Can’t match dizzying days of Comaneci, Strug
claimed his barbs induced eating disorders and amounted to emotional abuse.
But Karolyi’s tyrannical style was creating champions. More importantly, American champions. After defecting in 1981, he and Martha set up camp near Huntsville, Tex. They were credited with the triumph of the Magnificent Seven in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, made particularly memorable by the heroic performance of Kerri Strug.
It was one of the most memorable moments from the glory days. Strug landed the vault on a sprained ankle, saluting the judges in the moment before she col- lapsed.
Karolyi carried her to the podium where she stood arms thrown wide to collect her gold.
Ironically, it was an enormous controversy in male gymnastics that killed off the perfect 10.
Paul Hamm, America’s most successful male gymnast ever, kicked off the storm at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. He went into the competition as the sure favorite.
But coming off the vault, his landing went spectacularly, almost comically wrong. Hamm lurched left right onto the judges table. There was no coming back after that.
Some thought his score didn’t quite reflect the magnitude of his error, but it was of no mind. The all-round title was now out of reach. Yet after his third event, Hamm was in first place, slightly ahead of two South Korean gymnasts. Everyone was shocked when he captured the gold, but no one was more shocked than Hamm. “No, no, no,” he protested on being told, shaking his head in disbelief.
In the aftermath, three judges were suspended for a judging error and the title was contested all the way to the Court of Arbitration, whereit wasupheld.
But the taint cost Hamm his pic- ture on the Wheaties box and proved the break point for perfect 10 scoring.
The Code of Points, instituted in 2006, divides the judging between two panels. One scores for execution, the other for difficulty. The two scores are then added together.
The new system rewards extreme skills, placing no limits on what a gymnast can ultimately achieve by adding in ever more difficult feats. Many, including Meyers, claim that gymnastics has entered a new golden era.
But she gives voice to its many critics. It’s generally agreed in this daring new era, the fans have trouble grasping what’s happening before their eyes.
Meticulous performance is a thing of the past. The achievements are often technical and sometimes infinitesimal. If Biles adds an extra twist to her dismount from the balance beam will fans know to erupt in cheers?
What’s missing, they say, is the perfect 10. The fans understood it, they thrilled to it, they leapt to their feet and cheered for it.
But unless some iteration of it is finessedinto thenew code, assome hope, its glory will sadly be confined to college gymnastics and “DancingWith the Stars.”