Mary Lou Retton - Uneven Bars - 1984 McDonald's American Cup

[90Nicke]

Angelflight2k6 she broke form the slightest bit in the slo mo

[rahmanhashim]

These gymnasts have balls. Respect.

[katiebug439]

0:12-0:15 way cool

[omgglee44]

this is an amazing routine! too bad today's gymnastics isn't like that..at all!

[xcaliburtga]

wow its almost 2012 and knowone does routines like this anymore.

[Justice1102cp]

Holy crap!

[angelflight2k6]

And why the .05 deduction???

[xamanda89]

I WAS IN AWE OVER THAT DISMOUNT -3

[patsyrosie]

probably the most beatiful uneven bar routine in American history.

[PERfECtlYxsCReWd]

That dismount was the most beautiful thing i've ever seen.

[glam2beauty1]

was her right leg beant on her tchatchev??

[MissAwsomeGymnast]

Yeah goo Mary lou

[Flipgal1000]

@FrootLoop246 she was not born in the US she immigrated here

[fencersdream]

@Flipgal1000 She was born in Fairmont Vest Virginia of Italian descent

[TheChris6092]

the judge on the right is an idiot

[cheernasticchix]

She's an elf compared to Bela... compared to anyone!!

[LIllyAlzora]

she was only 4 8 thats crazy

[RAWHEADMIKE]

dairy queen !!

[FeralWolfSoul]

Unbelievable!!

[summerbaer25]

I love watching gymnasts perform on uneven bars, but I think it was much more beautiful when the bars were that close.

[caillinnumberonefan]

arnt the uneven bars meant to be like, further apart..? hahaa

[Fozy]

@caillinnumberonefan this was the 80s man. things just got harder like the bars being farther apart as the years went by. it has been almost thirty years when you think about it.

[ERnews3967]

@caillinnumberonefan yes but some of the skills she was doing was needed for the bars to be close

[Stonymypony]

When she puts her stomach over the bars and then hop onto the low bar that much have hurt!

[absmile100]

Awwwwwwwwww Yah!!! You go girl!!!!

[GEErardwayy]

the dismount was unbelievable

[afgymnast96]

If judges today judged with the 2001-2004 code and came across this routine, it would be less than a 9.95

[marcelle215]

@afgymnast96 yea. but this is 1984 so.....your point?

[MelleAndKev]

@afgymnast96 It couldn't even be done in those years because the apparatus has changed drastically.

[videoinformer]

I found this curious quote online about Mary Lou's move: "This move and many others like it are no longer in the Code of Points due to belly beating no longer in use on bars". Is that bar-bounce off off her abdomen currently "illegal", considered "unsafe", or otherwise disfavored in judging? Anyone know the full story?

[Natsuhiboshi2]

@videoinformer I know this is a little late in response, or if you've already gotten the answer, but the bars are much further apart now, so "bell beating", or that bounce off her abdomen, as she swings into the lower bar from the higher one isn't even possible anymore.

[interstates]

@Natsuhiboshi2 - i was just going to respond the same thing to @videoinformer! They sacrificed all those amazing elements to put the bars further apart so the gymnasts could do bigger releases.

[gymbert13]

Exept from the first release it was really good. Her move was amazing!

[blingiton99]

Wow! That was great. Her dismount looks really hard.

[midniteangel123]

THAT. WAS. AMAZING. NO WONDER IT'S NAMED AFTER HER. ITS AMAZING.

[daaisy345]

@zeldafreak701 she bent her knees in her tkatchev right at the start

[Monty22001]

As good or better than any communist entries from the era.

[papapandax3]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??! 9.95?! id like to see some of the judges perform that cause obviously they dont know shit about gymnastics

[zeldafreak701]

How was this not a 10? I've seen it so many times and haven't seen any mistakes.

[Gr33nkiwi]

@zeldafreak701 Bent arms on giants and handstands.

[twistedriss96]

@zeldafreak701 she bent her knees in the beginning

[keat36]

Holy crap

[SalieriFoe]

Mary Lou Rhetton of... Germany? Very interesting choice of colors.

In other news, SHE IS SO AMAZING.

