1988 Olympics Women's Gymnastics Event Finals - complete

Women’s gymnastics event finals from the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Medalists include Daniela Silivas (ROM), Elena Shushunova (USR), Svetlana Boginskaya (USR), Gabriela Potorac (ROM), Phoebe Mills (USA), Diana Dudeva (BUL) and Dagmar Kersten (GDR).

[@jennysheets]

RIP Elena. She recently passed away so young. What an amazing gymnast

[@KristinCortez]

She really was an amazing gymnast. She was also a wife and a mother. While my heart breaks for the gymnastics world, it breaks even more for her husband and their son who are left behind. 💔🙏🏻

[@DianaDeLuna]

​@KristinCortez For years I tried to wrap my brain around it. I blamed terrible quality of Russian health care, thought perhaps Elena had fallen to some habits that compromised her health (not having seen her for 30 years). But then last fall, Mary Lou Retton came very very close to dying of the same thing. The pneumonia hit her out of nowhere, and she was negative for Covid, RSV, everything. A complete wtf. 🤯 So now, seeing a pattern, I'm kind of worried about Tatiana Gutsu.😬

[@saragrant9749]

@@KristinCortezI had heard she passed but at first didn’t understand how it could happen to someone that young. When I heard pneumonia… just bizarre and tragic.

[@denig2000able]

One of the best gymnastics finals ever. Silivas was just amazing.

[@saragrant9749]

Great competition that was marred by very inconsistent, unfair judging. Sillivas should not have won floor with some of her landings, your silver medalist in bars was a joke and so on and so on.

[@skatf]

RIP Shoushounova - for me, she really had it all as a gymnast.

[@hazelabdrabbo9393]

Queen 👸 of gymnastics 😎👸Silivas

[@Allison-ti5vv]

Maybe then but not now

[@masonlovesroblox]

@@Allison-ti5vv you know who is tho

[@saragrant9749]

lol not even close. Queen of an era where eastern bloc origin mattered a great deal is more like it. Here for example… Bars? Awesome. Beam? Near perfection. Floor? A complete asinine joke and vault? Even more of a travesty.

[@mariababa7486]

👍👍👍

[@mariababa7486]

​@@saragrant9749 Daniela, is something, you never by..😂😂😂...The hate from your words tels evrything, about you 👎👎..a big lack of common sense..

[@jingamarcela1122]

Daniela Silivaș ..the best!!!

[@georgeyog331]

I love Silivas's smile after Elena's floor exercise

[@alecsandraii2354]

Hahahahahha sim , pq no Allaround ela chorou . Agora ela riu

[@saragrant9749]

Definitely showed the level of sportsmanship and respect she had… 🙄

[@denaurasilva6984]

SILIVAS THE QUEEN

[@pam0626]

Phoebe Mills had a gorgeous beam routine.

[@kentiemacgymnastics9885]

Agreed!!

[@saragrant9749]

She really did, and helped to open the door for the American gymnasts during the era of Soviet controlled judging.

[@pam0626]

@@saragrant9749 I had no idea it was a majority Soviet panel. TY!

[@saragrant9749]

@@pam0626 it wasn’t, but the Soviets carried a huge level of influence on those judges- because they heavily influenced the FIG. Quite often the judge who was from a non eastern bloc area was the one whose scores reflected reality- and were dismissed as a result. You can argue otherwise but history doesn’t lie.

[@Ian.D.]

@16:58 "I agree with you Bart, when you see that noticeable hop on the dismount, there's no way..." says the gymnast who scored a 10.00 with multiple hops 4 years before. LOL!

[@juarezpessoa1398]

Hahaha :)

[@masonlovesroblox]

she can't control that she got a 10 with a hop

[@RAFAAMARILLAS]

Queen Daniela!

[@punkrockstar]

Miss the perfect 10 system, but this was a little out of control. Think they had it right in 92 where 10s were possible but only for those rare outstanding moments of excellence.

[@saragrant9749]

If they were from the Soviet Union (unified team) to be specific. The 1992 games were the last time the world saw such blatant favoritism from the judges.

