OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS
GREAT
HISTORY
MOMENTS
Introduction:
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In this article you’ll be reading about Olympic gymnastics, I will be feeding your brains about the most interesting Top 5 most memorable moments in Olympic gymnastics history!
Before we start, I need to first give you a general understanding of what gymnastics even is. Gymnastics was around 2,000 years ago and began to be a competitive sport a little more than 100 years ago. Over all those years, but especially in the last hundred or so, it has evolved to incorporate cooler tricks, better routines and cleaner presentations. Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication, and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and abdominal muscle groups. Gymnastics is one of the top 3 hardest Olympic sports and most instructors and coaches recommend joining gymnastics at the age of 4-6 so the athletes can be ready by the age of 16 to be possibly compete in the Olympics.
So now you know Gymnastics is not “Oooh, look at me! I can balance on a beam! I can go to the Olympics!” It requires much, much more than that. These famous moments will help make my case.
#5 Mary Lou Retton in 1984
Mary Lou Retton was a female American gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the all-around competition, as well as 2 silver medals and 2 bronze. Her performance on the vault made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States because she was the first female-American gymnast to ever win an Olympic gold medal.
I thought it deserved a 5 because to be the first American female gymnast to ever win an Olympic gold medal is astounding. Because of her, thousands of American gymnasts have used her and have continued to use her as their inspiration they need to push harder.
#4 Kerri Strug in 1996
Kerri was part of the world renowned Magnificent Seven, the victorious all-around women’s gymnastics team that represented the United States at the 1996 summer Olympics. Kerri is most widely known for what had happened at the end of her performance on the vault, when she landed, her ankle gave away beneath her and she broke it .Thankfully she won a gold medal for her team even after she had a few points deducted for the not-so-clean landing, she still pulled off the stunt.
I thought it deserved to be ranked number four because, if you think about it, what would have happened if she didn’t break her ankle? She probably would have had a perfect 10. She did land awkwardly, though, which made her landing terrible and forced the judges to deduct 5-8 points off. Strug still received gold so you can only imagine how incredible the flips would have been. It was very much well deserved.
#3 Shun Fujimoto in 1976
The Olympic Gymnastics weren’t Japan’s strongest sport. But they still had to defend its name, the biggest challenge for Japan was to defeat the Soviets Because of champion player of Russia Nikolai Adrianov, Shun Fujimoto was a Japanese male gymnast. During one of his tumbling exercises in 1976 at the Olympics Shun landing awkwardly and dislocated his kneecap while tearing ligaments. Holding back his excruciate pain he somehow hid his injury from his teammates, helping Japan by getting gold by performing two more routines. Ending with a dismount from the rings on to his shattered knee.
I thought this deserved 3rd place because to see the dedication and motivation it took Shun to try his best to help his country win is heroic in my opinion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen gymnast so motivated in beating another country like that!
2# Olga Korbut in 1972
Olga Korbut was a female, Soviet gymnast who won 4 gold medals and 2 silver medals over the course of two summer Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976. Olga charmed everyone with her tumbling and beam routines, but in 1972 she did the impossible, performing what is now known as the Korbut Flip. It’s a back flip performed on the uneven parallel bars, starting from a standing position onto high bar and then catching the same bar below under the swing. She also achieved the flip on the 4’ balance bar into the straddle position, and later the flip landing on her feet. This flip was named after Olga herself << Korbut>> since she was the first to perform the skill at an international competition in 1972, the move has since been made illegal in the Olympic Code of Points because it was that dangerous.
Holy! After that I wouldn’t dare to place Olga Korbut lower than 2nd place, because, simply put, she was amazing. I chose her for second place because she was the first person to ever perform a skill that was made illegal in the Olympic code of points at an international competition, and most importantly it was her own original move she made up, “Korbut flip”. That was really a memorable moment for the Olympic gymnastics and maybe even Olga herself.
NOW DRUM ROLL PLEASE, NUMBER 1 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT IN GYMNASTICS HISTORY…
Nadia Comăneci
in 1976!
In 1976 the 14-year-old gymnast from Romania astonished the entire world with her perfect 30-second routine on the uneven bars. The judges awarded her with a 10, the first 10 in history of the Olympic gymnastics’ competition. Everyone was so surprised; nobody even thought it would be possible. Because she was only 14 at the time so she became the youngest all-around Olympic gold medalist ever!
After reading this you probably know why I gave Nadia Comăneci first place. She was the first gymnast to ever receive a PERFECT 10…the first 10 in gymnastics’ history! Anyone would die to get a perfect 10 in their routine and to make it even better she was 14. Not even Simon Biles could achieve a perfect 10 before and she’s 25 years old. She is known as the greatest gymnast of her time. That’s incredible if you ask me.
Conclusion
Well, I hope your head is spinning, flipping, and tumbling through while reading these amazing memorable moments in gymnastics history. Now remember these are just my opinions and every person has their own, but this is what I think of what the greatest gymnastics Olympic moments of all time were. Thank you for reading.
