Added: 5 years ago
From: skata524
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  • When you see any other gymnast of the world doing the Korbut flick it looks boring, when you see Olga performing the Korbut flickk, even in 2012, it looks STUNNING

    That's how good she was

  • I don't care if this doesn't feature the big tricks we see today, it is one of the most beautiful routines I've seen.

  • Olga was the bang theory back then. I dont think they gave her her props. She was bending and twisting in ways not seen and...shit, she was a bad girl in her time. Love ya girl!!!!

  • Back in 1972 Olga was the hottest thing going.  It was all about Olga ....

    Others have said what she did back then seems easy and "basic" by today's standards?

  • I wish I was a gymnast

  • Coming from this generation of gymnasts I definitely have to say that yes, a lot more technical and complex moves are incorporated now days, but what we were taught especially on the beam was to attempt a smooth and flawless BALANCE...as no one can do like Olga did. WOW!

  • This is so clean and precise. Even though the skills are easier, i dont think anyone could execute this as beautifully as she did

  • When I watch old videos of gymnastics I feel like I am watching it in slow motion. Every move they did back then was so slow and precise.

  • @ xx0mizz0hollz0xx

    1. I would like to see you try and do this beam routine

    2.The skills may not be as hard as the ones today but they are alot neater

    3. DONT COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU DONT EVEN KNOW ABOUT!

  • @sammyNERF24 thank u was thinking the same thing

  • To this day, no one performs the Korbut quite like its originator. The flexibility of her upper body makes every move look so beautiful.

  • No matter how difficult the routines today's gymnasts can do, they can never outshine Olga Korbut.

  • Ольга Вы супер..

  • I think she should have gotten a 10

  • I love love love the gymnastics but not so much the leo. Oh well it's the beauty of the gymnastics that really matters :)

  • shitty audio quality, this should be repaired, out of respect

  • 0:45

    <3 <3

  • If you think Olga wasn't daring or whatever, look at the Korbut flip! She was absolutely amazing.

  • nobody does beam like that nowadays thers too many rules and now that routine would have not been a 9.9 which she deserved for it bcuz the judging is way too critical

  • She grabbed the beam on her dismount......

  • sound rape

  • @Inzalonus Your comment made me laugh so hard, I couldn't stop for almost 5 minutes. But it's SO TRUE!!

  • @sabbysayshi1 indeed it was

  • Not one hesitation, not one wobble and so smooth and elegant. This is why routines such as Olga's were a joy for the public to watch- and are even more so today. Even with the age limits rising, modern GN is hard to truly enjoy. Its all marking of "skills" they cannot comprehend, being barely landed by over-anxious, emaciated and stingy little automatons whose faces betray the 1000s of hours of hell they go through.

  • did she get a deduction for grabbing the beam there with one of her hands at the end after her dismount?

  • @LMA629

    no, as far as i can tell gymnasts often did that on dismounts throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s. they were allowed to steady themselves. i think it is as ridiculous as the rule that they used to be able to take one step on dismounts and it was not deducted. but that was 50s not 70s.

  • @LMA629 That was not a deductable offense at the time.

  • @sabbysayshi1 yes, but remember this was 1972. the beam was solid and wooden, not padded with moleskin and enhanced with springs to make it easier to perform. the beams back then didnt have the grip they do now. todays gymnasts couldnt do what they do on that crappy equipment

  • its so weird how much more advanced gymnastics has gotten this is about a level 8 routine now. i wonder what kind of skills we'll be doing in a few years..

  • No one performs that Korbut flip as well as her, and just think she was landing on a hard wooden beam, incredible.

  • To this day, I've never seen anyone perform the Korbut as well as its inventor.  Gorgeous skill!

  • It's interesting to see people putting down the old routines, saying they're rubbish and how easy they are....I prefer the old routines. They were about grace and lovely movements, rather than tough difficult extreme moves. Beautiful routine.

  • OMH!! she is perfect! not sagging or getting off balanced.....magnificent!

  • A cartwheel. How vintage...

  • As Bela Karolyi has said, up until Korbut's time, it was thought that gymnastics had reached its limit in difficulty, especially for the women. Olga showed the world that more difficulty could be done, and opened up the sport for many more people, which fueled innovations in equipment, which in turn led to more difficulty, and eventually resulted in the fabulous era of the 80s and beyond. Gymnasts and fans alike owe it all to her.

  • Фантастика, как кошка, все мягко, слитно, ни разу не покачнулась.

    Как будто с удовольствием прогулялась по бревну.

    Это Стиль Корбут.

    Сейчас же у девушек много "техники", а стиля нет.

  • i luv luv luv luv luv olga!!!!!!!!!!!!11and how she changed gymnastics etc etc etc

    but it is sort of funny how im only in level 5 and yet i do a split leap and a cartwheeeeeeeel in my routine.....

