Yang Bo 1989 China Cup beam

[nicki446]

Exquisite. Poetry in motion. My gosh she was so underscored for such a perfect routine.

[fantastischfish]

She is beautiful on the beam!

[mortella23]

best routine ever

[Logansbl]

GORGEOUS!

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

In all seriousness, was the reason her score was so low because they deducted for her leotard?

[diegokace]

9.850..Is it not a bit low?

[afgymnast96]

that should have been a perfect ten if I've ever seen one! :(

[evoandy]

perfection. I can't believe this didsn't score a 10.

[QueenieQue]

Best beam routine EVER! I love Bo!

[kms4092]

should have been a 10.0 I can't imagine what deductions were taken.

[Hasoginy]

@kms4092: I think they might take off points for her 'Yang Bo' since she has a tiny little wobble there. Just personal opinion. Might be wrong.

[kimxh]

Wow, how is it possible to achieve that type of fluidity and perfection?

[SvetlanaBaitovaFan]

This is how a beam routine should be done.

[jamesbug2002]

interesting to see Yang Bo do a full split during her lay-out step out series...other gymnasts can't even do a full split..i can compare Zamolodchikova's bhs step out and layout step out series..not in full split..

[pinkymonero]

Yang bo had the most perfect, exquisite execution - I agree no comparison at all to most other gymnasts!

[lingketon]

i think the only gymnast coming close to yang bo in terms of the lay out step out split is gina gogean

[shoably]

@jamesbug2002 well you also need to take into account that shes a whole lot more flexible than zamo or many other gymnast.

[jamesbug2002]

you know what I think, flexibility is a minimum requirement. I mean, all gymnasts should already have that..and those who don't, well, will have to improve to get good scores..hehhehehe

[uwoeric]

Shoulda been a 10.0!

And 3rd place was Annia Hatch! Hard to believe she was still lcompeting in 2004.

[russiangymfan]

Chinese are often underscored, just like Yuanyuan Kui's beam routine at 97 Worlds and Yilin Yang's uneven bar routine at both team final and event final at 2008 Olympics. Both Kui and Yang should have won golds.

[Kevinsf]

had she stuck the dismount during the worlds, she would have won.

[aleksdeabreu]

underscored is right. Yang Bo is perhaps the best beam Chinese beam worker ever

[briaberger]

Tied with Fan Ye :)

[lingketon]

not only is that rulfova combination sensational, that rulfova itself is incredibly high!

[ralucagymnast]

Have you ever seen anyone more confident on a 4-inch wide beam in your life??When it all went well for Yang Bo, she was untouchable. Unfortunately, it didnt all go to plan; her consistency wasnt, if you get me, which was a shame, as she was truly awesome on beam.

[Vermontist]

Oh, Elfie--how can you say that the fact that Yang Bo is flexible means that she is "playing up to the judges?" How lame. This is the best choreographed, the most beautifully performed beam routine of all time. Simply perfect.

[TuesdayPillow]

I don't think she meant that in a mean way. I sure didn't take it that way. What is wrong with playing up to the judges? You know what they want to see, and you give it to them - hence why "art" is lost in gymnastics today.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@Vermontist She said "she was really going to play up to the judges", I think she meant the judges were really going to like it.

[Vermontist]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo You're probably right, TuesdayPillow & gymnasticsloverxoxo. I get very cranky when people say things that I perceive as taking away from the athleticism & artistic qualities of this beautiful sport. Sometimes my perceptions are just...well...off. Thank you for your comments. :)

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@Vermontist No no its fine and not a problem! I agree Elfie can be quite annoying.

[iLoveMyiPod2008]

i love her beam work. its terrible that she feel in the EF at the 1992 barcelona olympic games, she had a big chance to win gold.

[Peaceplatform]

Lovely to see Yang Bo stick a routine - her performances are all amazing but are often marred by a mistake here or there.

This would be up there today with the best beam routines I'm sure. So daring, artistic and assured. Love all those back flexibility elements.

:-)

[llc831]

Simply stunning. That routine is such a pleasure to watch, no matter how long ago it was. It's the type of gymnastics where you don't even care what the score is - you just revel in how beautiful her movements are. The score is clearly not reflective of the quality - so it's almost better to ignore the score and just watch the routine again!!

[ralucagymnast]

I know what you mean about the score; surely that is a joke!! When you look at some of the "perfect 10 scores" which were handed out during the 1980's this deserved a 20!!!

[brookenicole222]

The beam was made for this girl.  I am in complete awe when I watch her beam routines!

[gymn0brunette0hanley]

omg that was perfect. that would beat any gymnast nowadays. but where the heck did they find enough deductions for a 9.85

[Jude74]

Would still win gold. Wow.

[TuesdayPillow]

That may be her best routine ever!

[Angkaili94]

Perfect 10!!

How old was she here?

[khorkino]

she was 15

[ralucagymnast]

Outrageous!!Did any of the judges actually WATCH this routine?????

[nikirififo]

Her Full Handspring swing down it so high

*-*

[HoneyGotMeHooked]

WOW amazing.

[ikansee]

She is amazing bo :)

@+

[icarrus4u]

Probably the best beam worker to EVER live. I love Yang BO!

[backflipboy27]

that deserves a 10 more than any other routine in history

[alcoholicglitterati]

Gorgeous, one of the best beam rountines ive EVER seen.

OMG, Portuodo in 3rd - is that Annia Hatch?

[gymnassstiicss]

TEN :)

[ShaefDawg]

Oh... my... goodness!!! Is that Elfi Schlegel?! Wow. I didn't think she was THAT old. Man, kudos to her for commentating for that long!!!

[sazarific]

Simple. It's probably one of those meets with conservative judging, like Soviet nationals. Wouldn't be surprised if the 9.85 was by far the highest score given.

Of course, they couldn't give her a 12.

As for start value, any elite at that time would be starting from 10 unless she missed a special requirement, or was getting too close to power (see Brandy Johnson, FX in AA, 1989 Worlds).

[turnerbug]

you have to remember though - her start value might not have been a 10. so the judges might not have taken anything off .. rather they scored as high as her start value allowed.

[Lyssenk0]

Her start value was above a ten. Back in those days, you only needed 0.4 extra. They didn't have connection bonus, they used a system of value raising, where linked elements could be raised in value.

FF layout layout = 0.2 as the layouts are both upgrades from C's to D's

FF layout rulfolva = 0.2 as the layout is upgraded and the rulfolva is already a D

There's a 10 start even without the dismount and any tenths she would have earned due to originality, risk, virtuosity, or the Yang Bo jump.

[Lyssenk0]

I certainly don't understand the score, but it's not because of her start value.

[tanselc2006]

Splendid.

[gymnastics2006]

It deserves a 10!!

[mrparke007]

OMG. You've got to be kidding me. This was obviously before the gymnastics world knew anything about beam.

[candishoes]

She was incredible....best beam worker of ALL TIME!

[ralucagymnast]

Where on earth could judges deduct from that???There was a very tiny almost imperceptible wobble at the beginning, but not worth the deduction they took!!!She should have scored a 9.95 and one tenth for a tiny wobble!!

[silnara]

9.85 wasn't good enough.

[silnara]

What's the score?

[fruityliciousrhubarb]

That was superb.