Olympics: Uneven bars controversy of years past

[Savannah]

@Sleel

No way was that harder. Giant swings and release moves are much more difficult than anything she did. That would be a moderately difficult routine today, but probably not Olympic caliber.

You may be correct; I am just a casual watcher. It just looked more complicated to me.

[NoCoolUserName]

Does anyone here know why standing on the bar was outlawed?

[bordelond]

@Sleel

No way was that harder. Giant swings and release moves are much more difficult than anything she did. That would be a moderately difficult routine today, but probably not Olympic caliber.

The back flip/catch off the high bar might not be particularly diffcult … but what about immediately after when she wrapped around the low bar and let herself bounce backward and caught the high bar blind at breakneck speed :eek: ?

Was that particular move (bolded above) the one that was outlawed? That looks super-dangerous and difficult as hell. Logic won’t let me think that the move described in the bold text above would now be considered routine.

[bordelond]

Missed the Edit window:

My post #23 above refers to Olga Korbut’s 1972 routine linked in post #3.

[Terminus_Est]

@bordelond

The back flip/catch off the high bar might not be particularly diffcult … but what about immediately after when she wrapped around the low bar and let herself bounce backward and caught the high bar blind at breakneck speed :eek: ?

Was that particular move (bolded above) the one that was outlawed? That looks super-dangerous and difficult as hell. Logic won’t let me think that the move described in the bold text above would now be considered routine.

I believe that there was no need outlaw particular move since the bars are now so far apart that it is physically impossible to do.

[WarmNPrickly]

Does anyone here know why standing on the bar was outlawed?

A few WAGs

1. Those bars aren’t indestructible. Sure, the gymnasts are light enough that that move is unlikely to cause problems, but inevitably someone will do it with a full twist. Still that’s not enough to break a bar, but there is probably enough bounce in those bars that a double is very reasonable except at that point you are probably getting to the stress limit. I’ve only seen one bar snap and my manhood and child are very happy it did.

2. Feet on the bar. I know it’s quite different from the parralell bars, but it takes some time to get the chaulk bar ratio just right. We used to use a sugar water chaulk combination to get the chaulk to stick just right. I’m sure it is considerably more technical now. You start putting feet on the bar and maybe you ruin the feel.

3. this is probably most important. It’s just a really weird move considering the way the event is run now. Even if it were legal, I doubt any but the most mediocre gymnasts looking for a “schtick” would do it. It isn’t that difficult. Any remotely respectable gymnast could and probably has done it for kicks in the gym. It disrupts the flow of the routine.

That looks super-dangerous and difficult as hell. Logic won’t let me think that the move described in the bold text above would now be considered routine.

the stuff they do now is considerably more difficult and dangerous. It looks smooth and easy because it is refined. I don’t know how much you were paying attention to the gymnastics, but if you remember the team qualifiers, Nastia let go and broke her angle a split second late on her dismount from the uneven bars. As a result she was closer to the bar than she wanted and she had to hold her legs in longer to miss. This caused her to over rotate and land on her back, but that is much preferable to smacking the bar. you don’t know pain until you smack the bar. it is literally a traumatic experience. I was a great high bar gymnast until I smacked the bar on a dismount in high school. I never dismounted again. Everytime I tried, i overcompensated by letting go early and flying halfway across the room. I’ve seen another gymnast ruined the same way. With the tricks they do now, they literally tempt smacking the bar way worse than I did, and it isn’t that uncommon that they do. Sometimes it’s the last time they ever perform. the tricks they do now are psycho, but they are so well controlled that you don’t notice.

[bordelond]

@WarmNPrickly

the stuff they do now is considerably more difficult and dangerous.

Are you talking about standing on the bar and back-flipping, or the very next trick in Korbut’s 1972 routine (see link in post #3)? The Korbut flip starts at 0:14, but the move I thought looked “super-dangerous” is at 0:16-0:17. Winding around the low bar and then catching the bar while moving backwards super-fast and not looking :eek: ? What’s really throwing me is doing it blind.

If it’s just one of those things that looks much harder than it really is (in relative terms), than I take your word. In any case, I’m certainly not saying modern tricks are a breeze compared to Korbut’s tricks – I was evaluating Korbut’s trick at 0:16 on its own merits.

[CurtC]

@WarmNPrickly

Even if it were allowed, it wouldn’t be performed because it is awkward and stops the flow of a routine without adding anything special.

I disagree with that - if you look in the previously linked YouTube video of Olga’s uneven bars routine, at the 23 second point there’s a really cool transition from high to low, and then at the 30-second mark there’s the point where she hits the low bar with her hips, and it’s extremely smooth and flowing.

On the other hand, most of the release moves I’ve seen in the current Olympics have severely interrupted the flow of the motion. It’s like they release, then kind of thud to a point under the bar, then have to kip up to get going again.