One of the oldest, most oft-repeated chestnuts about gymnastics is also one of the truest- beam is the great leveler. Every twitch of your nerves is visible, every split-second of self-doubt can manifest itself into one of those wobbles that make the audience catch their breath and Elfi say "ooh, a little balance check there". It's perhaps this heightened sense of nervous energy, within the gymnast and the viewer, that makes great beam routines so exhilarating, and bad ones so painful to watch. Here are some of my personal stand-out beam routines- for a variety of reasons:
Chellsie Memmel, Olympic Trials day 2, 2008: So close and yet so far
I've always been a Chellsie fan. You can't help but feel for her terrible injury timing around the Olympics, especially her ankle injury in 2008 JUST she was looking so sharp after recovering from yet ANOTHER injury. This beam routine has it all- great pace, great variety of skills, incredible difficulty, and a stuck dismount. It's a memorable routine not just for its stand-alone excellence, but because of the "what might have been" feeling I get every time I revisit it.
Mo Huilan, 1995 Worlds AA: OMG this is amazing I love this OH NO
The story of Chinese women's gymnastics has largely been "enormous potential that buckles under pressure" (much more about this later) and poor Mo Huilan's career is riddled with moments like this. A nearly flawless routine and a strong AA title bid foiled by a double tuck dismount.
Kui Yuanyuan, 1997 Worlds EF: OMG this is amazing I love this OH NO- part 2
Then, we have the case of Kui Yuanyuan, who pulls off an amazing original routine jampacked with fantastic skills (that full still gets me) and great execution, with a small dismount hop, and loses to Gina Gogean's uninspired but well-executed routine. Gina, I still love you, but Kui got robbed blind here.
Dina Kochetkova, 1996 Worlds EF: Underrated beam brilliance
I am hugely fond of Kochetkova, a gymnast who I don't think was ever fully appreciated during her time- like most of the 1996 Russian squad, she had a disappointing Olympics, but her elegance and ease of movement are really exceptional. It's this ease of movement that helps contribute to her underrated-ness, I think: she makes everything look very, very easy, even the most tricky full-twisting elements in this routine.
Catalina Ponor, 2004 Olympics EF: Bow down, bitches
I'm told that there are some people out there who don't like Catalina Ponor, and I am here to tell you that those people are crazy. In true Romanian style, this performance is just solid as a ROCK, including the stuck dismount. One of the very rare beam routines where you really feel that everything is totally under control, and you can just sit back and relax.
Ekaterina Lobaznyuk, 2000 Olympics TF: I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face
The collapse of the 2000 Russian Olympic squad on beam is one of the most memorable moments in the last decade of WAG, but I think Katya's fall is the most painful for me. First of all, LOVE HER, of course. Second of all, to miss on one of the last and easiest elements of an otherwise great routine meaning that the team has to count a miss? Someone hand me the Kleenex and the vodka.
Chellsie Memmel, Olympic Trials day 2, 2008: So close and yet so far
I've always been a Chellsie fan. You can't help but feel for her terrible injury timing around the Olympics, especially her ankle injury in 2008 JUST she was looking so sharp after recovering from yet ANOTHER injury. This beam routine has it all- great pace, great variety of skills, incredible difficulty, and a stuck dismount. It's a memorable routine not just for its stand-alone excellence, but because of the "what might have been" feeling I get every time I revisit it.
Mo Huilan, 1995 Worlds AA: OMG this is amazing I love this OH NO
The story of Chinese women's gymnastics has largely been "enormous potential that buckles under pressure" (much more about this later) and poor Mo Huilan's career is riddled with moments like this. A nearly flawless routine and a strong AA title bid foiled by a double tuck dismount.
Kui Yuanyuan, 1997 Worlds EF: OMG this is amazing I love this OH NO- part 2
Then, we have the case of Kui Yuanyuan, who pulls off an amazing original routine jampacked with fantastic skills (that full still gets me) and great execution, with a small dismount hop, and loses to Gina Gogean's uninspired but well-executed routine. Gina, I still love you, but Kui got robbed blind here.
Dina Kochetkova, 1996 Worlds EF: Underrated beam brilliance
I am hugely fond of Kochetkova, a gymnast who I don't think was ever fully appreciated during her time- like most of the 1996 Russian squad, she had a disappointing Olympics, but her elegance and ease of movement are really exceptional. It's this ease of movement that helps contribute to her underrated-ness, I think: she makes everything look very, very easy, even the most tricky full-twisting elements in this routine.
Catalina Ponor, 2004 Olympics EF: Bow down, bitches
I'm told that there are some people out there who don't like Catalina Ponor, and I am here to tell you that those people are crazy. In true Romanian style, this performance is just solid as a ROCK, including the stuck dismount. One of the very rare beam routines where you really feel that everything is totally under control, and you can just sit back and relax.
Ekaterina Lobaznyuk, 2000 Olympics TF: I'm not crying, it's just raining on my face
The collapse of the 2000 Russian Olympic squad on beam is one of the most memorable moments in the last decade of WAG, but I think Katya's fall is the most painful for me. First of all, LOVE HER, of course. Second of all, to miss on one of the last and easiest elements of an otherwise great routine meaning that the team has to count a miss? Someone hand me the Kleenex and the vodka.
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