Shannon Miller - 1996 Olympics AA - Floor Exercise

[MNGYM26]

Severe severe severe tendinitis and a pulled left hamstring....so friggin' tough. I really like Shannon Miller. Much respect to any high-level athlete, especially gymnasts.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

Miller dominated in 93-94, not coincidentally after the soviets broke up and before podkopayeva. She had no competition for her medals. When the soviets were there (92) she took home no gold medals. When pod was here (95-96) she took home her gold on beam but didn't have a chance for anything else.

[Anapo144]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo If Shannon had of hit like she is know for, she would have easily been the All-Around Champion here. Plus, you seem to forget about all of the gymnastics superstars in 93-94 that she was up against yet still managed to beat.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@Anapo144 If she had some how managed to hit all of her routines including floor she would still not have won, she was outclassed in both difficulty and originality and wasn't scoring anywhere near others here. She took home the gold on beam, the only event that she dominated others on.There were several up and coming gymnasts (kotchetkova, gogean come to mind) but the field was extremely low during 93, 94 which was when she peaked. 96, 92 when she had competition she didn't dominate.

[russianskatingfan]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo Miller was still one of the best on beam in 96 but I wouldnt say she was dominant. If the Chinese had 2 of their best beam workers in the final, especialy Mo Huilan or Kui Yuanyuan I would say she would have had a hard time winning. And in finals other top threats like Galieva, Kochetkova, Marinescu all fell. Of course Miller hit 4 beautiful beam routines at the Games so was a very worthy and excellent champion on that event but not unbeatable even there all the same.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@russianskatingfan When I said dominant I meant she scored higher than everyone in every round. I did not mean that there were not equally as good beam workers at these games. However, Kui and Mo, who had all the skills struggled big time with consistency so even if they had made it into beam finals it is unlikely they would have hit it right on to win.

[russianskatingfan]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo yeah I get what you are saying. Just one correction though. Miller did not score highest in team optionals on beam. Kui was highest at 9.875 (the highest beam score of the Games), and Roza Galieva tied Miller at 9.862. Moceanu was very close behind at 9.850.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@russianskatingfan Really? I had no idea someone got a 9.875, thats amazing. And yes Galieva tied her score.

[LCAmarkymark]

@russianskatingfan Wow thats awesome...Kui was a great gymnasts

[Anapo144]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo Difficulty and originality only get so far especially if a gymnast doesn't hit. For example, at the 1991 worlds (which i understand is a different era, yet it's still a viable example) in the beam finals, Tatiana Gutsu's routine was clearly the most difficult and original yet she lost to Boginskaya's "simpler" routine. The code of points now awards the difficulty, but during this era, difficulty and originality was not the only key factor.

[russianskatingfan]

@Anapo144 Boginskaya's beam gold over Gutsu at the 91 Worlds was the farce of the entire Championships, well other than Zmeskal's home cooked win over Boginskaya in the AA. It was probably a pity gold to Boginskaya for making up to her robbing her of the AA gold.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@Anapo144 Bogi won the beam simply because of her name which is alright I guess because of the controversy in the all around. However the top scores of these games that separated the gymnasts were for "special" routines with original skills that set them apart. For example, Khorkina on bars, Amanar on vault, podkopayeva on floor, and miller on beam. Not coincidentally they all won those apparatuses'.

[russianskatingfan]

@Anapo144 you are delusional. The score Miller would not have needed on floor to beat Lilia in the AA with Miller's other scores (and she hit all her other routines) was over a 9.9, LOL! No chance in hell she was getting that. And you forget there were alot of mistakes in the AA. If everyone had hit Mo Huilan would have won (atleast should have), Lilia probably would be second, and Dawes or Amanar would have gotten the bronze or atleast been over Shannon too.

[Anapo144]

And Shannon started out at a 10 everywhere but vault. And when she hits a vault, its usually perfect. So I definitely think she would have been on the podium that night. Plus, She was clearly underscored on bars, while Pod was clearly overscored.

