Women's All Around Gymnast of All Time
By Ephraim123
@Ephraim123 (274)
Philippines
February 9, 2009 5:41am CST
Who deserves this title? Of course gymnasts of today are far better than gymnasts like Laryssa Latinina. But this is not a question of who's generation is better. The answer should be based on how the best gymnast performed on their respective eras. The answer can be a European, World or Olympic champion.
For me, it's Tatiana Gutsu of the Unified Team (1992 Olympic All Around Champion). Enough of the Roza Galieva controversy. To me, she's a gymnast who took all the risks because of her extreme difficulty and thankfully, she was rewarded for that.
1 response
@karen1969 (1779)
•
17 May 10
I agree Gutsu was a great gymnast, but to me, she didn't have enough grace and elegance to be the best ever. I want a gymnast who has difficulty, grace and a beautiful style. I guess I would say Nadia Comaneci is the best ever but I also love Shaposhnikova, Ilienko, Davydova, Filatova and the great USSR stars of the 1970s and 1980s. These days, I love the style of gymnasts like Mustafina, Porgras and Myzdrikova.
@Ephraim123 (274)
• Philippines
17 May 10
Well definitely, if you're going to compare Gutsu to her compatriots (Tatiana Lysenko and Svetlana Boguinskaya), she was not that graceful. But to me, what set her apart from other gymnasts during Barcelona Olympics was she was already doing skills that even today's gymnasts are having a hard time doing! If you've seen her beam and floor routines, you know what I'm talking about. And the way she stuck all her dismounts, that was just incredible! Imagine sticking her beam dismount after using the full length of the beam, wow!
Well, since you mentioned Natalia Shaposhnikova..she's awesome! I love her beam routine especially the one arm balance that she did at the end of the apparatus. Ilienko had an awesome floor routine..a great beam worker as well. Davydova also had all the difficulty. She was a true innovator. Her floor routine in Moscow Olympics really deserved a 10.0! Filatova was one of the few gymnastics who combined extreme balletic artistry and difficulty in her routines. Did you know that she won the 1977 World Cup AA over the great Yelena Mukhina?
