1932 Olympic gymnastics tumbling Roland Wolfe

[aNoifmYg391]

If this is really in 1932, then why was artistic gymnastics still at the "handstand on the beam" stage or even less around that time???

[Sadiyev]

HE is BEAST!!!

[AveryWeinstein13]

He needs 2 keep his dang feet 2gether! When he's goin into his double or single he twists it rite off da ground (BTW...I am guilty of dis 2!!!) lol!!! But lyk still!

[ijustdontcare87]

He's basically the Steven Legendre of 1932

[TheBlehh010]

He does a half twist before he leaves the ground! My coach would whip me if I tumbled like that!

[pediatrapaola]

@TheBlehh010 very very advanced tecnique for his time would be good today too

[zingdav]

wow, gymnastics has gotten way better

[taydev2007]

wow! if he's that bad ass on grass, imagine how sick he'd be with the help of todays modern apparatus's!

[AlexCorralMexico]

@taydev2007 YOU ARE RIGHT. MAYBE A QUADRUPLE FULL : )

[skaterfugater]

He has mastered every type of air flight, twists and summersaughlts, all without the aid of a propeller.

lol

[justincredible9446]

he twists extremely early for his fulls and dubb fulls and gets sikk height oh and its on grass!!!!!=O

[CoryClark13]

this guy is terrible compared to people nowadays tho

[MadFlenser]

@CoryClark13 not necessarily. while yes, body position and tension are way out of whack, you do have to remember that it was all learned and performed without the springs of the modern gymnastics floor, nor the aid of the training facilities available nowadays. If you actually want a fair comparison to nowadays, compare him to freerunners/trickers who perform on grass etc, like the 3run channel here on youtube. their stunts aren't much more impressive.

[fierce0729]

o woww...

[Aldind2x]

This is amazing...no plyo!!

[MrArbitrager]

the founder of freerunning...right here

[MrDyblie]

so this is amazing...

[BosciaIV]

what a monster



[MrBen51309]

him jumping over the class was FAKE

[breezebro]

@MrBen51309

I think it was meant just to illustrate that it could be done.

[MrDyblie]

@MrBen51309 no... there are also a guy that does a double front flip over 15 people... just serch on youtube...

[NoMotif]

holy crap he twists soooo early!

But dang, his handspring rhythm is fast!

[assassainsblood]

this is the best tumble video ever

[chloe98036]

Wolfe won the gold medal in 1932 at Los Angeles. Silver was won by Edwin Gross, also USA. His parents lived across the street from me growing up in Seattle, where they had the silver medal certificate hanging in their dining room. I met Ed Gross once or twice, he *claimed* he had broken his foot the day before the tumbling final and hence got second. He said he also taught fancy diving to folks like Alan Ladd in Hollywood. Are "Floor Exercises" the successor of this event?

[breezebro]

@chloe98036 Nice bit of history.

Tumbling is generally a seperate non-olympic category along with trampoline and flying rings. Floor exercise contains tumbling runs and yes, you could say FloorEx the successor of this event. You just don't see much straight line tumbling on TV.

[UltimateCheerChick]

nice shorts ;)

[TheWorldOfJames]

ALL WITHOUT THE AID OF A PROPELLER!

[bbsfactor7x7]

This video is good I like the fact that he did it on grass I'm not trying to be mean but most gymnast rely on spring floor

[gymnastics4eva369]

WOW amazing especially for there time period!

[drw1632]

well it def. proves your not related...He passed away a couple months ago. Was 95 years old. Didn't know we had grammar police on youtube. Obviously he will always be my grandfather.

[Jakatrk]

This has motivated me to drill my twisting pythons :P

[theadditude]

Wow...a double full...I'm really impressed!!

But the technique would never be tolerated nowadays!!

[ShaneMDoi]

I read that he was able to do double backs and he practiced them into cardboard boxes at the end of the gym floor! Makes you appreciate what we have now to train as gymnasts.

[fhenrique41]

Awesome! that was my grandfather! XD

[pilarp23]

That WAS your grandfather? He's still alive and I'm sure you'd know it if he really was your grandfather, so your comment proves that he ISN'T your grandfather. Why do you lie?

[drw1632]

@pilarp23 well it def. proves your not related...He passed away a couple months ago. Was 95 years old. Didn't know we had grammar police on youtube. Obviously he will always be my grandfather.

[drw1632]

@pilarp23 well it def. proves your not related...He passed away a couple months ago. Was 95 years old. Didn't know we had grammar police on youtube. Obviously he will always be my grandfather.

[drw1632]

@pilarp23well it def. proves your not related...He passed away a couple months ago. Was 95 years old. Didn't know we had grammar police on youtube. Obviously he will always be my grandfather.

[drw1632]

@pilarp23 well it def. proves your not related...He passed away a couple months ago. Was 95 years old. Didn't know we had grammar police on youtube. Obviously he will always be my grandfather.