[russianskatingfan]

@Anapo144 you are entitled your opinion Miller was underscored on bars. I think her score was correct. She didnt hit handstands on bars anymore and her score reflected that. Along with the fact she had been doing the same routine since 1993. Not to mention her double layout showed poor form and amplitude. So yeah her score was about right on bars. And Lilia was deducted half a tenth for her mistake on bars which was about right as it wasnt that big a mistake.

[russianskatingfan]

Here are the scores various gymnasts would get at their best:

Miller: 9.750 on bars, 9.862 on beam, 9.775 on floor, 9.725 on vault

Lilia: 9.8 on vault, 9.825 on beam, 9.825 on bars, 9.9 on floor

Amanar: 9.85 on vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.775 on beam, 9.875 on floor

Mo: 9.825 on vault, 9.85 on bars, 9.9 on beam, 9.775 on floor

Dawes: 9.75 on vault, 9.85 on bars, 9.825 on beam, 9.85 on floor

Sorry Miller wouldnt be close to an AA medal in 96 if everyone hit.

[LCAmarkymark]

@russianskatingfan Mo score is pretty low on vault. But I agree with the rest

[russianskatingfan]

@LCAmarkymark Well Mo nailed her 2nd vault the best she could and got a 9.837, and the 1st vaults are usually lower than the 2nd even for similar vaults. And in the team optionals she got a 9.800 for another perfect vault. So that is where I got the estimate score from.

[LCAmarkymark]

@russianskatingfan I can see that..sad she was underscored on her vault in the team competition but she was over scored on that beam routine lol..I guess it all weighs out

[russianskatingfan]

@LCAmarkymark Yeah for sure. I would have given a hit Mo atleast a 9.9 on beam but her landing deduction should have been atleast .2 even going by the often leanient landing deductions. I was shocked at her score. Her double yurchenko was underscored except in event finals though where she got a 9.825 without sticking the landing. And her bars was extemely underscored.

[LCAmarkymark]

@russianskatingfan from what you have seen from today's gymnastics would you say that bar scores are out of control now and unfair. I only say this because it seems that gymnast who are strong on vault, floor, and beam are penalized for not having such a strong bars routine...do you think the scoring is more fair or no?

[russianskatingfan]

@LCAmarkymark I think the current scoring gives far too much an advantage in the AA to gymnasts strong on bars, and makes it far too punishing on ones that arent. That is why Nastia won the Olympic AA even though Shawn is really better on all the other events and should really be closer to Nastia on bars than Nastia is to Shawn on vault. That is also why wonderful gymnasts who arent that strong on bars like Sacramone, Cheng Fei, and Pavlova cant even hope to threaten in the AA.

[kras118]

@russianskatingfan very good point about the UB issue in AA scoring! It's so oddly lopsided...which stinks for some like Pavlova who may not be excellent on bars, but can still put a routine together....Sacramone on the other hand was pretty much a trainwreck on bars- I think she must have thanked her lucky stars when she decided to drop AA and be a 3-event gymnast!

[russianskatingfan]

Miller ended up tops in 93 and 94 but she was not even close to the top AA gymnast by 96. In 1995 she won the AA at only of the many events she was in and that was the Pan American Games beating Amanda Borden. And 93 was not a field of superstars, that was one of the worst fields in history. 94 was a stronger field but Miller wasnt even really the best that year. If Dawes had hit like she did at Nationals or Milo had hit like she did at the 94 Team Worlds, Miller would have lost.

[Anapo144]

@russianskatingfan how was 93 the worst field in history? I think 04 was worse. You had a past her prime Khorkina, Carly Patterson, Catalina Ponor, and other insignificant gymnasts. I feel as though 93 had more depth with Miller, Dawes, Lysenko, Milo, Cacovean, Gogean, and Chusovitina.

