Even if it were, elegance and grace were hardly part of HER routines at any rate. She was jerky, klutzy and not smooth at all in her routines, even though technically she was doing the stunts correctly. Several times during both the floor X and the bars she seemed very jerky and angular in her movements.
I don’t know if the severe weight loss had anything to do with that or not, but it seemed pretty evident that she was lacking the strength she needed.
The dance sequences of the floor X were not smooth at all in the team competition, although it looked much better for the individual, she still lacked “flow” in her movements.
I agree. I didn’t see much of the Sydney games so this was my first exposure to her, and I kept saying, “Why do they keep calling her such a great gymnast?” She looked horrible.
The way she keeps going on about how she should have gotten the gold medal in the all-around…well, somebody needs to sit her skinny ass down and force her to watch the tape of her own performance vs. Carly Patterson’s. She didn’t turn in a gold medal performance, simple as that, so she needs to shut the hell up and quit making herself look like an idiot.
She is more than “a bit of a poor sport.” Bad-mouthing the competition just because they beat you is the height of poor sportsmanship. I don’t care how great she was, or how great she thinks she is…in my book, based on her performance on and off the equipment, she more than meets the definition of “bitch.”
Has anyone mentioned Svetlana’s height (164cm or 5’4½" tall)? She’s more than 7 inches taller than the average American gymnast, at least the ones from 1992. Among toy-sized human beings, that’s a considerable difference. Any female gymnast that tall is bound to be skinny; admittedly, though, the bitchy Russian looks a lot less healthy now than in the past and could use a few extra pounds in obvious places.
One of the US women in (I think) the 200 they said was 5’7" and 111 pounds. Khorkina is listed at 5’5"/110. It’s impossible. Muna is very slim, but she’s not skeletal. Either Muna is shorter than 5’7", or Khorkina is much much lighter than 110.
She’s still beautiful to watch on the parallel bars, but almost painful to see otherwise for me.
Back in high school, I was an inch taller and 4 pounds lighter than Khorkina, had an athletic/lean build, and even though I was “skinny,” I still was plenty more filled out than Khorkina. You’re right - I don’t see how it could be possible. I’d be very surprised if she even broke 100 lbs.
I have just loved Svetlana Horkina since her first Olympics. She’s a bitch, no doubt about it, but her reputation as perhaps the world’s best female gymnast is well-earned, and what’s more, you can tell she’s a truly ambitious person. I can’t help but admire the naked ambition you see on her face, and the hint of contained violence just makes her more compelling. A friend and I agreed that she seems like the type of person who might stab someone in an alley if she thought it was in her interest to do so.
Her comments scream “REALLY poor sport and very low class” and possibly “I’m high on crack”.
Her countryman, the one awarded the ridiculously low score for his phenomenal bar routine was, on the other hand, a real gentleman and class act. He went a long way toward countering her stupid, unrealistic rants to the newspapers.
Wrong, she’s the most beautiful woman amongst the gymnasts. The rest are just girls by comparison; she carries herself with more maturity and authority and is that much more attractive because of it.
OK, having just checked out Ponor’s stats, I’m amazed that she isn’t any older than most of the other “girls”–at 17, she certainly comes across as much older and more professional.
And I wasn’t sure how Khorkina could be any uglier than I think she is now, but her sore-loser comments managed to accomplish that.