[pilarp23]

Unfortunately you're right. The strange thing is that I checked his entry on Wikipedia not more than a week ago and it said he was still alive. Today I saw your comment here and checked once again to make sure and found out that mr. Wolfe had passed away on 14 January this year (they must have updated the info just a few days ago). It's really sad. He was probably one of the last surviving competitors and winners of pre-WWII olympics.

[LMA629]

wow hes great especially for the 1930's but spinning top, flying bird, & twisting python? lol

[gremlin05]

This guys a ninja.

[rrs4178]

WOw! I wonder what tumbling will be like 70 years from today??

[dragu88]

woooo.. nice

[bluey1610]

As a gymnastics coach myself, I was pretty impressed actually, 1930's techniques & terminology are very different but much better than I anticipated before I watched it!

[firmingitup]

At 1:19, I wonder if they drew straws to see who would be the last man in the line.

[Thechad201]

haha.

[Roo0oom]

@firmingitup

i dont think that was invented yet :P

[wolfe1932]

Hey thomastlegs, Wolfe has an Olympic Gold Medal.....what about you?????lol

[thomastiegs]

haha its funny.. not saying he's bad. but i can do everything he can do.. in the grass O_O but its good for 1930's lol

[95DGK95]

Wtf No you Cant Thomas whatever ur Shitt!!

[mowdel88]

Roland Wolfe is simply AMAZING! Even in today's standards, he's the bomb!

[LMA629]

can you imagine using the terms spinning top, flying bird, & twisting python in todays gymnastics?? lol. pretty good for 1932 tho

[GymnastChick1234]

bad legs

[amazing1968]

yes

[danfearn]

he would be amazing if he trained in 2days thigns

[Lmg1116]

I am so impressed... all on grass and a panel mat!

[chancelerok]

I have mastered every type of air flight - twists and summersaults... but I did have the aide of a propellor.

I wonder how people will talk 80 years from now?

[wetalloy]

this is so easy to do. remember Bruce Lee's words "FOCUS, BE LIKE WATER"

[gymdom]

i would disagree with you greenkiwi..

cheerleading actually only allows up to double fulls in their rules..

and the best best cheerleaders are performing much harder things than just a running double.. WITH good form.

not every cheerleaders form is bad, just like how not every gymnast's form is great..

he is amazing for his time though.. even with the form breaks its amazing for back then.

[greenkiwi689]

This guy's really good for 1932.

I would also like to point out that that is what the best cheer leaders do today (and this guy does it cleaner.) So this just proves how much worse cheer leaders are if gymnasts were doing what they're doing now 80 years ago.

[gymdom]

rules in cheerleading are also different, they can only do up to double fulls..

and i disagree that he does it cleaner than the best cheerleaders today.

his tumbling is amazing for 1932 and he is also tumbling on grass and hard surfaces

[famousmanbearpig]

i agree with you greenkiwi.

not sayin cheerleaders are bad, but 95% of them just arent good at gymnastics.

[7thspetke]

I bet he can't do a 720 tkd kick.

[136105]

hahaha!

[capoeira2brazil]

u r hilarious lol

[Holycani]

His form is horrible! lol j/king

[G33314Lucas]

hes on grass

[HattieLovesCattie]

Wow!!!!! He's still living too and born in 1914.

[JimmyDeLocke]

Mr. Kite performs his tricks ON SOLID GROUND. Your old school tumblers were plenty tough. Nice double twister at the end.

[JimmyDeLocke]

on solid ground! no spring floor. Nice double twister at the end!

[FelixNeumann2]

wow this guy is amazing

[emanuelfradkin]

its amazing this used to be the best...now 9 year olds can do that

[schood85]

not on the grass! (hopefully)

[morebooks2005]

,,,,it is amazing regardless....

[DrAlexisOlson]

Thanks for the video!

The commentary is hilarious!

[BevHills]

During that time, it was incredible. Think about how little they had to practice and train with back then. For him to do that, it was amazing.

[memd92]

this is awesome. Technique has come so far. Considering his coach could not spot, what he did was incredible. He also used to be able to do a double back. He is incredible. This was done on grass. Show me someone today that can do this on grass......that never learned it on mats, I will be impressed. Gosh people did not even know how to teach these back then.

[amour777]

Some back yard tumblers still make it that far without ever using mats or spotters.

It isn't common, but it happens.

Not to undermine him.

He was amazing for his time, even for now.

And at his time, it wasn't exactly all that established, so he was learning something very few people did, as opposed to now where there are tons of tumblers and it isn't hard to get advice.

[Shad0wMoNk3y]

There are alot of backyard tumblers, including myself, who have never used mats or spotters and got far. Check out PhymanDang or Gummimensch19

[raclip02]

@memd92 I learned all of my tumbling on grass. I have a full, not a double back, though. LOL. Than's insane!

[hummingfrog]

It's amazing how much tumbling has improved since then. In high school in the 70's I could do most of what he did, even on grass, with better form. And I wasn't even the best tumbler in my high school, let alone an Olympic champion!

