1973 USSR Gymnastics Display Olga Korbut floor exercise

[garyj79]

Whats clearly evident looking through some of the comments on here is that some young gymnasts know 'ZIP' about the history about the sport, as some of you have tried to point out to these abnoxious kids that the floors and everything else were basic in comparison to todays equipment.......would Johnson and the like be doing double doubles on padded flooring???? we KNOW the answer to that one and so would Shawn !

[SAX713]

does anybody know the name of the song?

[Lovett19991]

i was a gymnastic but i was never able to do that thing that olga did at 0.59 i would have breaked every bone in my body.

[TayRooTay]

She always seems so happy!

[MarieCampbell3000]

I wish I could do gymnastics like her, but shes waaay to awesome.

[obybaby1]

it was so effortless for her<3

[Thesammi04]

I liked the 1972 floor rutine better. Its almost the same, but a bit different with thist awesome thing around 0:44. But Olga still rocks!

[kappaway]

I like her because she always smile =)

[gallantrynotgone]

I saw Olga Korbut perform twice. Video can only capture a fraction of what it was like to see her. She was so expressive with her face and body that words were unesscessary. Words fail me to describe it. She had a stage presence like a rock star. She also had the technical proficiency to back it up. (In 1996 Tourescheva admitted that Korbut was the better athlete). Perhaps we will see one of Olga pupils remind the world of how this can be done.

[garyj79]

@gallantrynotgone - someone must have forced LT to say that then lol, by all accounts neither liked each other, especially Tourescheva as she was the more accomplished Gymnast but widely ignored in favour of Korbut.

[pimpernell01]

It's funny how back then you could see what nationality they were by the way they moved, might just be me but she moves like a russian.....also they had more elegance, todays girls are technicly more advanced [with the help of a sprung floor]

but lack elegance, they move like robots....having said that All gymnasts at this level are AWESOME, and i do mean AWESOME.

[thedarkglobe]

no more words to add, everything is told

[ralucagymnast]

Absolutely sublime and utterly mesmerizing; I swear I have a lump in my throat watching this, How many of todays gymnasts can stir me like that? In a word, none:(

[ralucagymnast]

Those who talk about how hard the floors were here is a little story; I did gymnastics myself many years ago, and we went to a large training centre for a couple of days; this particular place had a newly installed sprung floor; this would be in the late 1970's. It was so bouncy I could do a back somersault from standing!That would have been IMPOSSIBLE on the thin mats we normally trained on. So gymnasts today really are helped hugely by the equipment used today. These gymnasts werent;)

[mixedupmuddledup]

the reason this excersise is so good is cus shes never out of character. The gymnasts now have a little pause and run up to all their sequences. she skips into all of hers. which is why it works, if you have a character for the dancy bits, use it al the way through

[musicisinmeforever]

the routine is gorgeous, but all of the music back then for floor routines was dreadful!

[beautifulsarah100]

This was back when gymnasts looked like gymnasts and performed like gymnasts, not like something out of fucking "Robocop."

[napalmvoododaddy]

wow !!! here's the girl natalya talks about in the game "destroy all humans 2" !!!

[TheJcanno8]

What a performer--so happy--she pulled you in and made you happy too.

[NoHeejin]

I watched world championship today...and seriously the grace has gone from gymnastics, that's too bad

[stargymnasts]

Olga Korbut is my insperation!

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

The best gymnast to step foot on this world. Long live Olga korbut.

[mooresus]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo She is great, as well as Nadia Comaneci in her 1976 routines. They are both awesome, but Nadia gets quite a bit higher on her tumbling. Not to take away from Olga, also exquisite!!! No one does it like that any more, without hesitation, especially on the balance beam. So fun to be able to go back in time!!

[KalexCullen]

holy crap! she's awesome!!

[horsluva0758]

@KalexCullen yes she is. she inspired me to start doing gymnastics. i love her!!!!!

[justin1gibson]

these girls are what you call , true gymnasts. they work hard and it shows when they perform in these wonderful video clips. all of the events have been made easier now, due to the springs and fiber glass and things like that. you didnt see any gymnast back then doing things like double layouts on floor, or gaylords or anything on bars, because it was nearly impossible to do. everything has been updated and made alot easier to get the height and power that is needed to do these skills.

[robbiesyohn]

Actually there is foam rubber underneath the mat. It looks like there's no cushion but there is actually a lot. Springs came out in the mid seventies around Nadia Comaneci's time. The idea has been around for a long time but it's use came in about 1977. All equipment has changed. The Vault is not what it used to be.

[Jazzellelabelle]

My heroine!! Deep profound influence.

[dans15151]

Shes so cute there : )

[17candysweety]

omg absolutley know springs its like doing gymnastics on tiles!! i can never do my skills on tht!