[russianskatingfan]

@Anapo144 1993:

Dawes- horrible gymnast still at that point with godawaful form. She was closer to the gymast she was in 92 who was 26th in AA scoring than the gymast she was in 94-96. Jumped into contention due to crap field that year.

Lysenko- nowhere near her 90-92 level anymore.

Milo- in her worst shape ever, and no 10 start value routines except on beam. Her beam routine that won the World beam title that year was probably worst ever to win an apparatus gold, another sign of field.

[russianskatingfan]

Chusovitina- not an AA gymnast. Was never any kind of contender in the AA even at her peak. Only a contender on vault by that point (which Miller has never won a World medal on anyway).

Gogean- only 14, not in her prime yet. Had 9.8 or 9.9 start values on every event which means she gave up a whole fall in start values alone, and still missed winning the AA by only 0.06 (only since Miller botched her beam dismount and was lucky to win).

Cacovean- hahaha seriously.

[LMA629]

very artistic but not a very high difficulty score. probably had to do with the fact that she was injured. love her music though!

[bertera1614]

i think she had not the necessary strengh to do that double layout

[MrGemini1983]

@bertera1614 I think you are right. She unveiled that Olympic year and the only time I think she does it well is at the Nationals.

[jojo1802]

Now a days that would hardly put her out of Medal contention.

[lilypod3]

@geishasecrets wow, I can't believe you even have the guts to say that....Shannon is one of the most beautiful and graceful gymnasts ever! She has 2 Olympics gold medals, 2 silver and 3 bronze, oh wait and 9 world medals too!!! Obviously she wasn't at her best here but she had a very bad wrist injury here and I can't believe that you said she was a failure too. if she was such a failure then why did she win the gold on beam here? And she was part of the Magnificent Seven! Shannon was amazing!!!!

[PLANETIMAGE1]

Shannon really lacked the REAL power on this event,that's why she lost. Shannon has no chance of winning the AA Gold even if she compete with no major mistakes.Her gymnastics went downhill during 95, it''s clear in her performance in 95 worlds.

[millerowns]

@PLANETIMAGE1 fuck you, every golds measl in the 96 Games eas Millers to win or lose. She would ashave won gold on vaults, bars, beaem, floor, and the AA if she had hit her best routines and if she hadns been robbed of the baras gold by Jackie Fie in the team comepttiions since she lowered her scoor and kpet Miller out of bars finals where she would have easily baten Khorkina for gold if she hits and was scored fairly.

[jovani2293]

@millerowns are you joking. The only gold medals she could have possibly won were the AA, beam and bars. She had no chance of winning the vault or the floor. She lacked the strong power to beat mo and amanar on vault. Plus she she didn't even qualify into the final on vault and only got in because of strug's injury.

[ants2876]

@jovani2293 Miller had no chance of the gold on bars in Atlanta. She hit both her compulsory and optional routines in the team competition and still didnt even make event finals as she was only the 3rd ranked American (and her optional score was only tied for 4th best American). Her 2 hit bar routines got 9.787 and 9.750 in the team and AA. Khorkina won the bars gold with a 9.850 and Amy and Bi tied for 2nd with 9.837.

[jovani2293]

@ants2876 I was just saying what is might have had a chance.

[jovani2293]

@millerowns On floor, she couldn't beat podkopayeva , amanar, or even her teammates dawes or strug. the highest scores she had got during this quad was a 9.787 and that was not a score for medal. Plus she didn't even qualify, she was the 18th score highest score on the quafications of the olympics and last on the american team.

[moopoo66]

@PLANETIMAGE1 i agree with you sorta, but she had a ankle injury in 1995 and still competed for the USA and she was the only reason USA won their bronze medal

[SAX713]

i dont get how that drop her standings

[russianskatingfan]

Shannon always relied on others mistakes to win her medals. Here the others didnt make mistakes so she didnt really have a chance anyway.

