A detailed post on THE COUCH GYMNAST lists the 12 “greatest” international gymnastics teams of all-time.
… I love them for various reasons. Sometimes it’s a about sheer gymnastics greatness, sometimes its about achieving feats not achieved before by certain countries. Sometimes it’s about politics, sometimes its about combinations of personalities. Sometimes it’s just because i love them. …
Ukraine, 2000 Sydney Team (fourth) U.S.A 2004 Athens Olympics Team (silver) Italy 2006 European Champs (gold) Australia 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Team (gold) Spain 2001 Ghent (fourth) Brazil Beijing 2008 Team (eighth) Australia 2003 Anaheim Team (bronze) Russia 2000 Sydney Olympic Team (silver) U.S.A 2008 Beijing Olympic Team (silver) Unified Team 1992 Barcelona (Gold) USSR 1985 Worlds Team (gold) Romania Athens Olympics 2004 Team (gold)
Click through for the details – The Couch Gymnast’s Top Twelve…
Pretty subjective. From this list, without question, I’d choose the USSR 1985 Worlds Team. After the Olympic boycott of 1984, the USSR had much to prove.
Shushunova and Omeliantchik tied as AA Champions. Yet they did not even qualify for the AA final. Two girls had to “claim injury” in order for those two to get into the top 36. Head Coach Rodionenko replaced Mostepanova in the AA Final, but years later Mostie is quoted as agreeing with the decision. (She had her age altered, as well, as a young gymnast.)
It was an awesome lineup: Irina Baraksanova, Vera Kolesnikova, Olga Mostepanova, Oksana Omelianchik, Yelena Shushunova, Natalia Yurchenko.
The Men’s meet was even better. The old veteran Yuri Korolev unexpectedly defeating Tong Fei, Li Ning, Artemov and the rest.
Those athletes impress me more than our current stars. They had to train 12 routines for Men, 8 for Women. Compulsories normally decided the winners.
Truly the good old days.
wikipedia – 1985 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Gymnastics Coaching.com 