Kim Zmeskal - 1992 Olympics AA - Balance Beam

[dmaire1221]

She won the world .........gold . First time for the US .......She was awesome

[solferrer1]

She is incredibly elegant if you compare with American gymnasts today...(sigh)

[bumbleness]

I absolutely love love love that mount.

[TwisterFlipp95]

i never saw why shawn johnson was compared to kim, kim was much more fun to watch.

[luv4cookie1]

@TwisterFlipp95 your joking right?

[TwisterFlipp95]

@luv4cookie1

I most certainly am not joking, I never liked watching shawn johnson.

her and kim were both pretty robotic, but kim actually made it look good.

[pfkf2000]

cannot stand this gymnast - carly patterson and shawn johnson are so like her - stocky build, flat routines, zero artistry - no sign of elegance - they should have been tumblers - not artistic gymnasts - and for sure khorkina should have won the 2004 athens AA

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

Flat routines? Shawn Johnson? Have you seen her floor, vault and beam? And also they are not stocky builds they just have tons of muscle.

[pepismama]

I agree....love their tumbling skills but they aren't very....artistic.

[luv4cookie1]

@pepismama neither were kims

[victor57]

Well if they're so bad how come they keep winning huh? Shawn johnson "stocky build, Flat routine, and zero artistry" is what got her, her gold medal, her all around world champion medal and all the other competitions shes won. So yeah if they werent supposed to be artistic gymnastics why do they keep beating the elgant and artisic gymnasts huh?

[JohnYiMusic]

Not saying that gymnasts like Shawn are poor gymnasts, but that is why the Code of Points was revised recently to only count the 8 most difficult skills...so that routines would be less about throwing difficult tricks and more about the artistry and performance.

[greyskies34]

@victor57 actually the elegant artistic gymnast (nastia liukin) beat shawn in the all around in the 08 olympics besides shawn had lots of artistry on beam but other than that she didnt have much artistry so if she was so great than y didnt she get gold in the all around in the olympics huh?

[luv4cookie1]

that was acually pretty lucky of nastia to win the olympics, she caught shawn on a bad day on beam. Plus nastia's grace isen't grace, it is completley labored, and if she didn't take after her mother ( rythmetic gymnastics body) then her leaps wouldn't be good. So she is not a better gymnast then shawn, BOTH their records prove it

[greyskies34]

@luv4cookie1 well think about nastia's gymnastics is all about perfectness and difficulty while all shawn's is about is power and difficulty nastia performed her best that day and won the all around nastia deserved the gold

[luv4cookie1]

@victor57 well i have to say i perfer gymnasts like shannon miller (who is my absolute all time favorite gymnast i<3 her) but i always loved shawn i am open to all gymnastics styles. I just loved how shannon could make power look graceful. you know?

[TuesdayPillow]

I don't know if I'd call Zmeskal the worst AA champ ever, although she certainly wasn't the best. Olaru was a disappointing winner of the AA in 99 and Khorkina's 2003 win was a little questionable. I think Kim could have really shined had she been healthy. She would have showcased some of the hardest tumbling on floor and done better at vault and beam as well. Nonetheless, she was not the best American, and she got the AA placing she deserved (in my opinion).

[raichmaneuvers]

Khorkina is a legend, so I fail to see how she could ever be a candidate for the worst AA champ ever. Patterson was at best a poor womens Shawn Johnson, minus ability to adequate vaulting (atleast in 03) and quite overrated and overscored as it was. Olaru won the 99 world AA by being the most consistent gymnast.

[luv4cookie1]

@raichmaneuvers khorkina is a whore now a days, look her up on google

[luv4cookie1]

@TuesdayPillow shannon miller was the best AA champ ever!

[russianskatingfan]

If Betty Okino and Michelle Campi had been able to stay healthy all of 1991 and 1992 they would have been better gymnasts then Kim as well. Too bad about their being injured so often. It would have been nice to see Brandy Johnson or Betty Okino win the 91 World AA title instead of Kim and they likely would have been far more deserving winners. Okino had gorgeous artistry and beautiful form. Brandy has great difficulty and form. Kim has nothing except power on vault.

