Wendy Bruce Martin on 1992 Barcelona Olympics Recap

GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

Dr. Uncle Tim PhD, Spencer, Jessica and very special guest, 1992 U.S. Olympic medalist, Wendy Bruce Martin chat about the 1992 Olympics Games in Barcelona:

• The pre-Olympic Climate:
  • How the end of the Cold War shaped the Games
  • The media pressure on Kim Zmeskal and the heartbreaking life of Svetlana Boginkaya after the 1988 Olympics.
  • Kim Kelly and the shadiest U.S. Olympic Team selection of all time. (6:00)
  • Wedgie-gate, was it fair to punish three athletes for ill-fitting leotards? (16:00)
  • Uncle Tim's 1992 Code of Points and Competition Rules Quiz-Mageddon! (23:00)
  • The magic of the 1992 broadcast that included interviews with every controversial figure.
• The Competition (42:00):
  • Compulsories that took our breath away and should we still have them? Exhibit A: Vanda Hădărean (ROM) or Gruneneva (Unified Team). Eastern Bloc beauty.
  • The judging crack epidemic of 1992. Exhibit B: Christina Bontas's 9.9 beam routine.
  • Kim Zmeskal fell on beam and the world didn't actually end.
  • The glory of North Korea, Kim Gwang Suk on bars. All praise the dear leader.
• Team Finals (1:02:00)
  • Kerri Strug's family fashion.
  • The Karolyi double back set on beam, AKA freeze in mid-air before flip.
  • U.S. and Australian leotards.
  • Why Wendy felt embarrassed of her bronze medal for too long.
• The All-Around Final (1:16:00)
  • Galieva-Gate
  • The most common skills of the quad and the routines that were way ahead of their time, like Tatiana Lysenko (Unified).
  • Luisa Portocarrera (CAN/GTM), beam goddess. Watch it here.
  • Shannon Miller vs. Tatiana Gutsu showdown. Was the judging fair? We decide. (1:26:00)
• Event Finals (1:29:19)
  • Tatiana Lysenko's double twisting yurchenko vs. the world; the 1992 vault final.
  • The Beam Final: Li Lu - press handstand to HEALY to arch pose! Pour out some Yang Bo. Lysenko's backspin, Shannon Miller. One of the greatest beam finals of all time.
  • The Bars Final: The bars medalists got air on the bars that were super close together. Lu Li got mega air and Kim Gwang Suk - TKATCHEV TO COUNTER KIM! WHAT?!
  • The Floor Final: Lavinia Milosovici's Romanian tumbling greatness, Henrietta Onodi's triple full, Gutsu's split leg double layout, so much genius!
• Shenanigans and the Legacy of the 1992 Olympics (1:43:05)
  • Steve Nunno's motivational poster quotes.
  • Bela Karolyi or Donald Trump quotes quiz.
  • The training schedule for the U.S. Team. Yes, two-a-day practices.
  • The new breed of positive coaches. (1:51:53)

RELATED LINKS

• For a deep dive into how Shannon Miller won Olympic Trials while Kim Zmeskal had the higher scores: The History of Olympic Trials Controversies podcast.
• Wendy Bruce-Martin is the new head coach of Swiss women's artistic gymnastics national team
• Claudia Miller (Shannon Miller's mom), wrote a book called, "My Child My Hero." A gym nerd must-read.
• Here is that Australian team 1992 compulsories leotard [caption id="attachment_36688" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Australia aboriginal (?) inspired 1992 compulsory leotard[/caption]

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