[@user-jg3fd3rc3t]

Right... ​@@saragrant9749

[@eugcost1863]

great copy, daniela really proven herself and the world that she a true champion in these finals

[@lorenafuentes3273]

Daniela Silivas is.the best

[@unknown-lf6zx]

Now these were the true GOATs for me! Silivas and Elena! Best ever!

[@saragrant9749]

With some very generous scores.

[@dartanie]

Looking at this I’m very pleased they changed scoring system

[@antieverything8476]

Repeat for Romania...Szabo lost AA and won 3 golds in 1984 and Silivas repeats it 4 years later! both were deserving of their AA golds

[@saragrant9749]

Daniela would have won barring carryover scores. Szabo would have won if she hadn’t FALLEN IN OPTIONAL BARS!!

[@mateofesrivlaes7576]

silivas was absolutely the best.elena was just supported by judges

[@saragrant9749]

Sillivas also got some generous scores- especially on floor. That routine was not 9.987 worthy.

[@skatf]

I remember rushing home from school to watch this and how trendy those short haircuts were! For me, this was the golden era of gymnastics - the perfect mix of power and artistry which is sadly missing nowadays.

[@tacksscherbo7771]

And I rushed home from work!!

[@Bluebell1962]

Superb weren’t they , there is no one in the last 15 years that comes close to these gymnasts, I love watching these videos thankyou so much ❤

[@saragrant9749]

The golden era of blatantly biased judging and unfair scoring is more like it.

[@KatieLHall-fy1hw]

Bars looks so cool this olympics. I know it is harder now, but lots of things look similar. Here there was much more variation. :)

[@finfelagund]

While the level of gymnastic is very high, the judging is just absurd and perverse. At some moments the judges seem to be completely out of mind and out of control, or to put it better, completely under control of some perverse forces from outside.

[@annapavfan4680]

Elle Burger, the head judge who happens to be from East Germany.

[@krisuler7734]

@Mellissa Boomer of the Night not sure why you used the orphanages part as an example of perverse control. I think that was actually one of the better aspects of it all. These orphanages were very bleak and most of these children dreamed of representing their country via such a sport as gymnastics. It was seen as something to be proud of and cherish, which is a great thing to develop in our youth. To respect, support, and love your country and develop camaraderie with other countries, which sports allow. Training and pursuing a sport was seen as a blessing and tons of young kids were brought to evaluations by their PARENTS to try to win a coveted spot at a training facility. The fact that they also considered kids in orphanages was good for those children, even if their motivation was to win gold medals (the adults, I mean). They usually asked who was actually interested in the sport and those who volunteered were evaluated physically. You made it sound as though they were forced and kidnapped lol Nadia actually had a similar story, only hers was in her school. Coaches came and ASKED them who was interested and she volunteered. She had the right physicality and was accepted. The trainings are always hard, including in the US…Karolyi trained US gymnasts btw for the majority of his career and so did his wife. Non-athletes simply don’t understand as well as millennials and sensitive genz’s. They also weren’t starved; it’s physically impossible to perform at this level with zero food. They were placed on strict diets, there is a difference. The amount of American gymnasts suffering from disordered eating is too high for you to make this a ‘communist thing’. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to come at you or anything, but your comment was a but unfair and very biased and misinformed. You seem to be blaming a lot on communist countries and the Soviet Union in regards to gymnastics when in reality these things were also rampant in American gyms nationwide, nit just the Karolyi ranch, and I think some of your statements were a bit hyperbolic. Hopefully this helped you see a different perspective on the matter 🤗🤗

[@punkrockstar]

@Mellissa Boomer of the Night That’s inaccurate, they didn’t starve them. You saw Shoushounava right. That’s your ethnocentrism. I would’ve love a spot at one of these training camps. Also you know Shannon Miller went to the Soviet Union to train when she was going right? She said their hard work and training strategies made her the gymnast she was and that she tried to adapt as much of it as possible. Also, her coach Nunno had weight requirements as well. Strict ones. That was here in the U.S

[@punkrockstar]

@@krisuler7734 Right. As an American child I would’ve given anything to have a scholarship to one of these “terrible” Soviet training camps. Would’ve been a dream come true. It’s hard work, but hard work equals medals and excellence.

[@saragrant9749]

Yep, the Soviet Union. It’s been well known for years that they were in the pockets of those cheaters.