[thespion]

@russianskatingfan so basically what you are saying is that Shannon was consistent. I'll 100% agree with that. I also think consistency is the factor that gave Lilia the AA in 1996 - more so than anything else. If Shannon had brought her usual consistency then she would have finished near the top

[russianskatingfan]

@thespion yes I agree. However many Miller fanatics often say Lilia only won the 95 worlds and 96 AAs due to others mistakes when that is why Miller won the 93 and 94 World AA titles. Any way the only women who could have beaten Lilia in the AA at either event is Mo. And if Miller and Lilia both hit all their routines in the AA Lilia wins easily. Yeah Miller if she had hit floor "might" have medaled in the 96 AA but it would have been due to others mistakes, the way Lilia supposably won.

[jovani2293]

@russianskatingfan that is true. The best gymnast is the one that can go 4 for 4.

[moopoo66]

@russianskatingfan im sorry but whats wrong with you , you think your so superior to everyone here and you sprout your claws when someone proves you wrong! get over yourself! Your way to over opinionated, and you really don't belong on these commenting pages if your not going to comment on each gymnast fairly on almost all of shannon's pages where she has won u question her no one cares that you don't like her, 90 % of the time she deserved to win and u can't get over it! Get a life and stop!

[russianskatingfan]

@moopoo66 How many usernames is this for you now. Lets see: luv4cookie, millerowns, GymTruthTeller, GymSkateFan, maxy7792, now moopoo.

[raichmaneuvers]

I am wondering if the judges took only .1 on that first pass when added with .1 for out of bounds would have given her a 9.675 if she had hit or .2 on that first pass when added with .1 for out of bounds which would have given her a 9.775 if she had hit. Or maybe in between .15 which would have given her 9.725 if she had no mistakes. She would have needed the 9.775 to edge out the Romanians for silver though.

[SAX713]

it didnt look like she step out of bounds

[TwisterFlipp95]

im curious why this floor routine didn't get a 9.518.

in the options, her DLO was WORSE and she doesnt step out of bounds, getting a 9.618.

[beckerbombs]

@TwisterFlipp95 The scoring in the teams finals was higher all around for everyone.

[jojo1802]

So this is what the tears were about?? I didn't think this was that bad. Just a low landing and a stepout - but I guess that was enough back then to take you out of the medals.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

Did she really go out of bounds?

[MNGYM26]

After team optionals I would have had her go back to the whip BHS BHS pike full-in. She could do that pass in her sleep.

[pappysprite]

Shannon is incredible! I wish she would have performed like her US nationals routine the same year - it was the best she had ever done and she rocked the double layout landing. I wonder (technique-wise) what she was doing wrong the entire time at the Olympics that she wasn't able to pull that double layout around. Obviously, it is not enough time in most cases to brush-up and fix a move for the rest of the competition. Regardless, she is the best! Compare her level of dance to today!

[daryl00z]

Holy shi ive watched this routine alot of times, and I just noticed how UP and then suddenly DOWN that DLO goes. Wanna watch a real double layout watch Pavlovas...

[agators212]

she was never a naturally powerful gymnast. i don't know what ever made nuno think she could have landed the double layout because she always landed her full in tuck with her head below the waist.

[flipp3ny]

Not as powerful as say, Dominique Dawes, but she did land her double layout succesfully at nationals in 96'.

[agators212]

yeah but it was still not very high and she still lands with her head so low. she was always overscored on floor especially at for that routine getting a 9.900 in nationals

[flipp3ny]

Well, many scores in this time were a bit inflated which is part of the reason for the new scoring system. A scoring system which gives a less tangible idea of "perfection"

[1Timoteo41]

she was lucky at nationals...

[heferkimbo]

she was healthy at nationals, not anymore by olympics

[moopoo66]

@heferkimbo she was injured at nationals to

[moopoo66]

@1Timoteo41 not really she had the skills,and talent and stuck everything

[1Timoteo41]

@moopoo66 well, as i said, she was fine in all events, BUT her landings were low. you can see that if you know enough about gymnastics. Why do you think she got deductions then? She got them for the low landings on the first and last pass, and the start value was not the highest one.