[russianskatingfan]

It was great to see Kim finish below Gutsu, Miller, Milo, Gogean, Bontas, Bogi, Lysenko, Onodi, in the AA as they are all greater gymnasts. The AA results at Barcelona were far more reflective to who the best gymnasts really were then the laughable 91 World AA results. Also great to see Miller, Gutsu, Milo, Onodi, Lysenko, Lu Li all earn multiple event final medals while Kim won none, again quite accurate to who the best gymnasts in the world really were. Worst world AA champion ever.

[luv4cookie1]

@russianskatingfan in my opinion shannon miller was the best AA champ

[russianskatingfan]

Well she was much better than the overhyped Zmeskal. I will give you that much.

[hjaidar]

@russianskatingfan WOW you really hate on Kim, the results in Barcelona Olympics doesnt reflect Kim's abilities in gymnastics, a healthy Kim could be an AA contender even if you said the opposite, everyone who knows about gymnastics can see it, she wasnt the most artistic gymnast, but she could dance, and her floor compulsory can shows it.

She was the best at TO, even with her leg injury, even with a downgrade floor routine, with not her best vault, or a not perfect landing on bars.

[lambielkwanfan]

I dont agree with russianskatingfan very often but he is right on the money here. Kim was just not an AA Champion caliber and wasnt ever equipped to live up to the expectations in Barcelona. To be blunt she won her World AA title only because it was in he U.S. If it were in Europe she probably would have been 6th or 7th. Her 2 golds at the 92 event worlds were sort of flukish circumstances, half the top gymnasts not there, the other half making mistakes on beam and floor finals or semis.

[hjaidar]

BOGUI, GUTSU, MILO, LISENKO, ONODI, LU LI, CHUSOVITINA, ALMOST EVERY OLYMPIC MEDALIST WERE THERE EXCEPT MILLER. aND YOUR POINT IS NOT SO GOOD IS LIKE GUTSU AND MILLER WON GOLD AND SILVER JUST BECAUSE ZKESKAL WAS INJURIED. WHO CARES!! THEY WERE THE BEST AT THE COMPETITION TIME.

[ants2876]

Miller and Gutsu were superior gymnasts to Kim. A healthy Kim could not have touched either here with both at their best.

[hjaidar]

That is something that you don't know and me neither so that is only your point of view. If Kim beat them at Optionals not only both of them but everyone even with the stress fracture, how can you be sure about that.

Hmmm

[ants2876]

Yes I can be sure of it since I have eyes and I see the inferior gymnasts of Kim compared to those two. As for team optionals Kim was the only top gymnast who did her best. Gutsu FELL in team optionals, otherwise her optional score would have easily beaten Kim's, just add .5 on for fall on beam and it will prove it. Miller had mistakes on beam and vault in team optionals and still lost to Kim by only 0.12 I think so with her AA performance she smokes her.

[ants2876]

Sorry I meant Miller even with mistakes on beam and floor in team optionals sitll only lost to Kim at her best by 0.012 so with her AA performance which was far superior she of course beats her easily. Add .5 for Gutsus fall on beam in team optionals and she crushes Zmeskal even hitting her best routines in team optionals by a whopping 0.075, a huge margin back then.

[hjaidar]

@ants2876 You or me will never know the thruth about that, but if you see Kim's career she was pretty consistent except OG, where she was injured, if Kim was the best on TO injured, (I know that Tatiana fell on beam and Miller didnt her best, but anyways Kim was injured), it doesnt need to be very smart to think that a healthy Kim could be an AA, and floor contender. But I wonder if you dislike Kim what are you doing here looking her videos. Just asking

[dhendryx]

does anyone know who the commentaters are?

[todosobretodo]

Greg Lewis, Julianne McNamara and Peter Vidmar. They were commenting the American version of the Games called the Triplecast.

[aitraining]

She choked bad at these olympics.

[CamilleNadia]

It hurt to watch. She simply never recovered from the fall she took at the beginning of the competition.

[jaszmina9]

I like the way she moves on the balance beam so much!

[Holycani]

lol who is this chick? She sucks. She was world champion? Were those championships boycotted by every other country?

