Vera Caslavska 1968 Olympics FX

[noprobro]

I love that if you took me back to the '60s I would've been capable of an Olympic gymnastics routine... lolz, impossible for me now

[anonymousgissele]

0:29 that hair bobble is hilarious!!

[pelicanus11]

its more interesting to watch than todays gymnasts!

[gjglrb]

What a honor for the hosting country...lovely interpretation of mexican songs into gymnastics. Khorkina made it too years later with her very flirtatious Besame Mucho. Cheers!

[naranjaporsiempre]

Impresionate Vera la novia de mexico, jarabe tapatio, alla en el rancho grande. Bravo Vera.

[mikeflanny22]

Why is there Absolutely no difficulty in her tumbling...

[zeldafreak701]

@mikeflanny22 Because there's no springs in the floor like there are today. It's all strength.

[xrictinaaa1]

@mikeflanny22 her tumbling is difficult for the time, gymnastics were a completely different sport back then

[nicki446]

Just beautiful movements, and you can see the joy in her performance.

Plus she has a woman's body, she's not 4 foot tall and stick-thin...

[taydev2007]

OH WOW! Jam packed with artistry!

[tomloft2000]

back when women's gymnastics was performed by...women.

[makT890]

such a shame she had to tie with larisa petrik. She deserved that gold medal

[Punk5Rock]

1:07 is awesome.

[sacredaustin]

@Punk5Rock I agree.... I have watched it ten times trying to follow her through the movements....

[eugvh18]

Viva Vera ! A true champion of her own well

[slojvo]

That was supposed to say routine....whoops:)

[slojvo]

It is impossible to watch this touting and not have a smile on your face....just BEAUTIFUL!!!

[RCasto]

So graceful!



[ravenboozer]

The piano would be at the venue in those days

[tumblefan101]

NO DOUBT MY FAVIROUTE FLOOR ROUTINE EVER !

[buntonboy]

I love this, obviously is no match for the difficulty level of the present but this is basic, and we cannot have what we have to day without those beautiful bases of the yesterdays, thanks to gymnasts like her this sports persist in the history as well Rhythmic Gymnastics xD

[megapieluver]

bravo that is cool

[katerinahejdova]

škoda té špatné techniky (jakože videa :) jinak by Věrka mohla dodnes předávat mladým gymnastkám minimálně ladnost a ženskost, která gymnastice pořád strašně chybí.

[salali6]

I love watching these old routines! I definitely wish I was a gymnast during this time period instead of now. I'm much more of a dance-like gymnast, and I'm build more like a dancer instead of the gymnasts you see now. All of the gymnasts back then were build more like dancers, because dance was a bigger part of the sport than it is now.

[bbhouk1]

@salali6

i agree completely, i wish i was a gymnast in the 60s, i love the dance part more than the acrobatics.

[espinaca79]

Vera makes me smile.!!

[ludan68]

Nowadays is only...Tumbling...Leaps...Tumb­ling...Leaps...Tumbling...Leap­s !!! Would love to see a combination of dancing artistry and tumbling!!!

[MANTISAQR]

the song es el JARABE TAPATIO Y ALLA EN EL RANCHO GRANDE, EN LA LETRA DICE TE VOY A HACER TUS CALZONES COMO LOS USA EL RANCHERO TE LOS COMIENSO DE LANA Y TE LOS ACABO DE CUERO

[leonora0210]

Does anybody know whose music arregement is this??? I know it's the mexican hat dance a.k.a. jarabe tapatio and Cielito lindo, but who did the arrangement??

[jngwatson]

Thank you for the video. She was a joy to watch.

[loyapauli]

wow...0_0 she dance "Jarabe Tapatio" I love Vera, she loves so much my country, she marry in the "Basilica de Guadalupe"

[silentmoviemusicfrk]

beautiful. flowing, graceful. lovely. attractive.

Vera Caslavska is one of the greatest.

This was filmed two weeks before my birth in 1968. No wonder I love the sport. Must have heard it insidethe womb.

[kuldkullake]

Today`s gymnasts do not have this kind of grace and expression and femininity in their gymnastics- today`s gymnasts are more manly (do not say that the elements are harder and that is why) and choreography is often robotic. Today`s gymnasts should learn something from these old videos! Grace, beauty, expression..................

[Sacchari]

Ultimately, gymnasts compete to win, and modern judges find things like grace, expression and femininity hard to judge and therefore value them a lot. Those qualities are also hard to acquire, you don't just "have grace" you have to train yourself to be graceful.

