Lilia Podkopayeva (Russian: Ð›Ð¸Ð»Ð¸Ñ ÐлекÑандровна Подкопаева; Ukrainian: Ð›Ñ–Ð»Ñ–Ñ ÐžÐ»ÐµÐºÑандрівна Подкопаєва) was the 1996 Olympic all-around champion. Many consider her the greatest of all time.
Podkoypayeva was often referred to as the “complete package” gymnast, possessing equal qualities of technical skill and artistic expression. Her routines were known for their melding of balletic, expressive choreography, clean execution, impeccable form and extremely difficult skills. In addition, Podkopayeva was known for being strong on all four apparatus, without an obvious weak event. She was the originator of two skills that are still included in the Code of Points: the Podkopayeva vault and a double front half-out salto on the floor exercise.
Lilia Podkopayeva – Wikipedia
Most extraordinary in that era was her front tumbling. Double front half out is still almost never seen 12ys later. Valentin Uzunov (The Gym Press) compares all other Floor routines against this one.
Click PLAY or watch Pod compete it in Floor Finals at the 1996 Olympics on YouTube.
The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame will hold its 12th annual induction ceremony Saturday, Feb. 9. …
The IGHOF Class of 2008 includes Olympic champions Shuji Tsurumi (Japan), Stoyan Deltchev (Bulgaria), Ma Yanhong (China) and Lilia Podkopayeva (Ukraine).
Gymnastics Coaching.com 