Mary Lou Retton 1984 Olympics AA Vaults
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2007
- Mary Lou Retton on her last event of the All Around competition at the 1984 Olympic Games. She needed a 10.00 to win the gold medal, and she did it twice. She scored a perfect 10 on both her vaults.
They took the best score of two vaults at the 84 Olympics. The two vaults were averaged at the 96 and '00 Olympics, but these days gymnasts only perform one vault during the all around competition.
I think that’s crazy, they should allow 2 vaults again.
@@writejules I agree if it's a second attempt for one. If it has to be two different vaults then no because that'll give gymnasts more work to do. It'll be harder on gymnasts that aren't good at vault too so two different vaults should be reserved for specialist.
I remember hearing that she didn't have to do the second one, but did it to prove she could do it again.
I’m a gymnast, and they actually DO allow 2 turns for vault: idk why you said this
I do too. I was maybe 11. But you knew it was special.
I was working behind the stage for The Children's Miracle Network & my students told her she was one of my idols. I'm sitting at a table eating & someone grabs me by the shoulders and says "I heard you are a fan?" My eyes fell out of my head & I almost choked on my food. Everyone laughed & with tears in my eyes I said "Yes ma'am! Thank you for saying hello." She gave me that golden smile & said: "Oh, It's my pleasure" and hugged me. ONE OF THE GREATEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE.
Praying for you Mary Lou! I gradutated 1984 and you were my hero that year!
Mine too!
I remember watching this back then -- she ran at that vault like it had insulted her mother. I've never seen anyone attack a piece of equipment like she would attack a vault. Brilliant athlete.
"like it had insulted her mother!" PERFECT! Go Mary Lou! Just love her! She stuck it all right, right to the Russians. Go America!
Mary Lou did attack the vault but nobody attacks it like Simone Biles did and even be able to stick it.
@@donnamarievalentine1156 The soviet union didn’t even compete at the 84 Olympics lol, otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the gold medal lmao
@@ojk46 exactly, they *didn’t* and she did, and got the gold. That’s too much energy to spend on “what ifs”
@@antwonnyy no one said otherwise, i was addressing the claim that she “stuck it to the russians”, which she did not do.
Love that she knew she won Gold and then decided to serve up another a perfect 10 for fun.
Love that smile, that face, and that personality. This was definitely one of the best Olympic performances of all time.
This and USA hockey beating Russia!
I don't think I've ever seen a woman get that kind of travel on a vault. Mary Lou was so amazing.
That woman was just crazy phenomenal!!!!
I actually said "whoa" when I saw how far away from the thing she was at 1:54
One who might compare would be Mckayla Maroney. Simona Amanar in her day was a real beast on vault, and so, of course is Simone Biles.
I admire her focus, to be able to nail a second vault after done that first one, with the audience going bonkers around the arena. She is all smiles and happy and then, as soon she salutes the judges for her second vault, there is no smiling really, you can see in her eyes that there is nothing outside her that can disturb her now, gives me the chills when you see people switch into performance mode like that, amazing!!!
You go Mary Lou!!!! Such an amazing American moment! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
... Retton just captivated people, like Věra Čáslavská, Olga Korbut, and Nadia Comăneci before her.
Mary Lou was so tiny but so strong and athletic, and had a huge smile. She was the prototype of the modern gymnast.
I remember watching this live! It was amazing.
One of the greatest clutch performances of all time. Nerves of steel.
When you're young and in perfect shape and you practice things like this for weeks with a good coach, things go from impossible to probable. All that hard work paid off for her and seeing everyone cheering for her is infectious.
She handled the pressure at such a young age as well too. She was just fun to watch and some how you just knew she was destined to be great!
I honestly met Mary Lou at one of MY gymnastics meets 2 years ago. Me and her daughter were competting against each other and we actually became like best friends, and she introduced me to her mom, MARY LOU RETTON!!! I was soo excited!! Love you Mary Lou!
....her daughter and I....
Mckenna Kelly? She’s my gymnastics coach now and she’s so nice and pretty
Just a little country girl from West Virginia. This is what makes America great. Its people.
So are you saying people from other countries are not... people?
SofiasAwesomeChannel
don't be dense; he's obviously not saying that. he said "its people" not it's people. the "its" is possessive, so he was saying the american people make america great.
WHAT about that implies that people from other nations aren't people...? ugh.
thanks Bella Karoly. Because he make American gymnast great ..and thanks education from Romania where Bella Karoly was educated. So not American people make America great ..
@@eliarosa2610 Bella Karoly defected to america in 1981. So yeah American people make America great ..
What American people? Natives, Mexicans? Or caucasians that can to this country from Europe ? I mean because not all it’s people are great, specially those racists and white supremacists
Mary lou is why I ever started watching Gymnastics in the first place. Yes, at first it was because she is so gorgeous but I now admire the skills.
her joy is contagious! i love how she jumps down to hug Bela who jumped over the barrier
This memory is one of my favorite top 10!