When faced with the choice to train skills that the judges prefer or the ones they don't prefer, the gymnasts are going to concentrate on what pleases the judges most, they want that gold!

[tcseeme]

I think older routines seem more graceful because gymnasts spent more time dancing and less time tumbling. Many gymnasts still pay attention to the artistic portion of their routines whether it's valued by the judges or not.

[journalistgirl07]

Vera, a real heroine of history of gymnastics. She was so gifted, talented, and her talent did develop throughout the years, Shame she had a lot of bad to cope with!

When she reappeared on public last year after many years on isolation, I was moved.

Thank you Vera, for making history of gymnastics!

[SwissMan73]

Vera rocked as a gymnast and as well with her personality

[cqcqcq88]

Wow, this is amazing!

[salali6]

Remember guys... floors back then didn't have the springs that we have now. Back then a double-back was thought impossible.

[KittyCatZoey1691]

i love her..she's amazing~

[flippingfirmys]

omg i cant take her seriously cuz of her hair! it cracks me up how easy the skills r for elites! lol

[kras118]

one of my favorites!! i love the crowd reaction at the end-- you can tell she had everyone'e hearts in her hands

[KittyCatZoey1691]

Gymnasts back then looked so much healthier than the ones now

[flippingfirmys]

say what? the gymnasts now are stronger than football players! and they eat so healthy that they look like sticks!

[napajedlacek]

Vera byla kocka :-)

she was a darling sweethearth of the nation in Czechoslovakia..

[PshhItsRaachx3]

whats on her head?!

[GymMonkeyAz]

her hair

[gymlovr828]

I thought most routines back in the 60's weren't that hard but she's amazing!!!

[17jcry]

- la canción, si más no recuerdo, es "Hallá en el Rancho Grande" ??

[pepinox]

ES EL JARABE TAPATIO

[YagoDiego]

@pepinox

La melodía es un arreglo musical que contiene "El jarabe tapatío" y "Allá en el rancho grande".

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

I would have never expected a routine this old to be this difficult.

[Radio1ceCream]

Yes, I know what you mean, the routines back then were so much easier than today's routines! But there are some exceptions, and Vera is one of them ..

[Shatzi015]

I have to say this: this was absolutely amazing, where is artistry now???

[mm9306]

She moves so delicately and fluid, that you can't see, when she's starting doing some acro...

[raducu10]

She was so amazing! I mean her every landing was perfect and she worked really well with the music!

[mikolajoskierko]

She`s amazing!

[HailieNichole1995]

Nadia just scored the first 10 in Olympic competition that's why she got the recognition.

[wexlerchick]

I think Nellie Kim should have got more recognition for her achievements. She scored the first ever Olympic 10 on vault and floor excercise at the very same Olympics as Nadia. A part of me believes that had Nellie scored her 10 first everyone would be like Nadia who?

[HailieNichole1995]

i think the same but i think nadia scored hers first that's y she gets more recognition

[wexlerchick]

I always wonder what if with Nellie Kim

[wc213]

VERA FRIGGIN ROCKS!!!!

[patitocuakcuak]

es una canción popular de méxico

[LeanaJoH76]

Look at that hairstyle! Wow! They pretty much wore their hair like that until the 70's.

How the heck were they able to do their flips and such with that big, bouffant hairstyles? But they were gorgeous.

[goatsymotesy07]

werent all the medals and what places people got fixed back then? i heard that from somewhere is it true im not saying it is i really just want to know cause i remember watching the history of gymnastics or something and it talked about this girl and how she kept winning and how she didnt deserve the scores she got or maybe it was a different show saying that but does anyone know if this is true?

[allimoballi]

I LOVE THAT HAIR!

whenm did she get the perfect ten?

[tchachinafan]

una preciosura

[brookenicole222]

Oh my, such a lovely routine! I've been getting into the older gymnastics lately, and I see how much the sport has changed. Gorgeous!

[Blackbeast87]

WONDERFUL!!

[Paraiah]

Beautiful! It flows so wonderfully ^^

[themightycelestial]

Yep.

That's what kind of sux about today's gymnastic floor routines. Since they gotta jump & somersault harder & higher, they have to stop before they jump. B'cuz of this, the over-all routines have since stopped to flow along with the music.

These days, the music feels primarily like background music more than part of the routine.

[lysapie]

w0w thats such amazing choegrophay!!

[Polecatz]

Fab. I was smiling watching that routine. Give me that any day over today's circus performances where everything is rushed.