[bbhouk1]

@SalieriFoe

mary lou retton? of germany? are you kidding? she competed for the US

[FrootLoop246]

@bbhouk1 she was born in us and is italian-american

[alexandrAnnie]

i found myself clicking "replay"over and over and over and over

[csurvivor7]

Her legs a glued together! Love it!! She did such an amazing routine!!

[MyCupcake6]

Wow she stuck it perfectly on her dismount!! I think she should of gotten a 10

[patsyrosie]

omg that dismount was...unbelivable

[rarasoftball28]

thats so cool. its kinda hard to fololow at first.

[TheJordy456]

the reason why she didnt get a 10 was because she bent her legs on her Tkatchev

[gymnastics441]

i think she should have gotten a 10

[WaterEngel4]

Why aren't bars routines like that anymore? That was so awesome

[moopoo66]

@WaterEngel4 the bars are to far apart now );

[iluvkims]

Two words Ah-Mazing (don't post replies, i know those aren't words!)

[woofiegrrl]

They should add "Retton Flip" to the tags for this. It's a perfect example! When I used google, the only video I could find was a 6-second one, and the girl overshoots and comes off.

[superkk101]

this is AMAZING!

[Easter004]

WHOOP WHOOP!

[iloveyourstory]

She had so much spunk..truly a one of a kind!!

[ActionLooking]

I love the old bars so much more than the new bars

[1ShawnJohnson1]

They don't do that on bars anymore, like wrapping around the bar, probably because a lot of people got hurt.

[da3musceteers]

this image really was high-resoluted, for being from 1984.

[spartyutube]

was her mount a mcnamara??!!!

[bbhouk1]

@spartyutube no

[gymnastaddictx97]

10.0!!!!!!

[KillaKitty09]

That dismount was woah :O

AMazing!!

[EGarrett01]

@KillaKitty09

Yeah, that dismount was straight out of the Matrix.

[dontsurfgoofy]

what a dismount!! wow

[gymnasticsfan14]

That was amazing!

Yes i agree the judging wasnt as tough but still, that was awesome!

[roch202020]

She is so powerful, every time I see Mary Lou, I'm seeing a bit of Shawn Johnson! Tough cookies!

[veevee305]

I'd say they mostly took off for the flexed feet on her Tkatchev (and it also didn't have as much height as the commentators were going on about), but other than that she may not have hit her handstands as well as she could have.

I'd say for this point in gymnastics it's a fair score.

[sku8er]

True - still a nice routine, but not as clean as today's standards.

[iemafast]

wowowowow that's all i can say

[kelceaabc123]

amazing

[flippingfirmys]

isnt it the TYSON american cup?! lol

[MisanthropistPro]

It probably should have been back then. haha. McDonald's... geez.

[AlyssaGymnastHot]

hahahahaha ya

[danielcnsilva]

The name changes constantly. If you look at some videos from earlier of this decade, you'll see, it already was Visa American Cup. Yeah, now it's Visa Nationals but, American Cup already was Visa. You got it.

[tmckay171]

It used to be called the McDonald's Cup...in NYC..I was there...amazing to watch!

[HonSug]

Omg!! mary lou, come back to Texas!!! we miss u and love you!! say hi to Kenna and Shay for us!! love you!!!

Carly & Courtney :)

[princessproper]

wow almost a perfect 10!!

0:15 was AH-MAZING!!!!!!!

[krystal198223]

Holy smokes! Weed gymnastics like that today. It would be way more interesting

[FLACSC74]

I hate wheneve she did her retton flip she always looked sideways

[xsmile007]

Really? I loved it I thought it looked so cool

[VintageGymnast]

I remember watching this routine on TV when I was a kid, she did the "Retton Flip" onto the high bar. I loved her :-)

[kelloggx3]

its amazing how much uneven bars has changed!

[CallieCullen13]

I KNOW!!!! no one does a landing off the high bar and land on the other side of the low bar!!!!

[laurenx46]

effing amazing...really deserving of a 10, but oh well ;)

[xsmile007]

yea it was a great routine, but not a 10. her tkachev had bent legs and flexed feet. Still awesome though=)

[havarahel]

yeah, but tkachev was horrible!!!

[bertiebaby99]

whoa... that was AWESOME!!!