Category: Olympics

1968: Voronin on What Went Wrong in Mexico

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date January 16, 2023
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At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, both Voronin and the Soviet team took silver. In Voronin’s 1976 autobiography titled Number One (Первый номер), he underscores that 1968 was a low point for him:

Yes, the [1968] Olympics left a deep mark on me. The tension was huge. I fought the Japanese alone, without the support of my comrades, and the increased responsibility drained me of all my mental and physical strength. The pain of loss was so great and humiliating that it shattered my faith in my own strength.
Jah, olümpiamängud jätsid minusse sügava jälje. Närvipinge oli tohutu. Heitlesin jaapanlastega üksinda, kaaslaste toetuseta ja sellest suurenenud vastutus pitsitas minust välja kogu vaimu- ja kehajõu. Kaotusevalu oli nii suur ja alandav, et põrmustas usu oma jõusse.

And he places the blame squarely at the feet of Valentin Muratov, the head coach of the Soviet team at that time. To support his point, Voronin highlights the misleading overscoring at domestic meets, the bizarre line-up order that upset both Voronin and Diomidov at the Olympics, Muratov’s insults, and the failure to block Kato Sawao’s 9.90 on floor exercise, where Muratov was the head judge at the Olympics.

At the same time, Voronin does conclude that the Japanese gymnasts were better and that the Soviet team’s expectations were off. The USSR thought that they had caught up to the Japanese team, but in reality, they were far behind.

Note #1: You can see a Soviet clip on Muratov here.

Note #2: Chapters of Voronin’s book were translated into Estonian for the newspaper Spordileht, and I have translated the chapter from Estonian into English. The following excerpts come from the January 16, 1978, January 18, 1978, January 23, 1978, and January 25, 1978 issues of Spordileht.

Note #3: This section of Voronin’s book responds to criticisms found in the pages of Sovetsky Sport, the main sports newspaper of the Soviet Union. You can read the newspaper’s coverage of the Soviet men in Mexico City here.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 22: Mikhail Voronin of the Soviet Union competes in the Rings of the Artistic Gymnastics Men’s Team Compulsory during the Mexico City Summer Olympic Games at the National Auditorium on October 22, 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

1968 MAG Olympics USSR

1968: Sovetsky Sport’s Critical Coverage of the Soviet Men in Mexico

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date January 14, 2023
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Sovetsky Sport didn’t hold back when covering the Soviet men’s team at the Mexico Olympics. The main sports newspaper of the Soviet Union pointed fingers at Diomidov and Lisitsky for underperforming. It blamed Muratov, the head judge on floor exercise, for flashing a 9.90 for Kato Sawao’s optional floor routine — a score that bumped Mikhail Voronin to second place in the all-around standings.

Even Mikhail Voronin was not spared from criticism. On the one hand, the newspaper posited that Voronin was competing without much support from his team. On the other hand, it pointed out that Voronin needed to upgrade his routines to remain competitive.

As we’ll see in an upcoming post, Voronin spent a big chunk of his autobiography responding to the criticism of Sovetsky Sport.

Note: You can find the main articles for the 1968 Olympics here: Compulsories, Optionals, Event Finals). You can find Sovetsky Sport’s coverage of the women’s competition in Mexico City here.

1968 Olympics USSR WAG

1968: Sovetsky Sport’s Celebratory Coverage of the Soviet Women in Mexico

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date January 14, 2023
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Sovetsky Sport, the main sports newspaper of the Soviet Union, had nothing but good things to say about the Soviet women’s gymnastics team in Mexico City. (As we’ll see, the publication had more than a few critical things to say about the men.) In particular, the writers applauded the performances of Natalia Kuchinskaya and highlighted the friendship among the gymnasts as the key to their success.

In this post, we’ll look at the newspaper’s coverage of everything from the compulsories to Larisa Petrik’s gold medal on floor — a feat that she never thought possible.

Note: You can find the main articles for the women’s competition here: Compulsories, Optionals, Event Finals, The Myth of Petrik’s Floor Score.

Front page, Sovetsky Sport, October 25, 1968

1928 MAG Olympics WAG

1928: The FIG’s Report on the Olympic Games in Amsterdam

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date August 15, 2022
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Separate from the organizing committee’s Official Report on the 1928 Olympics, the FIG published its own booklet on the gymnastics competition in Amsterdam. What follows is a translation of the report, as well as every score from every judge at the competition — both men’s and women’s.

As you’ll see by the amount of space dedicated to women’s gymnastics in the report, the FIG remained focused primarily on men’s gymnastics.

Let’s dive in.