[@mikeg8375]

That bronze on beam by Phoebe Mills was a big deal at the time. The Americans had success in Los Angeles in 84, but this Olympics which was fully attended in a foreign country was a much more difficult task. It's too bad that politics prevented the USA girls from winning the bronze in the team.

[@saragrant9749]

The biggest reason it was so much more difficult was because, with the Soviets there the judges were going to only support them- the ones who were paying their salaries. Yes, the Soviets BOUGHT the scores they got throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s unfortunately. It’s actually been documented since then that this was occurring but sadly no consequence were ever paid. Now at least the judges go based on actual performance.

[@mikeg8375]

@@saragrant9749 Unfortunately I believe it. I also want to know what the East Germans did to get such generous scores at this event. They should have finished no higher than fifth. Their Beam scores in particular were laughably inflated.

[@metsdudenj]

@@mikeg8375 And vaults also

[@saragrant9749]

@@mikeg8375that is absolutely true. Eastern bloc countries had a great deal of influence on scoring.

[@mikeg8375]

Part of me really wishes that the IOC should right this wrong, As unrealistic as it may be... But I never would have thought they would have gotten it right with 2000 team bronze, So I suppose anything is possible. I'd love to see it someday.

[@DudeEM]

Back in those days when the top floor exercise gymnasts were actual dancers rather than parkour people...I’m talking about the great Silivas.

[@saragrant9749]

Back when country of origin also determined scores.

[@slc2466]

Great answer from Silivas after the questionable All-Around result- wow!

[@saragrant9749]

For those who complain constantly about overscoring in the Olympics gymnastics today-- THIS IS WHAT OVERSCORING LOOKS LIKE!! People can quit the garbage about being overscored, at least it isn’t like this garbage where judges were blatantly biased and in the pockets of certain countries.

[@schill2002]

omg those vault scores. How times have changed

[@cecilianovais212]

Silivas was just perfect

[@saragrant9749]

On bars and beam in the individual finals, absolutely- but definitely not floor. In the AA finals, without carryover scores she’d have won.

[@leighcanoy9443]

Graceful Silivas!

[@punkrockstar]

Legends.

[@madtownbbbear]

Nice memory of NBC's incredibly awful and embarrassing coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. This was the worst television coverage in my opinion. Spent way too much time with interviews, athlete profiles, commentary and the camera lingering on non-competition footage when other routines were being contested they could have shown. And of course there were the numerous commercial breaks making it even worse. I was so happy they had that Triplecast for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. That was amazing to see hours and hours of competition without commercials and without national bias.

[@sherleybozieux]

Actually 1988 Olympics was cast on ABC not NBC

[@madtownbbbear]

@@sherleybozieux The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary were on ABC; The Summer Olympics in Seoul were on NBC. Do your homework because I know I am correct on this.

[@mikeg8375]

Mary Lou was an awesome athlete but she sucked as a commentator. She was awkwardly quiet at times which resulted in Bart talking more than he does normally to bail her out... Dick Enberg was a knowledgeable host but unfortunately said some really creepy things that made me cringe... Bart was always an awesome commentator but the dynamic with his two partners did not work...

[@johneescobar8652]

el duelo de duelos inolvidable

[@Lizzie-ve7kt]

Personally, I think Mills deserved silver on beam with Shoushounova being the one to tie for bronze. She often got over-scored by the eastern bloc judges.

[@saragrant9749]

Yup. Welcome to the Soviet and eastern bloc era of scoring.

[@lookitzmiikeyy]

Bar routines were so cool looking these times..as were all the apparatuses

[@imansyahkemalimanirzhan9941]

SILIVAS 3 GOLD EVENT ❤

[@andrada1270]

All the romanian gymnasts are queens. And Nadia is the best of the best.

[@patpat446]

Both Bulgarian girls deserved to be on the fx podium

[@ohhiitsjustme3445]

Bougunskaya!!! My all time fave! 😍

[@dennandrian9854]

Very strong shushunova.. iron girl from Soviet union

[@waldiradriano-jornalista7439]

Não tinha para ninguém! O duelo era só entre a romena e a russa.