[KillaKitty09]

I love how they used Piano pieces for the music, so much more elegant :)

[sardanaphalus]

What a performer!

[alexsergiu]

Absolutely breathtaking. And she is so beautiful !!

[1sababoy]

It's interesting to compare this floor exercise routine to what she did in Munich. She definitely did not take risks in this exhibition performance like she did in some of her tumbling dives in the Olympics - when winning the medal was on the line. The audience loved it regardless I'm sure!

[tuney33]

thankyou so much for uploading this - I was lucky enough to be there :) I was 9 at the time and have never forgotten seeing these fabulous gymnasts.

[ralucagymnast]

@tuney33 Oh you were SO fortunate; Id have given my right arm to see these beautiful girls when I was 9; they were my idols! The reason I started gymnastics was because of Olga and moreso Nadia, as I was only 6 when Olga became a superstar in 1972; I was 10 when Nadia made history in 1976:)

[oregon2720]

Nadia was wonderful...like Olga!

[berrywaalicherry]

wonderful gymnast like nadia

[gjforreal]

i was training double fulls on a floor that was basically a piece 1 inch foam on plywood before my gym bought spring floor. what has really changed is the techniques used in the tumbling.

[MYRHAH]

c'est une danseuse...regardez ses mains, ses ports de tête, son regard...la vraie révolutionnaire de la gymnastique, c'est elle, avec déjà un travail quasi parfait. Evidemment, Comaneci a amené peu après la perfection, une prise de risque plus grande et la rapidité d'exécution

[sunderland1631]

any one got any clips of avril lennox, she was around in the early 1970s.

[lisapizza16]

omg when I was a level 7 I could do all that... thats soooo crazy how gymnastics has grown. But I wish there was more dance in todays gymnastics.

[eoislove1]

I swear...gymnastics was so much more beautiful in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's...these days the ptb may as well scrap artistry, dance, and music from women's floor altogether and just call it power tumbling...you know they want to. Compared to the ol' days, the choreography out there now just makes me -cringe-

Olga was, and will always be amazing.

[harryzoe]

It's all about the spring, isn't it? Wouldn't it almost be easier to view gymnastics then and now as almost seperate sports? Each special and beautiful...but apart.

[VickyxWonder]

its werid to see how much gymnastics has changed the routines are far more hard and daring now ,, but olga haslovley elagance x

[Paraiah]

It's only a year later, but look how much her body's grown. She's so long and leggy in 1973.

[apluskel]

even though the floor routines were simpler back then, they really flow well from one skill to the next and connect the tumbling and dance perfectly. now a days the gymnasts do all this complicated jump/leap stuff then stand in the corner for like 12 seconds until they catch their breath and then tumble

[babyEroose]

yeah you're right...even up to the 90s there was more artistry and dance. now it's all about jumping high and far in all the disciplines.

[7544263]

Really. Totally agree.

[Milicopereira]

Impressionante a evolução da ginastica 1973/2009, Olga Korbut será sempre lembrada, tão imortal quanto Nadia Comaneci. Imaginem como será daqui a 36 anos.

[eveiluuolivia]

well, that's Olga Korbut

so get a grip 'calliechick'

[Princecaspiangirl]

una volta gli elementi da eseguire erano più semplici a volte... ma quanta grazia si poteva cogliere nelle ginnaste..ora è più un lavoro di potenza e precisione che di leggerezza e grazia...

[thegymnastz]

how old was she here?

[bobzilla0101]

She was about 18.

[tynnya]

she was 17

[MiXmalik]

ангел с косичками..так у нас её называли..

[calliechick]

was this the olympics or the american cup,because i am a level 6 and i can do every thing she did in that routien.wow times have changed (IM ONLY 9 YEARS OLD)

[shoably]

you know that the floor was wooden and had no springs right

[yaminaC4]

I remembre those wooden floor. You can hear hard "boom" when they hit the floor. Especially with a men gymnast, cause there`s no music.

[garyj79]

Gymnasts today suprisingly no little of the history of the sports shoably (as youve prob guessed yourself)....hence calliechicks boasting that they can do what Korbut is doing here on super springy floors......i'd love to see gymnasts do double arabians on wooden floors!!!

[tynnya]

Wow! i didn't know 9 year olds new about You tube!

but anyway you don't learn a front aerial until level 8 or 9

[ralucagymnast]

@calliechick There are millions of girls doing Levels in the USA. Young gymnasts are ten for a penny There is only one Olga Korbut. Enough said.

[cherylannemason]

You're right in saying that for it's time, this was a highly inventive and difficult routine--but she stood out in the sense that she gave a sense of enjoying herself--rather like Mary Lou or Shawn in their eras.

