Gymnastics-For Better Or Worse

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who sees the difference in the gymnastics of this year's Olympics and those of the past? I mean, I've been watching them since I was tiny and I've always thought it was so exciting. And though I still feel that way somewhat, there is a marked difference.

I remember watching Mary Lou Retton and that crazy (and very simple, by today's standards) vault in 1984 when I was nine-where she got all perfect tens. But other than that, I never really remember watching gymnastics seriously until 1992 when Kim Zmeskal and Dominique Dawes had such fun, energetic floor routines and Shannon Miller moved around on the balance beam like some kind of insect princess. That was also the year Tatiana Gutsu and Svetlana Boginskaya made such a beautiful showing in the team and individual competitions. I think it was the best Olympics ever, as far as gymnastics goes. I've been following the teams of Bela Karolyi since then, very closely. In 1996, when Keri Strug hit that vault on her hurt foot-it was thrilling. Dominque Mocianeau was also a darling little gal, especially on floor exercise. But it seems that since then, the charm of the routines and the thrill of women's gymnastics has waned. Last night, I felt the telecast was missing alot of the variety it used to have. I remember seeing more than just two countries compete on the events and I know that floor exercise used to have more style. The routines used to be musical and more of a performance, similar to the Chinese girls last night. The Americans not only blew it technically but they were boring as heck.

On the other hand, I feel Men's gymnastics have only improved. Monday's team finals was really exciting and yes, the Chinese guys were amazing. I actually don't remember following men's gymnastics until Vitaly Sherbo wowed me in 1996. He was pretty hot. And since then, it seems the routines and the skills have only gotten more rediculous. Paul Hamm was extremely impressive in 2004 and he's also really great at Ninja Warrior, of which I'm a huge fan-heh heh. This year, Jonathan Horton and Justin Spring really stood out to me but again, not much emphasis was put on any teams other than the Chinese or Americans so there was little with which to compare them. Still, I'm far more excited about the men's all-around competition than the women's.

As a side thought, I'm still very into the Olympics, be it summer or winter, and the opening ceremonies this year were better than ever. I also find the synchronized diving to be a pleasant diversion.