[@Omundodemari]

Shushunova didn’t deserve 10 on bars.. sorry

[@josephmclaren5525]

Dont worry... Its true

[@billywaynecoakley]

@QPHashSS77 Totally agree with you. That Silivas compulsory floor routine is one of the most perfect pieces of gymnastics EVER.

[@chitownlokito]

She didn’t deserve the All around Gold.. it was Silivas

[@georgeyog331]

You never won the AA Mary Lou, it was a joke and you know it

[@JennaLeigh]

You know she'll never see this, right? Know what she CAN see? That gold AA medal.

[@saragrant9749]

She wasn’t the only one given scores that were questionable in those games- Szabo had errors that were overlooked as well. Just because your precious Romanian princess didn’t win doesn’t detract from the results. And where is Romania now? Oh yes, irrelevant!

[@06UH]

The scoring in bars other than silivas' routine was just messed up

[@Spitz212]

Svetlana The Best voult

[@cristinapaun4792]

Cea mai buna Daniela the Queen

[@user-qc9cx3mi1p]

全体を通して、女子体操の床の演技は大好きなんだけど 何回も見たくなるのは この年のシリバスさんの演技なんだよな

[@maxglendale7614]

Oh the irony, Bart Connor said that Kersten should not have gotten a "10" with her hop on the dismount; however, he received a "10" on the parallel bars in 1984 with an obvious feet slide on his dismount.

[@marwahussein666]

He's american, he can 😜

[@saragrant9749]

Many Eastern Bloc gymnasts were given blatantly overinflated scores throughout history, no one gripes about that. And before you say anything, I’ve seen his routine and it was far more subtle than Kersteb with a VERY VISIBLE HOP! The second an American gets a “gift” it’s a travesty. Talk about selfish bias.

[@rjpd8143]

Guuuurl that hair !!! 😂

[@nipaipo36100]

the scores were way too high at this time

[@anovemberstar]

How did Elena practically land on her head and still get 19.7???

[@Floatie114]

This scoring is ridiculous.

[@mmoran3]

Brandy Johnson vault was in the rafters. The height was crazy 🤗🤗🤗. She totally should have outscored Silivas on this event.

[@tylerbam7183]

@QPHashSS77 Silivas in no way deserved a vault medal. She even admitted it in her recent interview with David Lease. She basically said "the judges and everyone felt sorry for me after barely losing the AA at a major meet again, so I guess they just decided oh her you go, a bit of a gift for you- a vault medal." Johnson or Stoyanova deserved the bronze instead of her. And Dagmer Kersten 6th in vault finals, what the fuck, her vaulting is horrible.

[@mysticalmargaret6105]

Preliminary scores carried over in those days. Brandy's prelim scores weren't high enough to catch the top girls, unless they all made a mistake. It wasn't just Silivas, the judging was generous for all of the Soviet, Romanian and East German girls. Otherwise, Brandy likely would've been in the top 3 going into the Finals.

[@melissakerber8287]

@@tylerbam7183 I always wondered how it was that Dagmar Kersten was even in vault finals. The split legs in post flight was atrocious looking. I'm guessing the DDR leotard helped.

[@tylerbam7183]

And Shushunova 9.625 with a fall? That literally isn't possible, a fall is a .5 deduction so she couldn't have anything higher than a 9.5. Plus that first tumbling pass is a deduction but they deducted nothing for Silivas landing short on her first pass, so I guess I could overlook with the silly Seoul judging overall, but 9.625 with a fall is impossible.

[@getatoma6536]

Silivas , a fost foarte bună cu 7note de zece. A fost nedreptate, pentru ca a fost romanca.

[@alecsandraii2354]

SILIVAS e Schoushounova Duas Rainhas dessa edição . Boginskaya 👎 ficar em segundo , com esse solo grotesco , tirando as Bulgaras foi um erro !!

[@saragrant9749]

Sillivas winning floor was also not correct. She had a couple of noticeable errors too that were not accounted for.

[@etownshawn]

Judges handing out 10's like it's the Oprah Winfrey show haha

[@chitownlokito]

Funny how Mary Lou talks about taking steps when she took a lot of them and still won lol.. Zsabo should had won the all around.

