Natalia Frolova Sloppy
What about Lilia Podkopieva (sp?) on at least floor if not beam too…
I would say Oksana did well for what she had. Plus, tumbling passes seemed really limited back then. If front passes were more popular I think her twisting prowess could have benefited her greatly. Triple twist punch front is nothing to sneeze at. Plus she was entertaining. That means something to me, anyway.
Anna can surely dance, but her latest routine doesn’t allow her to. And who cares about front tumbling if her back tumbling is so nice? Love her double layout!
Baraksanova had plenty of difficulty for her time. No difficulty? Come on! I want to see you throw a full-in and 1.5 through to double back.
Baraksanova ended her routine with a full-in in 1984 and was also capable of a double layout mount in 1985.
I would go on but Jacob seems to be relatively clueless and it’s probably useless.
I’m surprised at hearing people say Anna Pavlova can’t dance.
[...] Again, for my youngest daughter. [...]
I wouldn’t say Omelianchik was the weakest tumbler–Triple twist is still an E isn’t it and she added a punch front 1 1/4 to it. She could also do a piked full-in mount and dismounted with a double pike. If we were to look strictly at the gymnasts from 1984-1988, we can name plenty who had comparable tumbling:
Lebedinskaya
Frolova (both of them)
Mostepanova
Yurchenko
And that’s just those who competed internationally.
Jacob, seriously:
Frolova did the most difficult tumbling pass of the ’80s and ’90s (1½ twist through to a triple twist) – worth 1.0 under the current CoP. She could afford to be sloppy, especially when we consider that she didn’t just do gymnastics; She gave a performance. And it was breathtaking.
1) Omelianchik mounted with a piked full-in, pioneered back to back tumbling & the triple full-punch front (worth 0.7 under the current CoP, just like the double-double and the Dos Santos II) and dismounted with a double pike. Her difficulty was among the best of her era.
2) Pavlova can definitely dance. More than Nastia, more than Alicia, more than any elite in the world. Besides, Alicia, Cheng Fei and Shawn aren’t great front tumblers either.
3) Silivas had the guts to throw a double-double in the Olympics (when all the scores carried through the AA) and have it named after her. Plus, she could outdance many Soviets. And that’s quite a statement.
4) Boginskaya did a double-double as a junior. If that’s not difficult for you, I don’t know what is. Besides, her choreographies and presence were beyond words. She could dance to EVERYTHING!
5) Baraksanova had more than enough difficulty for 1985 and her musicality and arm carriage remain unmatched some 25 years later. ML Retton’s who could do double layouts is not.
6) I totally agree about Lilia.
7) Ditto about Cheng Fei.
[...] think Svetlana deserves the rank of best ever … over He [...]
I am talking about quality work here people. Lilia and Fe out class the others quality and power. I dont care what the skill is worth if it looks like bunk its not top 3. These girls dance routines are neither boring, fluffy, or swanky, there artistic hence our sports name. You don’t need to try to prove to me anything I know what I saw and the top 5 routines were not at all impressive.
Its like saying Valeri Liukin is the best on floor because his triple back or Zhu Kai because of difficulty, neither are top 3. In the end we all have our opinions, next time try not to flip out when you read someones that differs.
Jacob, everyone’s entitled to express him/herself freely, that’s why I don’t flip out when someone shares a different opinion than my own. But I’d like you to explain what you mean with the term “quality work. Because, as much as I want to see your point, I’m not entirely convinced we’re talking about the same thing. I’m merely trying to point out that you can’t compare gymnasts from different eras, because in the ’80s:
1) Poor form was not deducted, so they could get away with being sloppy (I dare you to find ONE gymnast of the ’80-90s who didn’t cowboy her double tucks and didn’t cross her legs on the twists).
2) Difficulty was not rewarded, so they could get away with playing it safe and repeat the same tumbling passes.
It was in the mid-90s that the judges started deducting form breaks and raised the difficulty requirements, forcing gymnast to make their skills look decent and add more difficulty.
[...] got a bit of grief for saying that Oksana Omelianchik was “one of the weakest tumblers ever put on the Floor by the old [...]
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