[willsbob123]

I always think that Olga's first pass is eqivalent to a double back? Lol

[turnfloh1984]

whats the name of the music?

[LaGinnasta]

sooo easy °-°

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

Not at all for back then not to mention the grace she does it with. You have to appreciate it for what it is, not compare it to gymnastics today.

[AlixPelletier]

Well you've got to start with the easy stuff before you can do the harder stuff.

[jumpingjesslolz]

hmmm...

I absolutley love Olga Korbut but I was wondering, if I were born around then if i could get to the olympics...

i mean I can do all that what she does...

anyway...

[youtuuberoxx]

yeah but the equipment your using today is a lot better than what they had to work with back then

[zhorakovsky]

I think the main factor is how creative your trainter is, the newness of the movements. In that time, I am sure, that routine was really new and high-level, Now, 35 years later, all that "new" elements became wide-known, well-investigated and boring.

[Sublue]

probably so. too bad its a fantasy,

[Evlprincesssara]

I love how everything flows together. So many gymnasts today look like they are exhausted and you can tell when they are getting ready to do some big pass. With routines like this, the tumbling just happens, like it is part of the dance.

[QueenieQue]

Well, to be fair, the gymnasts today have to perform much harder tumbling. That is not meant in any way to denigrate Olga's fabulous talent, but just to point out that girls today have legitimate reasons for perhaps looking exhausted in their routines. They are all stellar athletes and should not be insulted.

[zhorakovsky]

I'd say the main idea of today's gymnastics is to do 35 backflips, 50 arabic saltos and 20 power elements. So, the athletes just do not have time to think about plasticity, beautiness and so on.

I find the gymnastics boring nowadays.

[arkariansgirl]

I wish they brought back the same standard of artistry and dance than they did back then. Olga is a beautiful example of this.

[GYMxGIRLx16]

its crazy to thimk that now this stuff is like a level 6 or 7 but she was great for her time go olga!

[ElphabaPWNs]

She was so charming.

[TuesdayPillow]

DO it on a wrestling mat and tape it for us, ok?

[993125002]

so much dancing. so not today.

[gymnasticsaddiction1]

the tumbling is so easy I mean talk about level 6! but still cute =)

[AngryWhiteGurl]

Shut your pie hole. I hate when people minimize something that was done 36 years ago. It was revolutionary. End of story.

[horsluva0758]

@AngryWhiteGurl SHE WAS SO AWESOME... SHE WAS MY INSPIRATION FOR DOING GYMNASTICS MYSELF =) THANKS OLGA!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!

[ladodgerschick]

:51 cute!

[JESSBEBES]

lol i do her first tumbling pass in my level 7 routine

[ralucagymnast]

@JESSBEBES As I stated before, there are millions of girls like you doing the Levels; young gymnasts number in their millions; there will only ever be one Olga Korbut;) And never forget that out of the millions like you doing Levels only 6 will ever make it to an Olympic team. Lets see if you do, then we'll talk, ok? ;)

[themightycelestial]

Yeah. These days, it's almost no dance at all.

[smiley359]

oh how gymnastics has changed....

[Mollykat88]

I liked this routine with Olga because she kept a good smile on her face. She is an icon for sure!

[jaspermatty]

"Back when dance moves and leaps were for artistic reasons, not just an excuse to move to the corner of the mat for a tumbling run.

TOTALLY AGREE!

[elektramunhoz]

'...not just an excuse to move to the corner of the mat for a tumbling run'! Yesss! I'll make your words mine!

[parunach1]

Back then, the exercise seemed to be more artistic and elegant to watch. However, the floor exercise has changed since then, now they are tested for the difficulty of the exercise too, not just being a ballerina.

[PeachWNK]

Back when dance moves and leaps were for artistic reasons, not just an excuse to move to the corner of the mat for a tumbling run.

[Aorenai]

Not to mention, her leotard covers her :P

[AnthonySChappell]

She would have made a great ballerina!

[zilam98]

i just remember how ekaterina gordeeva was compared to olga (and nadia) in her first world championships by the media--and how they all became olympic darlings and stars for the ages.

[Ann1shoes]

of course the moves are not so difficult as they are today - but Olga changed the face of modern gymnastics, by adding grace, style and charm.

[hitsugaya1001]

i totally agree

she also inspired little girls to start gymnastics and now, almost all the olympians for women's gymnastics are under 20 when before in her time, all the competitors were around 20+

:D the point is, i love her

[AngryWhiteGurl]

I <3 Olga!

[Paraiah]

It's not only the moves that she performs, but the charm, confidence and the attitude she displays that makes her performances so magical.

[AngryWhiteGurl]

The things that are TOTALLY lacking in most of gymnasts today!

