1984 Olympics AA Mary Lou Retton Fx

[dmitrigarcia]

It's obvious she had minor steps on both floor and vault, I don't think they were 10's. They were impressive but weren't perfect.

[JohnPhilipSousa519]

Ok everyone's talking about Mary Lou being overscored? How about the Romanians in the early 90s? They were always overscored! No one bats an eyelash if a European country is overscored, but if it's a gymnast from the USA, it's a crime against humanity!

[LCAmarkymark]

@JohnPhilipSousa519 which Romanian from the early 90's was overscored? Bontas? Milo? Gina would be my guess but she sticks her landings cold even though she has not personality...Amanar overscored? I don't think the Romanians were overscored. I need some examples. Lol I just wanna see who was overscored. I don't think Mary Lou was overscored here..the routine was difficult enough to look pass little errors.

[Sileeee56]

Romanian music - "Sanie cu zurgalai"!

[faeryquene]

I wouldn't call MLR's fx 'glamourous' but it sure was spunky! I agree with those who said the score was way generous. Spectacular tumbling especially the double layout but she made mistakes. She took a step back after her punch front @:42 and she took a step forward on her final pass. This did NOT deserve a 10.00.

[AngelicPhantom]

Yeah, not quite a ten for me.

Damn she rocks just the same though. She is really fun to watch.

[twilliger123]

Um, it was 27 years ago gymnasticsskankxoxo. SHE WON, GET OVER IT. You and ViardotVSAsshole.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

back in the 80s, higher difficulty counted for a lot. I am convinced the judges kept her in the 10 bracket despite some obvious flunders because that opening DLO was delivered the way it was. Also, Retton "saves" her blunders by disguising them as intentional. This may also point out to why Zsabo gets a 10 in her beam routine when she has an obvious hop in her landing. she goes for the "I win!" arm movement and after that sequence of four backhand springs, she seduces them into believing it.

[MrJST94]

I agree with the fact that peaple say that she did not deserve a 10.0 but in 1984 the judges took in consideration the difficulty of the routine and that is why they gave it a 10.0

[LMA629]

how did she get a 10 on this? She took a step on that last landing. And she hopped back after the front tuck after her full-in??

[007Marbellita]

1976 Teodora Ungureanu, 1980 Emilia Eberle, 1984 Mary Lou la misma musica......=O

[zeldafreak701]

Okay this routine didn't deserve a ten. Just like Miller's vault in '92 SHOULD have gotten a ten.

[yasser1970]

i love mary lou but i think Ecatrina Szabo the romanian in this competition deserved the golden medal not her, many compliments were given to Mary because she is american

[twilliger123]

So many sour grapes because MLR won, get over it!

[danbeatless]

SO cute!!

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

I am 99.9 % sure she went out of bounds on her second pass.

[TwisterFlipp95]

This routine didn't deserve a 10, I'm sorry.

[littlegiant1972]

she looks like Lady Diana princess (R.I.P )

[irafa2]

I will give her a 9.90. -0.05 from the front flip after the second pass in witch she takes a step forward and -0.05 from the step in the double back.

[blackmania8]

correct point 9.800

[Tumble4Life123]

lol "A DOUBLE TUCK!! OHH! WHAT A GYMNAST!!" haha thats such an easy routine compared to today's routines.

[garyj79]

lol at your comment...you do know the history do you about how much MORE the floors are springy these days than here in 1984???

[saltlakecity2002]

I love this routine, but I honestly think the last pass should have been deducted half a tenth; she was little short. Also, the front salto after the full-in had a questionable landing.

[karrtt1234]

What a joke ... a ten for that !!!

[mariozeldamaniac]

To me, the most imperfect ten of history of the worldwide gymnastic... the last acrobatic move was, simply, failed...

But Mary Lou , like a EUA representing, had need to score this to get up her country's name...

[FLACSC74]

don't hate cause the gymnastics is your nation blows

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@mariozeldamaniac Take a look at the big hop that punctuates the dismount in Zsabo's AA balance beam routine. The 80s policy seemed to indicate that those small steps could be "covered" by a flashy set of jazz hands.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@ViardotVSGrisi In this time period of gymnastics scoring was not based off of deductions as it is nowadays but was based off of artistry. The difficulty, presentation and artistry of routines were taken into account when scoring which is how it should be. Szabo was very classy, artist and beautifully confident in all of her routines, her beam deserved a ten. Mary Lou could not dance and this routine did not have a hint of artistry in it. This did not deserve a ten.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo I agree with you. Theres a famous 10 scored by Dudnik on the beam where she dramatically stumbles on the dismount. If we go by things such as style in choreography, I do not discredit MLR for how she moves on the floor. Shes no ballerina but she does have a fair amount of flair. Compared to the girls today, shes grace personified. Zsabo I like, but for the style she represents, I find her rather generalized (same with Pauca). Now, Dobre or Silivas, thats grace!

