Is it just me, or has the uneven bars become impossibly boring. The women strap on some leather, spend almost the entire time on the higher bar, spin around a few times and … that’s it.
Compared to Olga Korbut and Nadia Comanechi, it seems pretty flat.
Some of those routines are obviously drastically different than what is done now. While some of it looks neater to the untrained eye, I couldn’t tell you if what they are doing is more or less difficult that what is done in 2008, but I suspect the latter.
The 1972 dismounts, however, look like child’s play compared to 2008.
See here.
I’ll give you the dismounts, and I’m really not criticizing the athleticism of the gymnasts. It’s just that I find it quite dull. The apparatus has changed over the years, especially in that the bars are much farther apart. I think this is driven by the gymnasts, who seem to have become partial to doing routines more along the lines of the men’s high bar. Some of the between-bar moves that Korbut was doing would probably result in serious injury with the current setup. Also, the backwards flip off the high bar is now illegal (don’t know why; maybe it’s they don’t want too many people ending up quadriplegic).
Anyway, I just wish they’d do something interesting besides the dismount.
Maybe they should try something like this guy?
I would say that between :25 and :35 is far more impressive than the routines from 1972. YMMV.
ETA: Of Labrador’s, not** tans’**!