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The genius of Tatiana Groshkova

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Simone Alexander drew my attention to this video.   http://youtu.be/DIE0tfdYgos

This is the best video of this outstanding floor routine that exists to my knowledge. Groshkova has never competed at World Championships; her light shone all too briefly when she won a silver medal at 1990 Europeans. Has anyone else ever performed that unique double full in in the straight/piked position?


Tatiana trained at Moscow Dynamo where her personal coach was Elvira Saadi, who now coaches top internationals in Canada.  Her bars and beam exercises were also packed with innovation and difficulty.  But reliability curtailed her career prospects in the frighteningly competitive field of early 1990s Soviet gymnastics.  


She was the focus of a 1987 Soviet TV documentary 'Will You Come To The Ball'.


The tumbling in this floor routine - by a very light, spritely gymnast - belies the idea that you have to be muscled to be powerful.  And my, how does she manage to perform with such expression, such incredibly intricate dance, such excellent line, right the way through such a difficult and demanding exercise?  The tumbling isn't just there to satisfy the requirements - it provides an exclamation mark of drama to a coherent, articulate presentation.  The big difference to today is that the routine was marked as a whole, not as a collective of individual skills.  This made such artistry possible, and worthwhile.


How I would love to see the Russians tumble like this today.


Incidentally, can anyone say what the start value would be?  Execution deductions?  How would this treasure be marked under today's prescriptive Code?  



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  1. Rick McCharles21 May 2014 at 15:25

    Alexis Brion (1995) USA competed it domestically. I believe there was one other WAG, but cannot recall who that was. A number of male gymnasts have competed it including some current MAG.

    http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2009/01/double-full-in-on-floor/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous22 May 2014 at 01:23

    Elizabeth I so agree with your comment about how the routine operates as a whole, not just separate parts that fulfil the requirements. I really think you've hit the nail on the head about how these older routines are different from today's. The stop start nature of today's floors does interupt the flow of the exercise.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tempus10 August 2016 at 06:09

    Groshkova was one of the greatest gymnasts ever to grace the floor. It was a TRAVESTY that she was not on the 92 Russian Olympic team and that thing Gutsu was.

    ReplyDelete
  4. tempus10 August 2016 at 06:11

    Groshkova was one of the greatest gymnasts ever to grace the floor. it is a travesty that she was left off the 92 Russian Olympic team.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous8 February 2022 at 06:54

    Wait why wasn't she on the 88 or 92 Olympic teams?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth8 February 2022 at 08:20

      The competition was very fierce. Remember that at the time this was the USSR, comprising not only Russia but also Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and more. Tatiana never had the consistency to make the team.

      Delete

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