Here's a thought though: I wonder what today's best tumblers would be able to do WITHOUT their tumble tracks? I feel of those things diminish the purity of the sport somehow, turning it almost into trampolining. For Roland it was just him and the Earth! :-/

[elwyn14]

'without the aid of a propeller' classic!

[Paraiah]

It's incredible to me because of the lack of padding. When you look at the conditions our gymnasts train in with foam everywhere, it must have taken nerve to do what he did. He's awesome. =D

[reicherj]

you can't really critique his form because the term "form" is relative to what time period you're looking at. For instance, nowadays, we have recognized that in order to build real power you want to stretch your handspring far, whereas back then (and I've seen it in gymnastics books published in the 30s) they taught you to arch your back in the handspring... just an example.... "form," as we know it, changes.

sweet video

[porky7369]

can someone say high riding?

[Holycani]

not that i am being a jerk, but it's funny to watch the lack of form back then. It's still impressive but not beautiful.

[hopefullyjh]

I dunno. As a non-gymnast I find him more appealing to watch than modern men. He's grinning like a nut; he looks relaxed and like he's having fun.

[briaberger]

How relaxed would you be when performing in hopes of winning a gold in front of thousands of people?

[sk8endorphin]

legs spread out thats a deduction tisk tisk

[wellbuilt13]

That's kinda super-awesome.

[MidoriAyana]

Heck yeah!

[barkingtree88]

still very impressive.

[jesusvalera]

what an excelente "N.E.W" trick that was huh?

[gymnastlala]

HAHAHAHA!!!! I absolutely love the commentary!!! "spinning top, flying bird, twisting python" HILARIOUS! "All without the aid of a propeller!" And he says it all so matter of factly!

[Chrissie735]

He doesn't have good form

[phialen]

um its 1932

[laur3nbaby]

So, he should still execute properly!

[berndt87]

Great gymnastic performence :D

Just love it, the commentator is hillarious :D

[Lemonoverthere]

Twisting python

!!!

[piggyoinks247]

"All without the aid of a propellor."

That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

He's pretty good, especially considering the equipment he had to work with back then. Does anyone know what kind of floor/tumbling strip that was?

[me12chrysler]

1 3/4 of an inch matt... shit goes hard...

[ninjachild5]

But just consider what he's tumbling on too!

[ninjachild5]

I know i sound stupid for saying this... but i did not know they performed tumbling with that kind of diffulculty. But now a days... he'd get deducted BIG for his form. But still... truly amazing for his time.

[ZzPlaya4life12zZ]

ahhh no wrist supports ouchhhhh lol

[deansmithisgreat]

that guys insane

the announcer sucks.

"without a propeller"

[tonyhawkwiz]

that was just the style of announcing back then. too bad they didn't have bart conner

[DailyQuestion]

lmao this is totally a 1930 style video, dumb ass anouncer, and the short shorts XD

[ChumpJoe]

That's amazing. I would get so dizzy doing that! Haha.

[lilJohnDillz]

what crazy form, man gymnastics has really evolved over the years. is that a spring floor?

[Zyrt0x]

That's a funny movie

[gymnastics329]

wow its amazing to see how much tumbling has changed since then

[Circusgrl93]

lol im lovin the short shorts pulled up rele high ;D

[55bones]

wat a legend

love it x :P

[k5smitty]

He is/was AWESOME ! in his 90's???

[EXvall]

this guy is freaken sweet to bad hes dead now lol, i think hes dead? is he?

[JacobShallcross]

i sure hope not he's well hot!

[DirectorToby]

Don't worry if he's not. I know that the 2nd best tumbler is still alive. Hes called toby dale - you should check him out.

[mightyboosh00]

wow XD

[backflipboy27]

spinning top, flying bird, twisting python

HAHAHA, thats really funny commentary

[wiggey]

why is it?

[backflipboy27]

because it's stupid

[AntiRenMan]

The commentary sells it. Absolutely hilarious. 'you won't believe it's true!' It looks a bit like the class is standing behind where he's flipping, watch as he clears that last guy... I wouldn't want to be him.

[DariuszKrzykliwy]

COOOL!

a po polsku :D

Klasyka. Koles jest konkretny :)

Do tego trzeba wziac pod uwage ze nie robil tego na zadnej podlodze gimnastycznej tylko na twardym podlozu :) Szacun

Ciekawe czy jeszcze zyje :D Mial by dzisiaj 75 lat :)

[Puschen121]

haaa reaaally cool video xD

[RyuSujin]

Awesome!

[FecaTuga]

XD good

[smileycow1210]

lol omg they called a front tuck a sommersalt

[joshy1111111]

a front tuck is a sommersault...soo is a back tuck..

that is a sick video.

Josh

[MeganIsCoolio]

lol wow

[Aikipanther]

They didn't have the modern training equipment they have today though.

[bobbyatopk]

yeah but its on grass not on a realy bouncey tumble track

he gets a crazy amount of height on the double twist

[proxnobody]

wow if that was good way back then then gymnastics nowadays is amazing