[1Timoteo41]

not even the full twis double tuck was well performed at the end, she was low

[luv4cookie1]

@1Timoteo41 obvioulsey not low if she over roated and steped out. duh

[1Timoteo41]

yeah her first pass was low and the last one two, not perfect. Compare her last pass to lilia podkopaeva last pass and zomolodchikova and shawn johnsons last pass, is the same, but none of these three used to land low. you can also pause shannon miller at her last landing and you will see she needed to keep her head higher while her feet was landing. She got deduction for that for sure.

[luv4cookie1]

she had SEVERE tendentis in her left wrist, her tumbling passes would of been much higher, if u seen her national routine in 1996 she stuck everything and preformed it with height, it was so bad she could hardly grasp the bar r do a backhandspring, she was fighting through pain. so i really have to give her credit for what she did. led her team to their first olympic gold and won gold on the balance beam INCREDIBLE!

[1Timoteo41]

yeah i give her credit because she did compete being injured, but that does not mean that her passes were well performed, the second and third passes were fine, but they are very simple. On 1996 nationals, she was low on her last pass also, she did not do steps but she got deduction for landing low, she was smart because she used to stand up quickly, but look it in slow motion or pause it and you will see she did not have the explosion of kerry strug or Dominique Dawes. On beam she was great.

[luv4cookie1]

well of course! her floor is nothing comared to domi and kerrie on floor! but her grace and dance made up for it. and she is the best on beam

[1Timoteo41]

oh yeah, on beam she was the best during her time, on vault I used to like her landings on her blind landings, they were incredible, and i like the way she finishes with her hands up and head up when after she lands on beam, and the other events, her signature moves was the way she used to move her hands on the dance elements. Watch the way she moves her hands on beam on the artistic area. It was incredible.

[luv4cookie1]

i agree 100% with everything you said, i loved shannon on beam, her blind landings on vault to! and she has natrual grace not the crap u see from nastia liukin, which looks labored and not very fluent! people are so un-educated these days that they insit that its grace, because they dont know better lol

[1Timoteo41]

jajajaja yeah

[beckerbombs]

@1Timoteo41 On beam she was the most consistent and the best competitor. I am not sure if she was actually the best beam worker though. The best Chinese like little Mo, Kui Yuanyuan, and a few others were better at their best but more inconsistent. Others like Podkopayeva, Kochetkova, Marinescu were even equally great beam workers but didnt put it together in finals as often.

[TwisterFlipp95]

@luv4cookie1

actually, at the 1996 nationals, she was also short on her double layout, but was able to save it.

[pappysprite]

I wanted her to win so badly...she so deserved it. Thankfully she got the gold on the beam.

[FLACSC74]

I remember watching this in 96 and crying with her when she left the floor, you just couldn't help feel for her

[LiangJackShan]

What place did she place in the AA in the 1996 Olympics??

[ooplopoo]

8th

[audie83]

It doesn't look like such a terrible mistake from this angle. No worse than Gutsu in 1992 (who scored above 9.90). I liked Shannon's Russian style choreo and music better than Dawes's.

[mzmissa]

It was a terrible mistake being that this wasn't the first time she had messed up on the pass in those Olympics. I personally feel that the double layout was too hard for her at that time. But all in all, this routine's choreography was great but the tumbling wasn't as good as Dawes'.

[audie83]

I have to agree-the double layout really was a bit too much for Shannon's abilities-perhaps she should have tried some tumbling combo that was comparable in that code. No-the tumbling was no where near as good as Dawes. I had not realized she also stepped out of bounds-now I understand her final score a little better.

