Mary Lou Retton (USA) - 1984 Olympics - Compulsory Floor

[pinolobu]

OMG it's been 27 years since I saw this - that song has been stuck in my head all these years.

[camjay8]

It is a fricken compulsory routine everyone could do them back then! It is NOT the best gymnastics of 1984

[sheinacolfer]

Are compulsory routines ones that were set the same for everyone? i never heard of them before now. .

[Stonymypony]

How did the gymnasts have time to learn the compulsory routines?

[TotoisLostInOZ]

Why can't contemporary floor routines be like this? I kow that they have to have all the difficult twisting and stuff, but I really do miss the actual TUMBLING.

[dancinkarl]

this makes me really miss compulsories!

[panic042]

you know what's annoying? when people watch this video and any other compulsory exercise and say how it looks to easy for the olympics. before you come and watch gymnastics videos, maybe you should do a little research. :) not pointing any fingers, i'm just saying this in general. mary lou looks wonderful in this exercise!

[gymnastics441]

idk bout anybody else but to me that looked like a really easy routine for the olmpics

[veevee305]

@gymnastics441 It's a compusory routine, so it's easier to show a gymnast's mastery of basic skills. The optional routines are the ones that are more difficult. Compulsories are no longer used.

[ThePingShowJL]

I love the scale she added in there.

[Dunntosh]

She was no Ballet Dancer, yes; but she was a gymnast! She really made the sport become what it is today.

By the way, her "lack of fluidity and grace" was due to the fact she went for sharp and crisp movements; same thing that saw Kerri Strug receive the 2nd highest compulsory floor score in Atlanta, only .025 behind Podkopayeva.

Her routine was as fun to watch as Szabo's, in a very different way, and I'm sure Mostepanova and Ilienko would have been enjoyable in their differences as well.

[emmyjo720]

@Dunntosh Kerri Strug was always a better gymnast than Mary Lou

[veevee305]

What an era. Even Mary Lou Retton, the undisputed power gymnast of the day, manages to put a bit of her own personality and even a touch of grace into a floor routine. None of today's power gymnast's can even come close, whatever country they hail from.

[Dar0922]

Mary Lou will always live under a cloud. Had the Soviets not boycotted these games, Mary Lou would not have gotten near a podium. If you really want to see great gymnastics check out the alternate games (Olomouc). Mostepanova was fantastic. Ilienko was great.

[emmyjo720]

@Dar0922 And Yuchenko too, Mary Lou would have bearly have been noticed had those three competed this routine, with all their ballet training.

[Dar0922]

@emmyjo720 You're right. I didn't list Yurchenko. She was also an amazing gymnast at that time. I'm still a huge Mostepanova fan. Her tumbling, dance and grace are timeless. Watching the gymnastics competition at Olomouc was far better than the farce that took place in Los Angeles. Olomouc is where the real good medals should have been handed out. I do feel sorry for Mary Lou Retton as she will always live under the the cloud of the Soviet boycott.

[emmyjo720]

@Dar0922 The Olympic battle would have been between Mostepanova, Yurchenko and Kati Szarbo who would have have been in contention for a medal, due to the quality of her work. Yurchenko was the best vaulter in the world so Mary Lou would have struggled to get a 10 for hers, up against Yurchenko performing a vault that changed gymnasts for men and women.

[mvf71]

excellent tumbler, but she lacked grace and feminity throughout her routine.

[FLACSC74]

@mvf71 your joking right ? routine was very playful

[GymnasticsISlife96]

is weird to think that i could preform a routine that won the olympics

[boytoyville]

@GymnasticsISlife96

This was just the compulsory round. She did a double layout and full twisting double back in the all around compition. Even beyond that the floors and general nutrition were different back then.

[tightlygagged]

Another hideous exhibition from Mary Lewd, the fireplug on legs. Graceless, classless, devoid of line, form, extension, timing, subtlety, and betraying no evidence that Retton ever in her life took five minutes of a ballet class. How embarrassing she was and is--a 'gold medalist' who barely won a rigged competition in her own country with only ONE of six or seven vastly superior gymnasts present.

[Anax68]

Face it. Floor compulsories wer not only judged by it's technical, but also by it's coreography elements and the way each gymnast performed it. And I must say that Mary Lou lacked of grace and subtle rythm in this performance. If you take a close look, she looks like she's in a hurry to finish. I guess because off her being a good tumbler and in addition of being at home, made this look even greater. It was good but neither excelent nor perfect!!!

[Trublutahoe]

My aren't we snooty judging her in today's standards? I am not a blind fan, but she kicked ass. So, are we going to see you compete in the next Summer Olympics? I would root for you. Judging from the sidelines is easy. Give me the same latitude you took, I would say if she were young again and competed, she would win Gold again. She not only has skill, but attitude to always win. She beat her competitors, can you?

[vontrappster]

@Trublutahoe

She was fucking filthy.

[thenines666]

@vontrappster

I do to miss the old way of gymnastics. It is not reall the same as it use to be. GGo back to the ythe old skoll way of doing it

[TuesdayPillow]

I'm sure she did this as well as she could but it doesn't hold a candle to what the Soviets showed at 83 Worlds - it looks almost like a totally different routine.

[PhillyGal4Ever]

I agree with you and Anax68 as well. The thumbs down must be from her blindly loyal fans. Accent on the blind. Retton had gifts but dance, technical execution on skills such as leaps and flexibility were sorely lacking.

[twilliger123]

Can you post Tracee Talavera's compulsories???