What My Parents Know About Gymnastics:
- Nadia was That Romanian Girl who won a gold medal, and her coach was on TV a lot.
- Svetlana Khorkina is a Diva.
- Mo Huilan was the best Chinese gymnast of her era.
Um, yes.
Speaking of Mo Huilan, I do believe she could be considered the greatest all-around gymnast of her time, alongside Lilia Podkopayeva. She just was never able to put it all together at the right place at the right time–always messing up on something silly–that would keep her out of finals where she could have dominated. The only Olympic medal she managed was a silver medal on the vault in Atlanta–HARDLY a measure of what she was capable of doing.
And that, some argue, is why greatness can’t apply to Mo Huilan. She didn’t have the mindset of a champion. (Rubbish!)
Mo’s Gaylord I on the uneven bars (also known as the Mo salto) is probably the most jaw-dropping skill I’ve seen a female gymnast do in international competition, except for maybe the Ma dismount (pioneered by Ma Yanhong).
Mo Huilan, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, all-around uneven bars
In Mo’s time, the Chinese women were beautifully and wildly innovative to the point of extreme inconsistency; since then, they’ve brought the bar down a bit, so to speak, and have become more solid across the board…at a cost. Sure, the new generation of Chinese girls will probably win more medals than Mo Huilan ever did, but they’ll never be as great as she was, or could have been.