[iceskatemelike]

u say her moves r 2 easy but u try doin her moves n u will find out that they r really not easy

[LoreenaMcK]

Like I said before... gymnastics standards were really different. She didn't do any doubles.

[xogymnastxo7]

i agree with you. i mean her floor routine seemed to basic. i mean i absolutly love olge and everyhting but her routine seemed much to easy for olympians.

[TuesdayPillow]

Why do people make comments like this? Of course in 1973 routines were not nearly as difficult as today. Stop making silly comments and try to notice the charm and elegance with which she moves and enjoy the routine for what it is.

[Magicfeather205]

That's because today the floors are spring loaded - back then, it was just a hard floor with a mat on top.

[brianbrunohh]

Olga Corbut is so the greatest Gymnast ever.

From Nicole Bruno

[gingerelanor]

That was adorable! I like her dance too - so much more graceful than many modern gymnasts.

[MooeBooe221]

i meet her!!!

i am not lieing!!

[yellowbianca]

When? Where? Why? Inquiring minds....

[mustangs0924]

love the rountine but i'm not so sure about the music

[gym909]

i totally agree...great routine...still not sure about the music

[NYCBlonde]

Those piano routines were all the rage in the early-mid '70s. It is a little jarring to our ears.

[ralucagymnast]

@NYCBlonde Thats because in those days ballet training was at the core of gymnastics training and obviously ballet is always accompanied by pianoforte.

[ILuVnElLyFuRtAdO]

love the routine, hate the music

[sochisochi]

she changed gym into more fun and joy

[354sd]

what joy.

[kathleenirish]

P.S. It's an exhibition, not a competition.

[adia1228]

This would be at best a level six routine by today's standards, amazing how things have come along over the years.

[kathleenirish]

Except that gymnastics used to be beautiful and now it is butt-ugly.

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

Only the dancing...

[gymgeek10]

not nessicarily, although i do admit that we've lost our artistry.  Ivana hong is very graceful though!

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

I agree.

[coopandre]

Recall that they didn't have the springy floors back then. We can't compare today with back them. Could today's gymnasts do double back layouts with a double twist on a simple padded floor?

[Circusgrl93]

tru dat!!!

[lashenova]

No level six could tumble on concrete covered with fabric. Do your research before you make an uneducated and insulting comment about the gymnast who created modern gymnastics.

[susiexxx]

I was at that display, Korbut wouldn't sign autographs for anyone, in all the years I attended that event, I never saw her sign. Filatova, Kim, Andrianov, Detiatin, Grozdova, Mukhina, Koval - all these gymnasts were gracious enough to sign and interact with the audience, but Korbut? Never. She was a charismatic performer, but what a mean person!

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

OMG, I have seen so many photos and videos of her signing autographs. Don't lie.

[Paraiah]

Absolutely amazing. I've watched this clip so many times and I'll never get tired of it. Wish they did more like this nowadays.

[akawhippy]

This is not rhythmic gymnastics.

[adeletraynor]

amazing how the sport has evolved.... no1 would put any of those elements in a championship routine anymore..

[zuapp]

très jolie...

[girliecars]

i luv the cute little dances in between the flips n stuff, i think its heaps more rigid and un natural nowadays

[black9dot]

Olga Korbut is uncomparable (spelling???). She smiles, gives the appearance of boundless energy by jumping right back up and she also is very talanted. Nadia Comeneci? Nothing. Shows absolutly no feeling in her routine. Not to say that she wasn't talented, but she could have tried to show emotion. And the energy. She seems groggy to me. But that's just me. Rock on Olga. =]

[NYCBlonde]

Why even bring up Nadia? It's not a competition--Nadia came along after Olga, they were never serious competitors against each other. Just appreciate both athletes. Nadia was cool technical perfection who didn't need to "show emotion" to earn medals (why? It's not a show, it's an athletic competition, I hate that only the women/girls are expected to smile). And Olga was the joyous performer who turned the world on to her love of gymnastics. Both are immortals in this sport.

[idogymnasticssssss]

is this the same USSR display as the one with the really good bar routine that should of got a 10 or did they have more then one a year?

[idogymnasticssssss]

yeah I know she switched it...I like the other one better...like thats not even a level 4 tumble move that she changed the chest roll to...

[livinhaflamengo]

She is the best! She is perfect! I love her!

[sakurasoh]

Olga looks so cute here! She has slight different hairstyle as opposed to her Munich appearance and the outfit is so nice

[friendly406]

Did you notice how she also modified the routine?? That flip where she lands on her chest, like in 1972, she switched it.

[arthur93]

beautiful!!! thanks

[ilextree]

Beautiful! Never get tired of this adorable exercise.

[WalterthePony]

I agree!