[grafgirl27]

No she won Worlds with the performances of her life, far better then her. Many of her competitors did not perform as well as they did here as well though. Even with her best routines she would have only been around 6th in the Olympic AA to be honest.

[darthmira]

If Kim had performed her whip to double layout on floor, she would have had more of a chance. Also, she had the highest AA total from optionals in the team final, beating Miller and Gutsu who were pretty consistent that day too. She had a shot.

[grafgirl27]

Gutsu was pretty consistent in team finals!?! Gutsu FELL on beam in team finals. Miller did not perform anywhere near as well in team finals, and had faulty landings on both vault and beam. Zmeskal was at her absolute best in team finals, while none of the other top girls were.

Kim scored 9.937 on vault and 9.900 on bars in the AA, with hit routines.  Add her 9.912 on beam and 9.925 on floor from team finals for hit routines. She still does not medal in the AA even with those all added.

[darthmira]

Wow, can't believe I forgot about Gutsu's fall, lol.

I was just commenting that had she been healthy and able to thrown her full difficulty, she would have had more of a chance, not nec. a medal.

[todosobretodo]

However, if Zmeskal performed the same tumbling she showed at the Olympic trials, she could have scored a 10.00 on floor instead of a 9.925. That would have given her the gold. Alas, it was not to be. But did she have the potential to win? Certainly! And the whole world mourned when she didn't.

[russianskatingfan]

The whole mourned when she didnt win, NOT! So funny how you Americans consider the U.S as the whole world. Hardly anyone outside the U.S cared about Zmeskal. In Europe almost everyone thinks her 91 World AA title was a home cooked gift.

Get real about Zmeskal being able to get a 10 on floor. Bontas and Milo did better tumbling at the Olympics then Kim did even at trials and even they didnt get a 10 in the AA.

She didnt have potential to win anything since Olympics were not in LA or Indy.

[todosobretodo]

You are obviously obsessed with Zmeskal as well to check her YouTube page often enough to see what messages have been posted. I've told you before that I am from Barcelona and was actually present for the EFs. The Spanish people were keenly aware of who Zmeskal was and wanted her to win. Her tumbling was FAR superior to that of Milo and Bontas, and she was a better dancer than they were. A ten was certainly not out of reach for her.

[russianskatingfan]

Wrong again, this is the first Zmeskal video I have posted on so I dont give a squat about her. You are the one who goes on every single video of your hero Shannon Miller to whine about every event she didnt win, or any video of anyone who beat her to whine how they were lucky to beat her.

Who cares if you are from Barcelona. I doubt you had any friends back home either so it is not like you would know what anyone thought but yourself.

[todosobretodo]

We all know that you really love her, just like we do. Both Zmeskal and Miller were fine champions, and my expressions of praise are well-deserved.

You've constantly called me a biased American. That is not true. I witnessed these Olympics from a first-hand European point of view. It is obvious that any kind of bias came from the other side of the continent.

[russianskatingfan]

Zmeskal's tumbling was only superior to Milo and Bontas on the planet that Miller is the 1992 AA Olympic winner, one only in your mind that doesnt exist, sorry. Actually the routine Zmeskal did on floor EF was her best and she still didnt medal. Bontas with a big mistake even beat her. If a ten was possible for Zmeskal then point out all the 10s she got on floor in her career. Oops, that is right there were none.

[todosobretodo]

Zmeskal's FX in the EF was far from her best. She tumbled on one leg and was .012 away from the bronze. That is quite a feat. If she had been healthy she'd have stolen the show in both the AA and EF. She managed to do that anyway in the optionals.

By the way, Zmeskal scored 10s on floor in the following competitios:

1. 1990 USA Challenge

2. 1991 American Cup

3. 1989 Arthur Gander Memorial (in Europe!)

Seems like you're the one who doesn't want to face reality, my friend!

[russianskatingfan]

I was talking about World events are international events of any prestige. Do you really think the American Cup or USA Challenge are legitimate events that anyone outside the U.S gives a damn about, LOL! Does everyone need to be spelt out for you. Again in your own little world. Name me an event of any value that Zmeskal scored a 10 on floor at. If those are the only ones you can come up with that speaks for itself.