[MyFavoriteMusic8]

She was injured. Her hamstring injury kept her from doing the pass she wanted to do. She was not healthy at all in 96 especially at the Olympics. In fact she never practiced any of her tumbling in practice or podium training because she was so injured. She also could barely swing bars

[mzmissa]

Yea her music & style was better than Dawes' here however the Dawes back in 92-94 was awesome. Anywho, I loved this routine and music from Miller here...you don't see too many floor routines nowadays that are choreographed well like this one....such a shame.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

I also believe she was suppose to do a front tuck when she landed her layout.

[audie83]

I don't recall Shannon bounding out of her double layout into a front tuck?? Did she do this at some other competition? If memory serves (and it's getting rusty) she performed the dlo only a few times.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

When she was younger I recall her doing a front tuck and I thought it might have been why people made such a big deal out of her landing it was because she missed her front tuck but I guess she didn't do one in this routine. I'm sorry if that was confusing.

[audie83]

No worries! Actually I'm a bit sad-I was hoping you were going to say she DID do that particular pass and it was here on youtube lol! Can't have everthing. cheers. :)

[smiFromBelarus]

LOL!

[gymnasticsforever95]

i personally dn't think this is a bad routine, just a short double layout and 1 step out...

[Sherri2008]

Even though there were errors, it's still a lovely routine. Does anyone know the name of the music?

[Lakuilera]

it's called two guitars... check out yelena shushunova's floor music though... it's much better than this...

[ooplopoo]

she should have covered up that first pass like milo did in her FX. she was short on her full in, but leaned out to make it look alright. poor shannon, still one of the best!

[dcumr]

0/3 on that opening pass in these Olympics. She was short every time she did it. She may have thought of changing the pass after the first two times.

[kras118]

how many times did she do the DLO in the 96 Olys? TO, AA, and.. ?? do you mean warmups, too? b.c I know she struggled then too!

[xxpehbcemm]

she stepped out of bounds on her last pass; can't see bc of the camera angle, but Tim and later Steve Nunno both comment on it

[gymnasticsforever17]

where is this "stepping out of bouns" I did see her step out at all the only mistake I saw in that routine was her short double layout...

[rfillangi]

This was heartbreaking. She waited 4 years and then this happened :-(

[sirgio]

No matter what she was a fantastic gymnast. One of the very best in the world.

[geishasecrets]

the bitch sucked! what a failure she is. She failed the USA.

Loser! LOSER LOSER LOSER!!!!

Lil Pod all the way baby! Lilia can school this blond bitch. Lil had grace and precision a joy to watch. Ths loser American-blond sorely lacked. What a cry baby loser. Go home to your mom bitch.

[moopoo66]

@geishasecrets want to know what FUCK YOU YOU DICK, i can't stand blind fucks like you i am so sick of it, critizing a poor girl with more talent that lilia will ever have, Shannon had 2 severe injuries and still preformed and she STILL placed in front of moceanu! Lilia of course as all the compeitions she's ever won took advantage of poor gymnasts falling, or making a careless mistake, Shannon had more dance and artistry, not saying i dont adore lilia i do, but she did not fail USA ridiculos!

[geishasecrets]

@moopoo66 It's oboviously a matter of taste/preference. No matter how much you cuss and hate, it will not change my perception of Shannon as the cry-baby LOSER to the most awesome, gracious, artistic Lilia. BTW Lilia suffered injuries, a broken rib and cracked another. So don't go making excuses for Shanon, fat ass. You're ugly outside as you are inside fat American. She failed the USA, accept it. Shanon is not known for dance or atristry, Lilia was. get your facts straight.

[moopoo66]

@geishasecrets Shannon was known for her dance and execution and compulsory work and Lilia's injuries where recovered months before the olympics. And i do have my facts straight but just because your personal prefrence isen't shannon and beleive it or not i love Lilia way more than shannon actually, but it gets annoying when people like you say that she failed USA when she had 2 injuries IN the olympics. And still she finished first for the US and brung home a medal.

[MrGemini1983]

@geishasecrets She didn't fail the USA. She had the highest total score of all of the Americans. You have a right to your opinion but why pick a stupid one and be obnoxious about it?