[@melissakerber8287]

Szabo had a fall on her dismount off of the uneven bars in the team optionals, so her carry over score was a lower than she would have liked. She undoubtedly would have taken the gold in the AA if that hadn't been the case. Perhaps she would have taken a bronze in the bars final if she qualified.

[@tylerbam7183]

Silivas so overscored on vault. She even admitted in a recent interview her getting a vault medal was kind of a joke. I feel bad for whoever was 4th.

[@gk891]

That would be Borjana Stojanova. I thought both her and Brandy Johnson should've finished ahead of Silivas on that event.

[@saragrant9749]

And floor. Her landings on a couple of passes should have been deducted.

[@jamesbug2002]

im confused with the adjective that the older commentator used, he described potorac as a handsome gymnast with beautiful blue eyes..and yet potorac is a female...why use handsome? can someone please clarify?

[@kiersontitus7322]

Why does the vaulting springboard logo look like a behind?

[@mmoran3]

Lol. It was a marker for the gymnast to place thier feet.

[@mht4908]

I'm sorry, Dorte should've won a medal instead of Dagmar

[@MisterLooKass]

Silivas's bars had excellent form, perfect handstands and a solid landing... but her amplitude on the releases was so lacklustre compared to Thuemmler's. Given Thuemmler's knee form break and the tiny landing fault, I think a 9.95 would be suitable for both of them. I know people often go on about how Kersten's 10 was undeserved compared to Silivas, but I really think Silivas was overscored too in this instance. Only a year later we'd get Fan Di's incredible performance at Stuttgart, and look at those releases against Silivas'

[@reneepeters3045]

The scoring was absurd and stupid. Shushonova fell on her butt on floor and I expected at least 2 judges to throw out a 10 at that point. The 10’s awarded to some of these routines was absolute insanity

[@mirelawohs1636]

Some of the gymnasts who peformed are not here

[@opus1009]

14:55 この頃にリンチを実施していたのでしょうか？ 凄いですね！

[@nj1624]

WOW they were just giving away 10's up in the 80's...... a skip here, a hop there, a slide everywhere and still gave a 10???? These judges clearly had their favorites..... and they the judges obviously cheated on brilliant gymnasts.... Phoebe Mills deserved a silver not a bronze.

[@Albuddy1867]

Yes i m wondering the same question. It was easy to have 10 in 1984 1988

[@westonhardy2404]

What’s wrong with them ? Such a bad editing of not showing Boginskaya Silver performance .😂

[@tfelling3230]

Weird scoring. Don't stick the landing... 10 0? Weird

[@saragrant9749]

Welcome to eastern bloc scoring.

[@IoanaHaitchi]

The real winner in 1984 was Ecaterina Szabo, that s for sure!

[@saragrant9749]

She FELL on optional bars. That doesn’t win you an AA gold, get over it.

[@andrada2225]

​@@saragrant9749 so don't say that Comaneci deserves the gold over Davydova 😅

[@saragrant9749]

@@andrada2225 I never did. Comaneci was given some of her 10’s in 1976- on routines that didn’t have a stuck dismount! That is the definition of NOT a perfect 10.

[@lauragatehouse7935]

I same judging . Giving out 10’s like they’re going out of fashion. Scoring system much better now.

[@lauragatehouse7935]

*insane

[@gaelgarciabernal2434]

For all of those complaining about the scoring at these Olympics: 1. There were two 10s awarded in event finals. 2. Why not give Dagmar Kersten a 10 for her stellar bars routine if Phoebe Mills got a 9.95 for her ordinary routine with a step? 3. Personally, I wanted Boriana Stoyanova from Bulgaria to medal on vault, as opposed to Daniela Silivas. However, her coaches had her compete a vault w/a 9.9 start value!?! Those complaining probably applauded Simone Biles winning an AA world championship with 3 falls and Shawn Johnson becoming Olympic champion on beam! Lovely scoring system!

[@saragrant9749]

What part of Dagmar taking a hop on landing eludes you? A hop should have resulted in no more than a 9.95, the same as Phoebe. Stellar or not an error is an error! And yes, the judging WAS biased in a big way towards the Eastern European countries- anyone with actual eyeballs could see that. You want to complain about Phoebe on bars? How about Sillivas having multiple landing deductions on floor that were completely ignored! How about Shushunova having multiple checks on beam that were ignored!