[todosobretodo]

Zmeskal received 4 out of 6 tens at the 1991 Worlds, and that is pretty darn close! All but one of those judges were European!

[russianskatingfan]

Zmeskal hit every pass in floor finals. It was as good a routine as she does everywhere else. Bontas and Gutsu both made a big mistake and still beat her, and Miller with the simplest and weakest tumbling in the floor final also beat her. Maybe in your dreams she could do something like a full twisting double layout like Tshusovitina and Bontas at their best have done, or do her full in with a combination of multiple other aerial skills like Milo did, but none of the rest of us have seen it.

[todosobretodo]

Zmeskal had trouble on both her first and last pass on floor in EFs. She had two minor errors permitting Bontas and Gutsu to surpass her. A perfectly nailed routine and she would've tied Milo for gold. I'm sorry russianskatingfan but I don't think that we have been watching the same competition. Try putting your glasses on next time!

Enough vengeful talk! I respect your opinions and ask that you also respect mine!

[hjaidar]

@russianskatingfan WRONG. She mad a big mistake on her first pass and a small but visible on her last, at that point junges were punishing on Kim, and keeping up Miller who was AA runner up, 92 floor champ Bontas and of course AA champ Gutsu. Bontas and Miller should got 9.90 or less than that. Gutsu had a very dificult routine so her score was fair

[russianskatingfan]

Also since you are a Miller addict (a

disturbingly obsessive Miller addict) I assumed you appreciated gymnasts with beautiful form and dance most. Zmeskal did not have beautiful dance and form like Miller, in fact hers was no better then Gutsu. There was nothing special about her compared to the other top girls. Not the form and dance of Boginskaya or Miller. Not even close to the difficulty of Bontas, Lysenko or Gutsu. Not the originality, rythym, and flow of Onodi, Milo or Lu Li.

[todosobretodo]

I had hoped that you had finally overcome your rudeness, russianskatingfan. Guess not!

[russianskatingfan]

Telling the truth is not being rude. It is called a reality check. Something you could use so you didnt live in some parallel universe where Miller deserved every gold medal that has ever existed, and where Zmeskal was really the superstar of the early 90s other then a home cooked one-time World AA winner who was exposed in Barcelona.

[todosobretodo]

No, it's called rudeness: aka arrogance, imperitence, incivity, insolence. грубость, невежливость. Don't you know a home cooked meal is the best kind? Though Zmeskal didn't have as much difficulty as some athletes back in '91, she hit the very best routines of anyone in the competition and won by .112, a huge victory back then. Miller outclassed everyone in Barcelona and won more medals than any female gymnast, and then again to become a back to back World Champion. That's reality.

[russianskatingfan]

The reality is anyone would rather have 2 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze as Milo and Gutsu had from Barcelena, then 2 silver and 3 bronze like Miller had. So at best your hero Shannon Miller still had only the 3rd best Olympics of any gymnast. Still alot better then Zmeskal who without her home court advantage went with home with the same medal haul as Wendy Bruce.

[todosobretodo]

Don't forget that besides winning more medals than either Milo or Gutsu, Miller went on to win two more gold medals four years later, proving that she was and still is a true champion.

[russianskatingfan]

grafgirl you are stupid to be using scores from team finals. Scoring in team finals was higher then AA finals for similar performances, with a whole different set of judges altogether, which means the scores would drop even further. So Zmeskal would not neccessarily be able to tie for 4th just because her best scores from team finals would have. Please stick to tennis.

[todosobretodo]

And you stick to skating!

[russianskatingfan]

While you stick to coloring books or something you might be able able to handle.

[todosobretodo]

"able able". LOL

[LadyBeaverhausen]

@grafgirl27

You're retarded. Perhaps you didn't realize that she beat EVERYONE in Comp IB (Optionals) during the Team Competition? Only Gutsu, who fell, could have bested her, thus she easily could have medaled had she hit. Learn things, bitch.