    :)

  • it seems simple compared to todays routines but so flawless and amazing!! she is so graceful

  • Itss soo easyy compared to the stuff theyy do today.. but she wass masingg on bar! x

  • That was awesome at :50

  • nice!

  • OMG! I know this is a relatively simple routine today, but that dismount! My heart skipped a beat! She made it look like magic. Olga was amazing!

  • shes the first person to ever do a back flip on the beam... my coach told me today.. i wish she never did it ! (x

  • wow she makes that look so easy to do on a beam like she not more than 2 feet in the air..lol its like shes made for gymnastics.

  • Naudia is very good at gymnastics, too, but Olga goes slowly, meaning she has more blance. Just like riding a bike-if your'e going fast, it's easier to stay balanced, but when your'e riding slowly, you have a better chance of tiping over unless your'e balanced very well.

  • That makes little to no sense when dealing with the balance beam.

  • MAGNIFIQUE!!!

  • what is striking is the impression that she's not executing anything for "requirement". she seems to be up there for the sheer need to express movement through exercise. truly remarkable.

  • Her routine looks easy now, but just think of this: that back salto she did would be practised hundreds of times a day on a solid, dense, cold hard wooden beam. No luxury of padding and moleskin to make the beam more forgiving. And no springs in the beam either to make it easier. Just cold, hard wood. No wonder she had problems with her ankles. Amazing.

  • this deserved a 10!! it was perfect

  • Have you ever tried it on a 4 in. piece of wood?

  • i can only do a cartweel and a backwalkover on a beam

    and im not saying its not hard im just saying its easier then todays routines

  • She was everyone's sweetheart of those Olympics - the planet loved her. It was all about Olga and I loved watching her then and now. Thank you for posting!

  • good for her she also cute with the pig tails and nice pointed toes , she looks very friendly to other gymnasts and one of them was from east germany thank you Guineverejuliet for answering my question

  • great gymnast but did she get the gold ?

  • Yes, she did. She also won the gold for her exhilarating floor exercise. She was fabulous.

  • I think her floor routine is still the most original ever. The way it flows effortlessly is just amazing.

  • Love that routine

  • This is gymnastics at its best, but the satanic commentator at the beginning scared me!

  • Her Korbut flip looks incredibly painful xD

  • Yes, she lands on her crotch. Ouch.

  • Actually, she lands on her chest.

  • I know what your saying with gymnastics now. The tricks are obviously phenomenal but sometimes its all tricks and no artistry.

  • Olga Korbut was the best gymnast ever. She put the whole sport on the map, single-handedly. Nadia Comaneci (sp?) was suberb, but Olga Korbut was charismatic. It's too bad you can't see her floor routine; it was terrific. Her gymnastics was charming, as was she. Was great to hear the old ABC Commentary (what was his name? He was great.). The Olympic commentators now are inferior. The gymnastics is all about acrobatics now (albeit stunning acrobatics). It's missing something.

  • Jim McKay and Gordon Maddux provided the ABC commentary and it was/is unsurpassed. Both were very involved in their work and were highly impressed with Olga, as we all were.

  • well said July2560. well said.

  • now this is ARTISTIC gymnastics!

    Bring back gymnastics like this.. absolutely beautiful!

  • How'd you get Freddie Krugger to do the narrating for this video?

  • She wasn't losing her balance at all, that was obvious, her hand just landed on the beam, it didn't help her in anyway.

  • I saw a documentary on US TV shortly after the 1972 games about Olga. It showed her training at home in Russia, and her coach made her do that dismount over and over, trying to get her to *not* put her hand on the beam when landing.

  • I don't understand why people love to compare today's gymnastics with old school gymnastics, I mean, this was like 37 years ago! Why you all can't just... watch Olga doing her graceful and beautiful routines? -.-

    Bleh

    I love you, Olga!

  • We get to sometimes choose our own beam routine and I always choose one like olga korbuts routine! I LUV HER!!!!!

  • she grabbed the beam on her dismount..

  • yeah we can see that

  • wow.

  • Thanks for your videos!

  • where is she from?

  • her mom bahaha

  • Comment removed

  • Belarus...

  • USSR.

  • As someone who truly enjoys watching archive footage of Olympics history, IMO, Olgas glowing 72 performance with her beaming smile, & especially after her tearful stumble (plus the fact that this was all during the weighty-time of the Cold War) is one of the games most beautiful moments.

  • thank you for saying that this routine is timeless

  • You must know that at this time doing this things was like now when a gymnast does incredible things. The gymnastics have changed, but probably it wouldnt be like that if they didnt do this things first. That´s why now the gymnast could do things that are more complicated, because nadia, olga...etc did their exercises first.

  • well maybe you could.. but without half her grace and beauty.

  • You wouldn't see what you see today if it wasn't for gymnasts such as Olga...

