Lilia Podkopayeva vs. Eileen Diaz - 1996 Olympic Compulsory FX

[13shifter]

such a stark contrast between the two

[pappysprite]

This is yet another reason why compulsories should not have been eliminated. I don't think anyone should make fun of Diaz though.

[zeldafreak701]

Wow 8.4? That's just atrocious. Even just a 9.0 is considered very poor.

[MargaretLeighh]

Eileen Diaz was, even by today's standards, a talented gymnast, but doesn't compare to Podkopayeva's grace and form.

[LMA629]

@MargaretLeighh yeah, Eileen's body type alone (particularly short and muscular) makes it hard for her to appear graceful. Meanwhile Lilia, while not tall, was longer and leaner.

[EdGringo78]

@MargaretLeighh What are you smoking??? Eileen Diaz a talented gymnast??? She's a tub!! She can't even land a simple full twist or get ANY amplitude on her leaps or even hit a full split position!! This girl had no talent whatsoever and should not have even been granted a credential into the Olympics. I'm sorry if you like her, but she should not have even been there.

[QueenieQue]

@EdGringo78 Okay, seriously, you should save your vitriol. It's ridiculous to call any gymnast a "tub" when they clearly are muscular, not "fat." Besides, you can't say she has "no talent" and get away with it when, even if she clearly lacks the grace of Podkopayeva, still competes as an international elite gymnast. Grow up, and stop bashing gymnasts with third-rate training facilities.

[EdGringo78]

@QueenieQue This girl is not muscular, she's fat. Muscular people can jump more than two inches off of the ground. The only thing I'll give her is that she has some flexibility. She does not have third rate training facilities. Puerto Rico is an American commonwealth and she has access to all of the best training facility. I'm sure she didn't even live in P.R. at this time. You need to take your own "grow up" advise and stop eavesdropping on conversations you're not a part of.

[QueenieQue]

@EdGringo78 If she was really fat, she would be on Biggest Loser unable to walk a mile. BTW, it's impossible to "eavesdrop" on a public conversation on YouTube. If you want to have a private conversation, go elsewhere. I'm sure no one here would miss you.

[EdGringo78]

@QueenieQue Being a bit dramatic, don't you think?? BTW I know it's impossible to eavesdrop on an public written conversation. I was being an asshole, just like you :-) And do you really think I care what you think of me? I couldn't care less. You're pathetic with your unwanted comments. Now you're blocked from my channel and my life. I'm done with this "conversation" and you!!! Have a terrible New Year!!

[simplystreeptacular]

And that, ladies and gents, is why Lilia Podkopayeva is, to this day, one of gymnastics' all-time greats.

[afgymnast96]

one of the main difference is that eileen put extra flourishes everywhere, and that got her behind in the music and made the routine look a lot more labored

[EdGringo78]

@afgymnast96 That and the fact that she's fat and can't even perferm her elements properly. I'll give her props for trying though. It takes guts to go in front of the entire world and embarass yourself like that.

[LMA629]

it doesnt even look like they're doing the same routine!

[Floatie114]

I think this is why I miss compulsories. It was the only thing that really seperated the best from the rest. Gymnasts couldn't get away with just having a great personality, big tricks, and NO ARTISTRY. You couldn't hide your lack of artistry, flexibility, and bad form because you'd be compared to LilyPod, lol.

[MichaelKanJohnson]

Well it's true Podkopayeva was more graceful and more technical than Diaz, but Diaz had a larger frame so her shapes were much more exaggerated, so any errors she made would be more noticeable than on a gymnast like Podkopayeva. That's what I think. You have to give all gymnasts that make any Olympic team A LOT of credit though. They all worked hard to get there.

[MeanestCoachEver]

@MichaelKanJohnson Yeah blah blah, give 'em credit but let's face it - Diaz did not tumble or leap as high as Lilia. She did not have the extension. She did put an effort in the presentation department, though. You can see at the end how unpowerful her tumbling is and how low her back tuck is. Very mediocre gymnast. She had a nice bars dismount, though.

[krell88]

what were their respective scores?

[jeffy5482]

Lilia - 9.850

Eileen - 8.400

[LGailey]

I was shocked to learn that Eileen was trained by the great Soviet coach Aleksandr Aleksandrov; I couldn't imagine a Soviet gymnast ever looking like this out on the floor!

[EdGringo78]

@LGailey The Soviets, and all other gymnastics teams were not allowed to be fat or to have no talent like this girl!!

[gymcat67]

Wow, what an effective way to show differences in compulsory floor excercises. Several seconds, you even wonder if they are doing the same routine.... Reminds me how much I miss compulsories!! Grace and perfection comes best with relative simple excercises and lots of practise.

[SahTrew]

Wow, what a difference grace does. Popkopayeva was PERFECT.

[omegalavender]

Thanks for having the music up, really means a lot to me that someone had this music on youtube somewhere, took me forever to find it. I wonder how it would look to have all teams up, individually so you can see which member ont he team was the strongest in this FX... That would be incredible, cheers...

[fliptopla]

Interesting...Eileen finished 7th in the 1993 USA Championships in Juniors, but when she knew she probably wouldn't make the 1996 Olympic team, she competed for Puerto Rico.

[yngtxtopbear]

Its like comparing a ballet dancer of 15 years to a spazzing out retarded star wars geek.

Its mean! LOL

[NYCBlonde]

@yngtxtopbear She's still an Olympian, and as such has already done more than 99% of all YouTube gymnastics fans have ever done.

She's certainly not as good as Lilypod but who is? She deserves more respect than to be slagged off like that.

[GymnasticsAddict]

Ahahahaha, I love this!

[ispaht]

The best and the worst!

[liukin95]

this makes a huge difference :)