[larryboyish]

...Y se caso en la catedral de Mexico

[oscarhernandeztaylor]

ah ok ok

como siempre el favoritismo de ciertas naciones como en la actualidad que es china aun que se caigan o lo agan mal tienen altas calif.

[oscarhernandeztaylor]

alguien sabe que calificaion tuvo en mexico68 ?

[al122385]

Una historia muy interesante, ya que de hecho perfilaba para el oro, pero "curiosamente" su rival sovietica recibio un incremento en una rutina previa, quitandole el oro en el All Around, lo que llevo a su famosa "protesta silenciosa" durante el himno sovietico.

(La URRS habia invadido Chezcoslovakia e impuesto el comunismo)

Su protesta silenciosa la hizo caer de la gracia del sistema, mas le gano el amor del pueblo, y de Mexico, que posteriormente le brindo visa de trabajo como entrenadora.

[hjaidar]

De hecho ella ganó el Oro en el All Around, en salto, asimetricas y piso, plata por equipos y viga de equilibrio. Su protesta fue porque la Union Sovietica invadió Checozlovaquia, unos meses antes de los juegos olímpicos, no por haber perdido ninguna medalla.

[Baraquiel62]

Greetings from Mexico City!

[jolchin]

pero no solo es le jarabe sino tambien rancho grande

[Hinzel1976]

Si eres buena, tienes carisma y encima haces el ejercicio de suelo con la música del país te ganas al público, como pasó con Vera en México 68. Gimnastas como ella, Nadia Comaneci o Svetlana Khorkina han sido muy queridas por todos.

[gria78]

con jarabe o sin jarabe... chécate el peinadazo!

[heroeescarabajo]

jajajaja a huevo

[FI0607]

wow con razon es la llamada reyna de los juegos del 68, detallazo el jarabe tapatio no??' jejeje

[indiodeoro]

Vera won the Gold Medal at the age of 25!!!; From Munich 72 and on, all the Gold winners was under 18. A fact: Vera married during the Olympic Games in the Mexico City Cathedral with a fellow athlete. Even, in the 80's, had a TV show in Mexico called "Haga Gimnasia con Vera" ("Do Gymnastics with Vera").

[LeanaJo76]

Her and Larissa Latynina were like the first gymnastics superstars (way before Olga Korbut, Nadia Comenici, and Mary Lou Retton.

And look at those hairstyles then (big bouffant hairstyle. I wonder how they did their handstands and such with all that hair!).

[strawberryrainbow]

she is a really good danncer...she´s also like breakig dancing. hip hop hop of her.

[bowesgoes]

shes a really good dancer =) her splits are great!

[pellebravesskylar]

She was amazing! I much prefer this style of gymnastics to the circus acrobatics of today. I read somewhere that she was part of the resistance movement in Czechoslovakia and had to go into hiding at one point. She practiced her gymnastics moves by swinging on tree limbs and did her floor exercise in a field. What a beautiful, brave woman.

[edoardodancer]

A huevooooooooooo she won first with the "jarabe tapatío"

viva mexicooooooooooooooo.

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

I believe I don't understand. You said women athletes today look wiry, but now you're saying they are fully developed. I'm not trying to be a annoying or anything I just got confused.

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

Epeople look different all over the world. You should at least try to respect that. And these women looked like women because they were women! The gymnasts you see today are barely 16. Once they're in their 20's they look like women because the ARE women!

[gjglrb]

Le Mexique a adoré cette dame, on se souviendra toujours

[zzzxtreme]

nice hair and performance

[miloandtock1]

this performance was pure magic - Caslavska actually won 4 gold and 2 silver at these Games - medalling in all events...this on top of 3 golds and 1 silver from Tokyo in 1964. She was a goddess and very brave for her medal podium actions as well. Awesome woman!

[nessie96]

Very brave indeed...I remember watching this as a kid....she held her head down when the Soviet anthem was being played because the Russians had invaded Czechoslovakia earlier that year...what's ironic is that she wasn't banned from Olympic competition like the track athletes who made the 'black power' sign during their medal ceremony...I think it was hypocritical of the IOC to do so.

[sinjinthule]

Danicabrooke, no offense intended, but it's the way she puts the parts together, the flow, the dance, the floor transitions, the perfect interpretation of the piece. Very few gymnasts from the last decade or two could match Vera's artistry--Bogie, Ponor, maybe. It's the sum of the parts, the art of it all.

[smiFromBelarus]

Yes, Bogi, Ponor and Khorkina.