  • @skata524 And at the same time you don't see gymnasts like this today... (they should have kept compulsories.)

  • @xx0mizz0hollz0xx You're probably rubbish compared to what people will see in the future!!!

  • @xx0mizz0hollz0xx it si because of gymnasts like her that we see what we see tody, i mean so what if what she was doing ist really that hard anymore but back than those were really difficult and difficult moves,

  • @xx0mizz0hollz0xx Well you're obviously not gonna see her do what the gymnasts do today because..you know, she DID gymnastics not DOES. Gymnastics had to evolve or else how would it develope??

  • wow that was amazing!!

  • now wobbles at all...amazing...iputs circles around them today

  • thank you thank you gymnastics today is soo boring this is how you work the beam

  • olga always practiced the hardest tricks so she had a wow factor but wether she mastered it or not was another story...classic vid...props!

  • i wish they would combine on beam the dancing skills of back then and the acrobatics of today. i love watching a routine with great acrobatics, but the gymnasts today barely dance, it seems like they just go from pose to pose. but olga korbut has some really lovely dancing.

  • ` absolutely beautiful. olga korbut is just so captivating in the way she performs her routines, and especially the way she shows her emotions.

  • She reminds me of a ribbon, she's so graceful

  • Whoa! The beam is so long!! Haha but great rountine

  • this ruitines really good!

    Ive only really started paying attention to the scoring of gymnastics since beijing and they always seam to be on about perfect splits. olgas legs didnt seam to be in proper splits on her jumps, were they ment to be?

    Could someone please explain the old perfect 10 scoring system please. did difficulty matter at all? were thay as picky?

    And ur all talking about cumpolsory and optional ruitins, did all gymnasts used to have to perform 2 rutines for each aparatus?

  • it wasn't easier , there were no springs!

  • i wish i could be as good as her!!!

  • I totally agree, the korbut flip just blows u away

  • gymnastics was so much easier back then

  • it seriously was, but it was harder too

  • she was an AMAZING gymnast and completely changed the face of gymnastics but never won an overall gold medal... HOW DOES THAT WORK?!?!?!?!

  • she was amazing

  • Olga Korbut was one of those gifted gymnasts who was best viewed while she was in mid-flight. She moves through the air perfectly.

  • ohh..tnx 4 telling me dunntosh!!:)

  • In my highly uneducated opinion, I say Nadia is better on the beam, but Olga might be the best ever on the bars.

  • Nadia was PERFECT on beam. Nadia was a tiny bit cleaner on bars, however Olga was certainly more daring.

  • Nadia was good at beam but barely better than Olga. Nadia's bar routine was very graceful and slow moving but Olga's was much more fast, breath-taking, and difficult, it just blows you away.

  • I'm not saying Olga wasn't good, I'm saying she wasn't 100% perfect like Nadia, and that's why Nadia got the first perfect 10.

  • If you watch the bar routine she got the first perfect ten on (compulsories) there is a very obvious mistake in it

  • Oh and Olga should have gotten the first perfect ten on her team optionals bar routine at these Olympics, if you watch it I guarantee you will not be able to find any mistakes

  • bent legs on her flip (the one where she stands first). I think Olga is an amazing gymnast. My comment was a REPLY to someone about something, that's why I mentioned Nadia. Before you try to make yourself look smart please know what your talking about :/

  • You say I should know what I am talking about before I try to look smart, yeah we'll see. First of all that flip is called a Korbut flip and it is suppose to have bent knees because she is suppose to tuck back over the bar. My dear even you can use your common sense to figure out that flip is not possible to do if you don't bend your legs.

  • In the air her legs are slightly bent, not while she is on the bar. Also, when I said you should know what your talking about I was talking about how my comment was a reply to someone elses comment, not about the flip :/

    Also, I understand her legs have to be bent on the bar, but there is no reason why in the air they must be bent unless she was preforming a tuck which she clearly wasn't. Also, I think the judges there know a bit more than you do about what was right and wrong with her routein.

  • isn't there a beam move named after her?!

  • Yes, the Korbut flip. The move at 49-50 seconds in.

    She was also the first woman to perform the standing back tuck on the Balance Beam, the move performed at 1 minute, 27 seconds in.

  • She was actually the SECOND woman to do a back tuck on beam in Olympic competition. Nancy Teis of the US was the first. I have never seen a video of this, but there is documentation out there.

  • Really? I've never heard of Nancy Teis. I just remember the biography of Olga aired in Australia said she was the first to compete a back tuck on beam.

  • Oops! I misspelled her last name: it is Theis. If you do a Google search on her, you'll find it. :)

  • Olga was actually first. She is taped doing it in other competitions before Nancy.

  • wasnt she the first person to do a back somi on beam?? this is amazing!

  • She was so awesome to watch.

  • she works in edmonton elite gymnastics she is ma teacher .

