1978 WORLD GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS-ALL-AROUND-PART 1

[custardaghost]

I know that having any available national competitor from the sport being shown was usual for the "color commentators" on ITV Sport back then but the flat nasal whine and banal exposition from Janet Mitchell is just awful. And I thought Ann Jones doing Wimbledon for the BBC all those years was as bad as it got.

[horseluvr999]

elena was just amazing

[CubanColonel]

Yelena would have won the 1980 Olympics. There's no doubt in my mind about that. She was so disciplined, so elegant, so... perfect!!! May she rest in peace always!!!

[bbhouk1]

why does everyone say nadia was huge here? Nelli Kim are the same size here, maybe Nadia's breasts a bit larger. but really no one ever calls Nelli fat, and she was a little heavyset (due to being very short) for a gymnast.

and lol at them calling Kathy Johnson the old lady of the team at 19. At the 1984 Olympics she was 25.

[custardaghost]

@bbhouk1

Nadia wasn't "huge" but she had grown taller and heavier so fast that her technique (and routines) just could not adapt to the adjustments necessary for her new size and weight.

[bbhouk1]

@custardaghost

Did you not read my comment? I said she wasn't huge!

[custardaghost]

@bbhouk1

I'm explaining why people think she might be

[sochisochi]

Nelli Kim was a Perfect gymnast

[emmyjo720]

Dickie Davis he was a legend of my childhood Saturdays..... Dickie Davis v Frank Bough on the BBC....

[sidthesquid74]

And if you notice the music at they play at 8:00 they play Brown Girl in the Ring.

I've never that been played in gymnastics EVER!!

[sidthesquid74]

Yay, it's Dickie Davis!

For those who don't know who he is, he presented World of Sport on ITV in the 1980's

[SonyaNatalia]

I have trouble watching this, knowing what is going to happen to Elena Mukhina so soon afterwards.

[12bmills]

It's not Rumania, it's Romania.

[metsdudenj]

It is spelled both ways, thanks.

[lasalseracubana]

not in english it's not.

[12bmills]

The commentator was just not that good. He couldn't get the right terms for the vaults.

[fashiondudette23]

And look how close the uneven bars are i mean they could touch both at the same time compared to the distance today and the romanians don't have that thirst to win anymore like Nadia did... i mean did you see them 8-10-08 on gymnastics i mean listen to the commentary it's a little disappointing

[isa1285]

Comaneci's bless and curse was the bars, there she scored the perfect 10 and made history. And there she fell in this world championships, in the 79 Europeans, and in Moscow!

[HoneyGotMeHooked]

WOW i CANNOT believe you have something this old on here

[lostlyrarose]

eek, the commentator can't pronounce the gymnast's name. but the one who does the full-twisting tsukahara... mary lou did it 10 times better!

[gymnastman919]

yea but this was a few years before and i garuntee the equipment was different than in '84.

[doll1380]

Dickie Davies!! LOL :)

[Darkangel127]

Totally agree, No1ZmeskalFan (even if I don't really like Kim Zmeskal!), Elena Mukhina certainly deserved to be listed as one of the best gymnasts in history! May she rest in peace...

[fr3ckles]

Poor Nadia, I agree should should have ended in 76. Still love her though of course

[msalasan]

she shouldn't end in 76. she was only 14. and this was her only bad championship. then she won other 4-5 olympic medals in 1980. so i don't see the problem. one cannot be number 1 all the time. but she was many many times.

[hmlilly]

Dickie Davies?! OMG, how could you NOT laugh?!

The blonde Soviet coach is Polina Ashtakova.

[dzzz80]

Dickie Davies???? That name cracks me up!!!

[No1ZmeskalFan]

Mukhina was way ahead of her time. She was the first woman to do a full in on floor and a double back off beam. In my mind she is THE most underrated gymnast in history. You always hear about Nadia and Olga..I think it wise to add Elena to that list

[bbhouk1]

@No1ZmeskalFan

i agree that Mukhina should be added to the all time greats list. however, she was not the first woman to do a full in on floor

[No1ZmeskalFan]

@bbhouk1 who was the first?

[bbhouk1]

@No1ZmeskalFan

reports from the 1976 Olympics say that Olga Korbut attempted one in the one touch warmup during the team final, but crashed and instead only did a double back (which i have footage of her team finals floor posted). but Mukhina was the first woman to do it DURING competition, that can't be denied.

[missyc79]

Do you know the name of the blonde USSR coach? Larissa Latynina?

[bbhouk1]

@missyc79

it's Polina Astakhova. incidentally she was at all the same Olympics Larissa was (1956, 1960, and 1964) and they retired the same year (1966).

she was fantastic, in her day they called her the queen of bars. sadly, she died in 2005, at only 68.

[biancadaevilangel101]

also..poor nadia. she was the best gymnast n then she came back. this sort of ruined er career because in any search they tell you how this was the one she came 4th in.

[pegasnegru]

I thought she (Nadia) came in second and Emilia Eberle came in fourth...

[biancadaevilangel101]

thanx 4 d vid! ♥