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@ViardotVSGrisi I know exactly what beam routine of Dudnik's you are talking about (I love dudnik). I find gymnastics nowadays sad, compared to gymnastics nowadays Amanar is a ballerina. I personally do not see the artistry in MLR. Her presentation of style for me is very weak and does not put emphasis on the qualities i consider artistic. Szabo did not have the graceful artistry as seen from silivas and dobre but had more of a strong, confident , haughty yet still classy artistry.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo MLR was a ballerina next to, say, Zmeskal and Shawn Johnson? Alas, I suppose Im a ballerina next to them as well. During the US coverage of the 88 olympics, Retton did some of the commentary, and describing the duke out between Shushunova and Silivas (those were the days, eh?) she stated basically that, stylistically, she was the Shushunova while Silivas was the Zsabo. Now, Shushunova was "dismissed" as a powerhouse but she could have danced circles around MLR...

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@ViardotVSGrisi I agree with your points at the beginning but what do you mean about shushunova being a better dancer than MLR? Are you saying she had no right to compare herself to shushunova?

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo that is what I mean: shushunova was not very dainty but she exuded a very dramatic brand of glamour on the floor, as seen in her 88 FX performances.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

@ViardotVSGrisi Shunshunova was very artistic. Even though she was a powerhouse she was very dramatic and had her own style of artistry. It is hard pressed to find a soviet gymnast that is not artistic, they had the whole package.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo There are too many issues that youtube will not allow me to expand on. I think MLR was a great gymnast and her victory in 1984 will forever be debated. Even if she had really stuck all her FX landings cold, and Zsabo had fallen on her ass during the beam routines, the ghost of Mostepanova would keep the question alive. Its almost as bad as the question marks surrounding the sydney AA (don't get me started). Alas, MLR's opening DLO is a thing of beauty, just focus on that.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

Respond to this video... there is something to admire about sheer athleticism, it can be art in itself. Shushunova's second pass in the 88 AA is poetry in motion to me. Silivas went the extra mile to show grace, and all in all, it was the type of AA you want to see: Monster vs monster. I agree that the most expressive dancers in gymnastics were the russians. Korbut movements on any apparatus displays an architecture that tells a story. its not the "complete leap, 2 points" mess we see today.

[ViardotVSGrisi]

@mariozeldamaniac the most imperfect ten EVER is dudnik's beam 10 from the 89 team optionals. I think Mary Lou did a good job faking that last landing with made up choreo, but the judges had seen how the routine went during the team competition, so there really is no excuse. This is their fault. 

[yasser1970]

what is the title of the music please

[horizongymnast69]

wow shes amazing im in gymnastics and some day hopefeully will do the same

[cherylannemason]

The music was "Johnny, my friend", a Romanian tune that had previously been used by Emelia Eberle when she won a world championship for the event. She did come close to the line, but it wasn't a stepout. And Lavinia Milosovici earned a 10 in '92 for a routine that also included a hop--maybe it's a case of, if the judge doesn't quite see it, give the benefit of the doubt to the athlete.

[faeryquene]

Teodora Ungureanu did her Olympic FX in 1976 to this same tune.

[ApolytonGP]

It's a 9.9, but still way way better than WEAKLING Nastia.

[12bmills]

Um, Nastia's not a weakling. Did you see her FX? It had a double front. Plus Nastia stuck 3/4 landings that night!

[QueenieQue]

@ApolytonGP Yeah, well, try to see a real split out of Mary Lou. At least Nastia has grace and flexibility on her side.

[garyj79]

whats the point in awarding a 'perfect' ten if its not perfect??? either it is or it isnt....it cheapens the mark to award it cos' according to some people on here she had difficult tumbling!!!

[JohnPhilipSousa519]

Does anyone know what her music is? It's pretty sick!

[willsbob123]

That didn't deserve a ten!!! I've just analaysed it and she STEPPED out of bounds on the full in, and then hopped backwards on her front summi and jumped forward on the double tuck!!!

[JohnPhilipSousa519]

So? What's your point? The judges obviously thought that she deserved a perfect ten. Maybe they were looking for bigger mistakes. She had some very difficult tumbling in this routine and totally deserves a ten.

[willsbob123]

Well, my point is, she stepped out and had a lot of visable deductions. It's not based on effort becasue I would have given her a ten in that department. But not in execution.

[JohnPhilipSousa519]

So, uh, where's the step out of bounds? I don't seem to see it. Maybe at weird angles it looks like she's going out of bounds... but it would have been deducted if she had...

[willsbob123]

Dangerously close to them lines, Jesus!

[wolfysluv]

Thanks so much for putting this up