[@ajibumiserpongdamai1519]

Elena Couchounova .. Floor .. hmm ... i think 9.000 Is better

[@randomedits7325]

this is stick ur landing and u get a medal😭😭

[@objetivista686]

Embarassing Kersten's 10...

[@tracychandronnet7218]

The choreographer for Pheobes floor is horrible. You can tell that she used similar baby moves for other gymnasts, all the way up to the 96 Olympics. Always Karolyi girls. Moceanu in 96, Kim Zemeskal, on and on. Hated those routines.

[@em_mkay]

Nadia Comaneci’s wack acid trip routine from 1978 is worse than all of those

[@claudialorenzagriffit4342]

Silivas the queen just los the gold in all around for Nelly kim Daniela was much better in the final voult and helena not deserve 10

[@patsheppard2616]

M

[@Nexoty]

Россия самая сильная держава ❤❤❤❤❤

[@mikeg8375]

Judging was so bad here...

[@christianaguilera1469]

The judging was suspect

[@chantaln6843]

The commentators voices are so irritating. I had to take the sound off 🔕

[@userka_irina]

Страшненькая какая. Силивас. И причёска её ещё больше уродует...что за причи тогда были..химоза на коротеньки..одуваны. А спортсменки тут все хороши. Как спортсменки, именно. Стабильно так выступают. Сейчас все больше нервные

[@ShannonLeeSD]

Mary Lou is adorable as gymnastics commentator!

[@tylerbam7183]

Silivas and Boginskaya were both so overscored in floor finals and both Bulgarians underscored.

[@cecilianovais212]

C'mon, Silivas' routine was perfect, she deserved the gold 🏅 But Bogi...I think didn't deserve the silver. Bulgarians deserved it more.

[@frankiedelgadoes]

@@cecilianovais212 you must be thinking of Silivas's compulsory routine or All around routine. Yes those were perfect. This was not, she landed way short on the first pass.

[@DouglasAtherton-fd2wr]

@@cecilianovais212 Silivas had a big error on her first pass and was deducted nothing, while in the team optionals she had the same error on a much harder first pass and got deducted way more (which I thought was too harsh then for the revolutionary skill she was doing, making her event finals score being so high with the same mistake, even more of a joke).

[@odenirvinhato]

Shoshonova is best!!!!!!

[@debraguerra887]

Was the best...sadly she passed away of pneumonia a few years ago

[@odenirvinhato]

@@debraguerra887 R.I.P. idol of giminastic

[@josephmclaren5525]

@@debraguerra887 Are you serious... That's just so tragic!

[@debraguerra887]

@@josephmclaren5525 it is tragic...i liked both of them...they each had their special qualities

[@josephmclaren5525]

@@debraguerra887 Yes, they all had their own style that suited them. Elena will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

[@vitorhugosantana7053]

Those Silivas’ vaults were terrible.

[@gk891]

They really were. I thought both Stoyanova and Johnson should've placed ahead of her.

[@debraguerra887]

It was known that vault was her weakest event...she even said it

[@richardross4677]

@@debraguerra887 And she got overscored grossly and constantly on it but since she was a classless bitch she took her undeserved medals on the piece anyway. A class act like Miller would have probably not even accepted the medals. I laugh at the fake media controversy of Nelli Kim's 9.8 for her 1st vault in the All Around when in reality that is the only score that was almost accurate. If it were an American or Bulgarian doing the vault, even her best, they woudl get a 9.4.

[@boyjoochristopher3838]

@@richardross4677 agree she said in a recent interview that she should have won the golden medal the audacity

[@romeo2282]

@@richardross4677 the hell is wrong with you? lmao, calling a gymnast a "classless bitch" for accepting the scores she got? maybe her scores were unfair, but she didn't score herself, not her fault.

[@imansyahkemalimanirzhan9941]

9.625 ...???? It doesn't funny anymore

[@enchantedella6495]

Silivas's vaults scores were such a joke in this EF. The judges were totally cheating for her and they didn't even try and hide it.

[@emiliansabau9825]

🤣😄🤣

[@mindrolling24]

God awful commentary. Much better with the sound off.