[Penguin888]

Who thinks that this should have been the first perfect 10?

[reeward]

she has won three gold and two silver medails on these olympic games

[Penguin888]

...I didn't ask that. I knew that, I was asking if you think it should have been a 10.000.

[Nornegest]

Actually, she was the first gymnast to achieve the perfect ten score. Two tens, in fact, in 1967.

[tchachinafan]

no she was not....

[Nornegest]

You must be thinking of Nadia's 10s in Montreal. While they were an outstanding achievement -- 7 times in three days of competition -- they weren't the first perfect scores ever by a gymnast. Caslavska posted two tens herself in 1967 at the Euro championships in Amsterdam. One in beam, the other in floor exercise.

[Nornegest]

If you're interested, type out a search for "Vera Caslavska 1967" and then click on the video titled "Los primeros 10 de la gimnasia artística". You'll see how the judges weren't prepared for her performance (as would happen with Nadia in Montreal) and held up a mark of 1.00, indicating 10.00.

[tchachinafan]

thanks a lot I´ll check it later!!!

[tchachinafan]

wow really?

I had no iea about this!!, and why everybody give Nadia the credict for getting the first 10...maybe because she did it in the Olympics??

I like Vera way more than I like Nadia!!

[Nornegest]

Yes, the Olympics was a factor...also, Nadia was very young, only 14 when she won the all-around title, making her the youngest ever gymnastics champion.

If you like, I could pass a link to a page on Vera's historic ten in 1967 (along with other gymnasts who also scored tens since). Do let me know, and I'll send it via PM.

[tchachinafan]

I already checked it!!! and she is there!! and now I´m upset...why doesn´t people recognizes Vera as the first perfect 10¨?? :(

if she had done thta in the OG..

she is great I love her!!

[Nornegest]

Yes, she's amazing in this routine, isn't she. Such flexibility and exquisite moves...and to think her training included lifting sacks of potatoes!

As to why Nadia's tens are more famous, it could be because she scored them during the Olympics, which get more press than European competitions. By the way, Vera is in the Guinness Book of Records for holding the most Olympic individual event titles...just thought you'd like to know that, since you like her so much. ^_^

[tchachinafan]

her moves remid me of rhythmic gimnastics moves*in these days ;(*.

I wish I could see this type of gymnast more often nowadays...only Pavlova seems to full the package(to me).

Vera is very popular in my country, she is very very loved in here and she is still remembered nowadays :)

2 golds in AA..yeah baby!!

this shouldnpt be called floor routine something like this should be called art...really IMO.

[nixelin27]

where did u know tht vera was the 1st 10??why do they recognized nadia as the 1st one to ever achieve it?

[iloverocknroll888]

oh, really? i didn't even know that! but it's probably because this was still "artistic gymnastics." this was before the switch to acrobatic or whatever you wanna call it.

[AndreeaRaducan4Eva]

Actualy she did get the first perfect 10 in 1967.

[alcachofaasesina]

I love the musical medley... my mom told me that she got married at Mexico's City Cathedral... Viva México!

[dragu88]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GREAT

[12crayons]

tak to je bomba! vzdy som si ju priala vidiet...a teraz..v roku 2007 mam konecne tu moznost! thanks skata524!;-)

[chelsearae17]

even on a hard floor her gymanstics is SOOO clean. I love it

[mrparts]

that was very good for the time. a layout full on a floor with no springs.

[danicabrooke]

I wish the olympics could still be like that today! I'm a level 7 gymnast and I have all the skills she does on floor! BUMMMER!

[IvoTonder]

for danicabrooke: How you can compare gymnastic from 1968 with today's gymnastic?

[danicabrooke]

I was just saying that if this was what the Elite level was like otday I could be in it (maybe..)

[pegasnegru]

Its frustrating that you only look at acrobatics. Yes, the level of acrobatics at the time was lower than today, but the level of artistry, connection, musicality, rithm took years to master. The years spent for ballet training are the years required for gimnasts today to learn acrobatic skills. You couldn't have made it to the Elite level unless you would have trained in artistry and expression for the years they have.

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

Actually that's were you're all wrong.

[KarenLovesGymnastics]

I wish that too. Gymnastics has evolved so much today hasn't it? Just like all other sports....Even today's dancers don't dance like this so I think people should grow out of it, don't you?

[Penguin888]

Amazing.

[paleseptember784]

SUCH grace!!!

[avgdvl]

Blokkolnám.

[cz88]

She was great... I like her style, it's so original

[Yuri92001]

Wow!