Cover of the FIG’s booklet on the 1928 Olympics

2004 Floor Music Olympics WAG

2004: The Floor Music of the Athens Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date July 13, 2022
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Bond, Bond, and More Bond: There was a lot of music from the group Bond during the Athens Olympics. The band’s albums Born and Shine came out in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Their music straddled the worlds of contemporary music and classical orchestral music.

The title of a 2004 article gives you an idea of how the musical group was perceived at the time: “Unbreakable Bond; They’re young. They’re sexy. And they’re turning the classical music industry on its head.” (Sarasota Herald Tribune, Nov. 26, 2004).

Movie Soundtracks: As was the case in 2000, movie soundtracks were big in 2004. Examples included Braveheart, Pirates of the Caribbean, Moulin Rouge, and Matrix Revolutions.

ATHENS – AUGUST 23: Catalina Ponor of Romania receives the gold medal for the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise event on August 23, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Olympic Sports Complex Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

2000 Floor Music Olympics WAG

2000: The Floor Music of the Sydney Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date July 11, 2022
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A big trend in 2000: Movie soundtracks.

In Sydney, the floor music included songs from The Rock, Addams Family Values, The Mummy, and The Truman Show, among others.

A small surprise: In 1984, 1992, and 1996, several floor routines featured music associated with the host country. In 2000, that trend was not as pervasive. Of course, there were exceptions — like McIntosh’s use of “Waltzing Matilda” or Slater’s use of “I Still Call Australia Home,” which was contentious, by the way. (More on that below.)

25 Sep 2000: Elena Zamolodtchikova of Russia (centre) wins Gold, Svetlana Khorkina of Russia (right) wins Silver and Simona Amanar of Romania (left) wins Bronze in the Womens Floor Exercise Final at the Sydney Superdome on Day Ten of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport

1988 Floor Music Olympics WAG

1988: The Floor Music of the Seoul Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date July 6, 2022
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Major Theme: Very, very, very 1980s.

Here are a few examples:

“Sixty-Second Sonata” (1980)
Montage of music from Cats, which debuted in 1981
“Axel F” from Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
“Bullish” (1984)
“Electric Kingdom” (1984)
“One Night in Bangkok” (1984)
Montage of music from Rocky IV (1985)
“True Faith” by New Order (1987)
“Macho Mozart” (1987)

19 Sep 1988: Phoebe Mills does her floor exercise during the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Mandatory Credit: Billy Strickland /Allsport

1984 Floor Music Olympics WAG

1984: The Floor Music of the Los Angeles Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date July 2, 2022
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A big theme in 1984: American movies

Given that Los Angeles is the heart of American cinema, it makes sense. There were songs from movies like Night Shift, Indiana Jones, Rocky, and James Bond.

Another theme: Americana.

In addition to the emphasis on American TV and films, there were plenty of other American moments — from Szabo’s routine to “Hooked on America” to Wu’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” to Bileck’s “Rodeo” montage. (Rodeo is a ballet composed by American composer Aaron Copland.)

Ecaterina Szabo, Romania, gold medallist (Photo by S&G/PA Images via Getty Images)

1996 Floor Music Olympics WAG

1996: The Floor Music of the Atlanta Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date June 27, 2022
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A Big Trend in 1996: Americana.

Just as there was a lot of flamenco music during an Olympics held in Spain, there was a fair amount of U.S. music, particularly from the American gymnasts and the Romanian gymnasts.

Another Big Trend: Songs from movie soundtracks.

The French team pulled from recent movies like The Mask and Basic Instinct. But there were songs from older movies, including Galieva’s Charlie Chaplin tribute and Marinescu’s music from the Italian film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.

UNITED STATES – JULY 29: KUNSTTURNEN: BODEN/Frauen ATLANTA 1996 29.7.96, Lilia PODKPPAYEVA/UKR GOLD – MEDAILLE (Photo by Mark Sandten/Bongarts/Getty Images)

1992 Floor Music Olympics WAG

1992: The Floor Music of the Barcelona Olympics

Post author By Gymnastics History
Post date June 23, 2022
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The big trend in floor music in 1992: Flamenco, flamenco, and more flamenco.

For decades, flamenco music has been a constant during women’s floor exercise, but the trend perhaps hit its crescendo during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. (You can read a little about the politics of flamenco at the bottom of the page.)

Yello: In 2021, Billie Eilish was the big contemporary music sensation during floor routines. In 1992, it was Yello.

Throwbacks from 40ish years prior: The nostalgia machine is always alive during floor exercise, trying to target audience members and judges in their 40s and 50s and beyond. In 1992, it emerged in pieces like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “An American in Paris Ballet.”