Word: beaming
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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There are no Nadias among them-her particular perfection remains unchallenged-but it is fitting that the Rumanians won the gold medal on the balance beam, the event that Comaneci had once commanded with uncommon aplomb. The beam, a 4-in.-wide strip that demands the greatest precision and exacts the severest penalties for the minutest errors, is the great winnower of women gymnasts. It is a tightrope without a net, and every bit as dangerous as turning handsprings on a cliff. Beam injuries have been crippling, and few women ever lose their fear of it. When it is done...
...subjective sport: performance is in the eyes of the judges beholding it. National loyalties and geopolitical considerations being what they are, the beholder can cast a blind or a jaundiced eye, or an indulgent one, depending upon where the gymnast is from. During the compulsory exercises on the balance beam, U.S. Coach Peters lodged four protests over marks given to the Americans by Rumanian Judge Julia Roterescu. But having gone 4 for 6 in the complaint department, Peters went 0 for 4 in the appeals process. Nonetheless, he had his point. Roterescu consistently gave the Americans scores as much...
...haggle, lost her concentration and fell doing a mount that she has not missed in years. Crashes are contagious, and the rest of the American team struggled to remain aboard during their routines. In all, the U.S. team lost an insurmountable 1.8 points to the Rumanians on the balance beam. The battle for the gold ended there...
Beginning on the beam, Szabo lived up to her reputation, and confirmed the Rumanian dominance of the event, by stepping up cold and calmly nailing a 10. She not only performed risky maneuvers flawlessly but managed to make her narrow ground seem like a stage for the Bolshoi Ballet. At one point she rolled off four consecutive backward handsprings, one more than the beam seems capable of containing and two more than any other gymnast tried. Retton's performance on the uneven bars, on the other hand, was, for her, mediocre. The judges gave...
...second series, Retton gave a creditable performance on the beam, but she had one serious loss of balance after landing a back somersault. The judges marked it, by the book, for a 9.80. Szabo moved to the floor exercise. There again, she was as athletic as she was balletic, alternating stunning twists and turns with lyrical dance movements. Her 9.95 put her in the lead by .15 with only two events remaining...