Marie Roethlisberger (USA), FX, 1982 Coca-Cola International Event Final 🥇 - 9.65

This is John Roethlisberger's sister. She was deaf and had better musicality than many gymnasts who could hear the music. Her music was extra loud.

youtu.be/vUfuIWDrlTs

Bart Connor asking for kisses at the 1982 Emerald Cup

Natalia Yurchenko (URS), VT, 1982 Moscow News All Around 🥇 - 9.750

The first yurchenko style vault done in international competition.

Natalia Ilienko (URS), FX, 1981 World Championships Event Final 🥇

youtu.be/plOjjzI5Ixg

Maxi Gnauck (GDR), UB, 1981 World Championships Event Final 🥇

Maxi Gnauck (GDR), FX, 1981 Worlds TO - 2.500

One of the great mysteries of gymnastics history. Was Maxi Gnauck forced to throw the 1981 Worlds AA for her country's Soviet masters? She was the reigning European Champion and would go on to win 3 of 4 event finals after this.

youtu.be/rC3oYlu8Ys4

Tong Fei (CHN), FX, 1980 USGF International Invitational 🥈 - 9.800

youtu.be/cTVAWhgGlBk

Li Yuejiu, FX, 1980 USGF International Invitational 🥇 - 9.900

youtu.be/Zf4n6BvOLmc

@usagym.bsky.social is Dan Baker still the Women's Program Development Lead?

Be like Tourischeva and never look back.

Ludmilla Tourischeva (URS), UB, 1975 World Cup All Around 🥇 - 9.800

Nellie Kim (URS), FX, 1979 World Championships All Around 🥇

Nellie Kim capped off her impressive 1979 All Around with this floor performance. She was known for her strong and difficult floor work and elegant dance and was a precursor to her Olympic floor gold in 1980.

youtu.be/bNhNfsw37cQ

Elfi Schlegel (CAN), BB, 1979 World Championships All Around - 9.000

Elfi Schlegel was a pioneer of the sport in her home country of Canada. Here she is at the Fort Worth World Championships AA before she would go on to be a star for the Florida and a commentator for NBC and Canadian television.

Ma Yanhong (CHN), UB, 1979 World Championships Event Final 🥇

Many consider Ma Yanhong to be the most innovative bars worker of the "old school" era. She won both a world championship gold here in Fort Worth, a silver in Moscow in 1981, and the Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1984.

Maxi Gnauck (GDR), FX, 1979 Worlds All Around 🥈 - 9.900

One under discussed part of her gymnastics was her excellent floor work which includes some incredibly difficult tumbling given the the equipment of the day. Her triple twist is better than many modern gymnasts.

youtu.be/XEMygIc0uTc

Věra Černá (TCH), BB, 1979 World Championships Event Finals 🥇

A gifted gymnast with a sadly short career this World Championships beam routine that would earn her the gold medal was one of her last elite gymnastics performances. She passed away in September 2024.

youtu.be/BXR0oIVtnkE

Welcome to the Full Twist: A Gymnastics news podcast which will be starting in February 2025.

An annoying persistent (and false) internet myth on social media describes Olga Korbut's eponymous skill, the Korbut Flip, as "the dead lope" or "death lope" claiming it was only performed once and banned immediately for danger.

Elena Mukhina (URS), UB, 1978 World Championships All Around - 9.900 🥇