Ever a better Olympic gymnastics athlete - Simone Biles

[metalmancpa]

She was great, no doubt. But here's a decent perspective from Foxsports:

http://www.foxsports.com/olympics/ga...history-081616

Just because athletics have changed over the decades should not diminish the accomplishments of those who came before her.

I don't think at this point of her career she can be considered the greatest. If she comes back in four years and has another stellar Olympics, then maybe.

[cyrano]

She just got her fourth gold. I know there were some Soviet gymnasts who won in successive Olympics, so maybe someone who did that would be GOAT. But Simone is wonderful, amazing, and an irrepressible, fantastic young woman who's a credit to the USA.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by cyrano

She just got her fourth gold. I know there were some Soviet gymnasts who won in successive Olympics, so maybe someone who did that would be GOAT. But Simone is wonderful, amazing, and an irrepressible, fantastic young woman who's a credit to the USA.

That's great!

4 golds and a bronze out of a possible 6 medals.

Mary Lou was no slouch and when she was all around champ, the team took silver and Mary Lou also medaled in 3 of the individual events (vault, uneven, floor).

It doesn't look like Korbut or Comanechi matched those results in an individual Olympics tho back in 1956 a Russian and Fin lady each won 6 out of a possible 7 medals.

There was a Chech woman (Věra Čáslavská) that medaled (4 gold, 2 silver) in all 6 events at the Mexico City '68 games. That was the only case I could find where a gymnast was perfect: a medal of some kind for each event.

[AMSS]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

That's great!

4 golds and a bronze out of a possible 6 medals.

Mary Lou was no slouch and when she was all around champ, the team took silver and Mary Lou also medaled in 3 of the individual events (vault, uneven, floor).

It doesn't look like Korbut or Comanechi matched those results in an individual Olympics tho back in 1956 a Russian and Fin lady each won 6 out of a possible 7 medals.

There was a Chech woman (Věra Čáslavská) that medaled (4 gold, 2 silver) in all 6 events at the Mexico City '68 games. That was the only case I could find where a gymnast was perfect: a medal of some kind for each event.

Retton won in an Olympics boycotted by most of the competition. Had the rest of the Eastern Block besides Romania been there, Retton may have won or medaled in the vault event. But she likely wouldn't have medaled in the all around and no way would she have medaled on the bars or probably floor either. Retton could tumble but her dance was horrendous. The American women that year was also a long shot to get a medal in the team competition.

Comaneci won two more golds on events in Moscow and should have won the all around, but some skeptical judging put a Russian woman above her in first place. Pretty blatant from what I read. Korbut really never dominated the medal stand, just the media because of her crazy skills. Her main competitor was Ludmilla Tourisheva and the Russian federation favored her over Korbut.

You're right about Caslavska, but before her was Larissa Latynia who also went back to back in the Olympic all around.

These ladies are all awesome. It's really not possible to compare who is more dominant because of so many factors. The points scoring is so different now and the Code is forever changing. Instability and changes of other countries have affected the competition. I will say it was refreshing to see Rio's beam champion being rewarded for her beautiful routine. Many coaches don't even bother having their girl's practice the elements she did. I'm glad they are still evaluating that stuff!