[grafgirl27]

@LadyBeaverhausen Gutsu would have destroyed her in team optionals by over a tenth without the fall. Yet Gutsu in the AA final itself barely won. That already should tell you how much higher the level was for most of the top gymnasts in the AA final vs team optionals. Miller, Milo, Boginskaya, all had 1 or 2 mediocre routines in team optionals. Zmeskals's scores of 9.900 on bars and 9.937 on vault combined with her 9.925 and 9.912 on floor and beam from team wouldnt have medalled.

[LadyBeaverhausen]

@grafgirl27

You silly bitch. Anyone with an ounce of knowledge about the sport knows that you cannot compare scores across rounds of competition, but only how gymnasts score relative to one another. Learn things, cooze.

[grafgirl27]

@LadyBeaverhausen you are right. The scoring in team finals was easier and higher than the scoring in the all around finals so Kim's scores on beam and floor would have been lower than 9.912 and 9.925 for her same hit performances, dropping her even further from the medals. Thanks for playing.

[hjaidar]

@grafgirl27 Kim wasnt perfect on TO, she was far from her best vaults,she took a hope forward on her bars dismount, a bug on her beam mount, and was short on her famous three whips to double tuck, besides downgrade her floor routine because was injured. She usually was near perfect on vault, pretty consistent on bars and beam and great on floor, check part 5 of 1992 Houston salute where she did one of her best and more difficult floor routines

[hjaidar]

@grafgirl27 probably with her best routines injured Kim would have been between 3th to 6th, but a healthy Kim who knows, because her huge floor difficult, her almost perfect vaults and her consistent beam and bars could give her gold or silver. In AA all big names did well except Kim.

Ironic how Shannon in 96, was injured and with a lot of pressure didnt do well at AA too. Both were good gymnasts with different talents

[ants2876]

She wasnt bad but she wasnt a world champion caliber gymnast. Worlds being in the U.S helped her a huge deal. If the 91 Worlds were in say China, Hungary, or Australia, I doubt we would even talk about her today.

[johnbourbon]

a canadian talking gymnastics. thats just great.

[ants2876]

Canada won a gold medal at the last Olympics in mens gymnatics, and it was a real one, not a bogus gift that is ridiculed and laughed at by nearly everyone to this day like Paul Hamm's.

[johnbourbon]

a gold metal! whee! let's throw canada a party.

ps. i actually had to google who the hell you were talking about. meanwhile hamm is a household name.

[ants2876]

He is a household name only as the most controversial and disgraced AA winner in the history of the sport. Everyone outside the U.S laughs at him, and even many in the U.S for that matter. The Canadian who you googled has achieved something Paul never could, an earned gold medal that he doesnt have to be ashamed of.

Of course karma is a bitch and Paul sure got what he deserved this year. Meanwhile his name goes into the dust altogether now after Yang Wei's spectacular Beijing performances.

[NYCBlonde]

You are incorrect. Paul Hamm was the acknowledged best in the world in '04, having won the AA in Worlds and the Olympics. His name will never go into the dust. It's sad that you take such joy in tearing down a gymnast; you don't come off as a true fan of gymnastics but rather as some kind of partisan with an axe to grind. What happened in Athens was unfortunate but Hamm was entirely correct and won fairly, since the Korean had not been penalized for an extra hold & is lucky he got any medal.

[ants2876]

Hamm did not deserve hardly any of his scores in the Olympic AA. His vault was a 9.9 SV and mediocre quality apart from the fall. It should have been a 9.0 at best. His high bar and parallel bars were very good no more than 9.8 worthy. The one who was really robbed by the way was not the Korean who was 3rd who had a lower SV, but the Korean who was 2nd by 0.012 who made no mistakes but everyone ignores.

[NYCBlonde]

@ants2876 Nah, everyone here in the States pretty much loves Paul Hamm :) But thanks for caring so much!

[pattypeppermints]

it's a revolting sport. poor girl

[czucksk84life]

wow this commentator is almost as annoying as nowadays.

[Yankees2446]

I remember crying for her. She had the weight of the world on her shoulders, not to mention a bad injury leading up to and including these games.

[postlemonkey]

There were such high expectations for her and she just couldn't preform. shes still one of the best though