Five routines that make me believe artistry is returning to gymnastics

November 6, 7:51 PMGymnastics ExaminerBlythe Lawrence

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It's been 20 years since 1989, a year held up by gymnastics fans as the golden age of artistry in the sport. 1989 was the year of Svetlana Boginskaya at her best, and also of Olessia Dudnik, Natalia Laschenova, Olga Strazheva.

Here too were Romanians Daniela Silivas and Aurelia Dobre, as well as China's Yang Bo. Though Dobre and Silivas were nearing the end of their competitive careers, their elegance was still paramount.

Daniela Silivas, 1989 World Championships Event Finals, Floor:

The artistry wasn't just coming from the Soviets and Romanians. Here's North Korean Choe Gyong Hui's floor exercise from the team optionals at the 1989 World Championships, which evokes shades of Soviet great Oksana Omelianchik:

What has changed in past two decades? Three things: Compulsories have been eliminated, the perfect 10 is gone and equipment has evolved to allow greater levels of difficulty to be executed more easily and safely, though that pertains mainly to vault.

For many fans, the downside to this evolution has been the shift in focus from making the whole thing look good to a whoever-throws-the-greatest-number-of-really-hard-skills-wins mentality. Eliminating compulsories, which forced gymnasts to show mastery of basic elements and emphasized musical interpretation and clean lines, happened first. The post-2004 code of points, which did away with the perfect 10 and rewarded gymnasts who threw harder skills more than it deducted for poor execution, didn't help either.

What all this led to was a quadrennium of side tumbling passes, routines with five or six tumbling lines, and even the more artistic gymnasts looking like they were always thinking about their next tumbling sequence.

The new code of points, which reduced the number of difficulty elements counted in a routine from 10 to eight, should be a step back in the artistic direction. So should judges taking steeper execution deductions for lack of artistry, as seemed to be the case in 2008.

Here are five videos that make me believe artistry may be making a comeback in women's gymnastics. Men's gymnastics is another matter, and will be addressed in another post.

Anna Myzdrikova, Russia, 2009 World Championships Event Finals, Floor:

Perhaps thanks to its gymnasts' continued emphasis on ballet, Russia is one country whose floor choreography hasn't suffered as much from upheavals to the code of points. Nonetheless, the newest code is helping bring already good choreo back to the forefront. Nowhere is that more evident than in this routine, which is utterly watchable not only for the rarely seen tumbling passes (who was the last gymnast to do a triple full into a back tuck, anyway?) but also for the way the choreography fits the music.

Where Myzdrikova has fallen off, especially since the Glasgow Grand Prix earlier this year, is in paying attention to details like keeping one's leg above horizontal on her double turn. But that's not the routine's fault.

Koko Tsurumi, Japan, 2009 Japan Cup, Floor:

This is a big piece of music for such a gymnast with such dainty movements, and Tsurumi would probably benefit from something softer. Nonetheless, the quality of her dance, and the emphasis she puts on landing softly, shows that she and her coaches are thinking about execution as much as difficulty.

Elsa Garcia, Mexico, 2009, Floor:

A lovely routine from the 2009 World Championships Longines Prize for Elegance winner. In it, you can see Garcia's love of performing, something that's been notably absent from many of the top competitors for several quadrenniums.

Ariella Kaeslin, 2009 Swiss Championships Event Finals, Floor:

I like this routine because like many older competitors, Kaeslin puts some of her personality into things, and there's a long sequence of unique choreography that Kaeslin looks like she enjoys perfoming. It's not particularly graceful. But neither is Kaeslin.

Ana Porgras, 2009 World Championships Event Finals, Floor:

Finally, a taste of women's floor as it was in '89!