  • it was an answer to trashywilma...

  • 1:25. WOW

  • all my love to olga

  • wow shes skinny

  • oh thast really bad for her health

  • and maybe u also think u did a funny joke...?

  • wow, how much has changed. walkovers and cartwheels seperated from other moves in the olympics :|

  • but olga and nadia were better than anyone since on the uneven bars.

  • "Elite", olga was unique, a one off,gymnasts today are too sharp,they dont flow gracefully like the girls of the 70,s,the girls these days have gone as far as they can now and it all looks ugly,olgas beam is beautiful and elegant,i watched the 1972 games i was ten and she and those olympics were the best ever

  • Amazing how much gymnastics has changed today. You would never see an elite gymnast nowadays perform a routine like that!

  • Gymnastics sucks today. I hate the routines. No grace,no beauty. Many gymnasts sleep with judges to get higher scores. This is the truth! There is a lot of sexual harassment in gymnastics. Mainly the coaches and judges. I heard all kinds of stories.

  • I see what you mean now, KNQuail, that I have watched the whole video. But I did just watch one of Olga Korbut, 'olga korbut best balance beam rountine great' which was quite impressive in some ways but there isn't the amount of complex tumbling that you have today. So, in a very long way, I sort of half agree with you and sort of don't, because there were different expectations. Then it was more about balance and flexibility, and now it is more about difficult tumbling!

  • Amazing how she was the "it" girl back then, yet that very routine wouldn't even get you into the event finals today.

  • I think some of it would; she shows lots more flexiblity than you see nowadays, but some of her leaps didn't hit splits etc. I think if she was competing now, it would just be a case of adjusting to today's standards, because what the judges want is different.

  • I think Gymnastics someday is at a standstill and one day no longer even be popular. It will lose its appeal. The sad thing is many child molesters coach female gymnasts.

  • wow, doesn't the commentary sound like Teeny Little Super Guy?

  • did the win?

  • Yes, she won...

  • how old was she?

  • 17 years

  • She was great to watch, but it is funny how a routine that at that time is considered hard could be seen at a high school gymnastics meet. I've actually seen harder, not as perfect but more difficultyl

  • Equipment is alot different now compared to back then.

  • Oh, so true!

    The equipment now is meant to give more height. You could have never done a full twisting back tuck on one of those old beams.

  • OLGA was so far ahead of her time...taking risks and bringing excitement to gymnastics

  • thanks!

  • "No-one but Olga could take your breath away..."

    Like an asthma attack! LOL

  • Olga Korbut is adorable!! Her smile is so beautiful.

  • So perfect!

  • apparently in 1976 olga was injured and might of been able to beat nadia and nellie

  • she competed with nadia? did she ever get a 10?

  • Yeah, she competed with Nadia. No, she never got a 10.

    I think her highest score in major competition was a 9.900, which she got on several occasions.

  • no she sisnt get a 10 but nadia came in at the 1976 olympics and this vid is 1972

  • But don't forget, Olga also competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympics as well.

  • yer she was amazin in both olympics

  • thanks, i didnt know what year it was =)

  • she was beautiful on the beam and the floor. amazng gymnast.

  • that backflip and front off is one of the best moves ive ever seen

  • Why is Darth Vader narrating??? (:

  • George Lucas sponsered the 1972 Olympics

  • mkkl

  • whats mkkl

  • its ur daddys boyfriend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • olga makes gymnastics look like a beutiful piece of art!

  • faboulous but nadia is the best

  • I beg to differ: Olga Korbut opened the door for the Nadia Comaneci's to arrive. Before Olga womens gymnastics was done by fully matured women; Vera Caslavska was 26 years old when she won her medals at the Mexico Olympics in 1968; a lot of gymnasts at the time were married and had had children too. Olga is singlehandedly responsible for changing gymnastics forever, and introducing smaller, thinner lighter girls and making gymnastics far more complicated and risky.

  • Had to split this-500 word limit!!

    Nadia is the greatest gymnast ever regarding technique and execution, but without Olga Korbut, I doubt if we would ever have seen Nadia; look at gymnastics today, there are very few grown-up women doing gymnastics; you cannot win if your body has matured. Oksana Chusovitina is an exception, not the rule. Without Olga, gymnastics would never have become so popular. She was the greatest.

  • so we should thank olga for gymnastics being dominated by 11 year olds. thanks olga that now that im 18 years old no major gym looks my way..

  • No. You didnt read my comments properly. She made gymnastics accessible and popular for everybody. Before Olga gymnastics was considered a bit of an "odd" sport, but once Olga burst onto the scene, overnight millions of kids wanted to sign up for gymnastics lessons. Isnt that a good thing????And its basic common sense and basic physics: the smaller you are, the easier it is to rotate(for saltos). Also young kids tend to be more fearless, so its good to start young and build on that.