My thinking - and only an observation and in no way a knock on Omeliamchik - is by the time 1987 and 88 rolled along, she was no longer the little sprite who stole everyone’s hearts and imaginations at the 85 worlds. It looks like nature started to take over, which in the 80s and 90s was a BIG no no if you were a gymnast. Gymnasts would get blamed when they started to “develop” and their periods started coming. As we f they were the ones “conspiring” with Mother Nature as to when they should start. Sounds absurd, but it’s true. Still, despite this, there is no question in my mind Oksana was still one of the most brilliant and creative gymnasts ever. I think she - like any other gymnast - struggled with the changes she was going through. And yet, her punishment was she was demoted to being an alternate on the 88 team. Just my observation.
@@DesertStreams002 Well, their only aim was for their gymnasts to win medals, I'm pretty sure the rest was irrelevant. Especially in 1989, when there was a training camp for the Soviet team and she wasn't invited - which led to her decision to retire...
@@MrMartinportnoyI'm happy she was able to make the 87 World Team tbh. It seemed like the writing was on the wall for her. The technique on many of her skills was questionable prior to puberty, so she was in pretty big trouble. It's a testament to her coach Tatiana Perskaya that she was still able to introduce new elements and combinations in 87 and 88 🙏.
not bad coverage, considering this is clearly not professional
Better than ABC’s coverage, where they pretty much picked and chose who they were going to show and flood the rest of the time with commercials.
I wonder what happened from 1987 onwards to her layout step-out landing that she was always wobbling on it
My thinking - and only an observation and in no way a knock on Omeliamchik - is by the time 1987 and 88 rolled along, she was no longer the little sprite who stole everyone’s hearts and imaginations at the 85 worlds. It looks like nature started to take over, which in the 80s and 90s was a BIG no no if you were a gymnast. Gymnasts would get blamed when they started to “develop” and their periods started coming. As we f they were the ones “conspiring” with Mother Nature as to when they should start. Sounds absurd, but it’s true. Still, despite this, there is no question in my mind Oksana was still one of the most brilliant and creative gymnasts ever. I think she - like any other gymnast - struggled with the changes she was going through. And yet, her punishment was she was demoted to being an alternate on the 88 team. Just my observation.
@@DesertStreams002 Well, their only aim was for their gymnasts to win medals, I'm pretty sure the rest was irrelevant. Especially in 1989, when there was a training camp for the Soviet team and she wasn't invited - which led to her decision to retire...
@@MrMartinportnoy Exactly. And I'm sure the beginning of the end was when she had that major break in the team competition floor exercise.
@@DesertStreams002 Maybe they should have had her do a back tuck
@@MrMartinportnoyI'm happy she was able to make the 87 World Team tbh. It seemed like the writing was on the wall for her. The technique on many of her skills was questionable prior to puberty, so she was in pretty big trouble. It's a testament to her coach Tatiana Perskaya that she was still able to introduce new elements and combinations in 87 and 88 🙏.