I feel like back then the equipment was terrible, hard floor, crooked and small beams, terrible springboards, unsturdy bars and it was so hard to get through an event without falling or getting hurt so it just made thes moments that much more crazy
The vault was super. But to this day, I'm enamored by her approach. Most gymnasts run like a gazelle toward the springboard. Mary Lou charged like a Formula 1 racing car. With purpose in her eyes, "I'm gonna nail this, and nothing's gonna stop me." Even Bela Karolyi, who I have utter disdain for, couldn't tear her down.
You are right to disdain Bela, but he never tried to tear her down. She wasn't with him long enough, that was his ticket to fame.
Why does her hop not count but Szabo's does? And her vault was less difficult.
Same with FX.
She does have a great run, but they don't judge it.
Not to mention the Russian team had more difficulty, less mistakes, DEPTH, 5 gymnasts would have to fall to give her a fair chance.
2 Soviets tied at World's for 1st place!!!!....where was the US? At World's?
2 DECADES later the 1st American won fairly, Carly Patterson deserves that recognition because she truly earned it.
The fact the Soviets placed 1st before 84 & continued to place 1st after 84 proves my point, Rhetton was just lucky there was a boycott...and if it wasn't in LA, Szabo won.
December Leigh - *Retton
Also, as it’s certainly possible MLR would’ve lost her gold to a Soviet had they been there, it’s also possible she still would’ve won. In sports, anyone can win on any given day. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in your past, it matters what you do in that moment. Who gets it done on the day that it matters. There’s also something to be said for being on home turf.
@@mena94x3 tainted olympics. also nadia comaneci was not present. but MLR did very good
Galimah - 🤨 I disagree.
First of all, Nadia _retired in 1981._ Saying Mary Lou Retton’s victory didn’t count because Nadia wasn’t there is like saying Michael Phelps’ first gold didn’t count because Tom Dolan wasn’t there. 🙄 Also, Nadia _wasn’t_ the defending Olympic champion. I realize you didn’t use the exact words ‘didn’t count,’ but it was certainly implied.
MLR defeated athletes from Soviet bloc countries and other boycotting countries in her victory at 1983’s Chunichi Cup. She’s the only American woman to have ever won that event. Ever. It’s a shame she didn’t compete in that year’s World Championship, due to injury.
She’s also the only woman to have won three American Cups in a row (1983-85). Jordyn Wieber is only only other woman to ever win 3, and they weren’t in a row.
MLR won two U.S. Gymnastics Federation American Classics (1983-84), and the All-Around title at both the 1984 National Championships and Olympic Trials.
As far as the AA competition at the ‘84 Olympics go, she _earned_ her victory.
*VAULT:*
*In Szabo’s first vault, her legs were scissored and apart in flight, feet apart on landing and shoulders down, nearly to her knees. Her second vault was worse, starting with a poorly placed block off the horse, same in-flight issues and an under-rotated landing, causing an awkward step forward.
*Retton’s first vault _deserved_ the 10 it received. The vault itself was more difficult. Her amplitude and distance were superior. Her legs were glued together in-flight and upon landing and her shoulders were up. She stuck it entirely. Her second vault was identical, except for being slightly over-rotated, resulting in a tiny hop backward (should’ve been a 9.95, but it didn’t matter because of the first score)
*FLOOR:*
~Retton performed a flawless double back layout (which no other competitor had in their routine) and _barely_ under-rotated her final tumbling pass, otherwise difficulty and execution were on par.
~Szabo’s first tumbling run was far more under-rotated, but aside from lacking MLR’s double back layout, was on par.
*BEAM:*
^I can’t find MLR’s AA beam routine, so it’s not a fair comparison, but going off of her routine from a different part of the competition, she only had 1 slight balance check, 2 back tucks, 1 front tuck and a nice variety of other skills. Her double back tuck dismount was superior (a true tuck, little to no leg separation, pointed toes and a stuck landing. Her consistency in these areas, especially during her AA performance leads me to assume that routine was similar).
^Szabo’s mount and 4 connected bhs’s were impressive. A superior overall routine, with the exception of the extreme leg separation and flexed feet during an identical dismount.
*BARS:*
•I haven’t sat down to compare the relative value of the skills, but Retton’s eponymous flip was unique to her alone at the time and her dismount was much cleaner (a tiny hop back, likely due to an extremely exuberant salute, vs. Szabo’s large step back). MLR’s knee hitch during her straddled Tkachev would be a deduction these days, but like it or not, it wasn’t back then. Szabo’s 1.5 twist on the low bar was impressive, but not unique . . . Overall Szabo had the more difficult routine, but Retton was cleaner. That large step back made all the difference.
Retton clearly, legitimately outperformed Szabo on the floor and vault, both in difficulty and execution.
Szabo’s beam and bar routines were more difficult - beam by a bigger margin than bar - but not by enough to make up for that big step back on the bar dismount. Retton’s precision and clean beam and bar dismounts kept her in the race with less impressive routines in those events. . . . all done on a knee that had undergone arthroscopic surgery only 6 weeks prior. 😳💪🏼
Could Mary Lou Retton have beaten the boycotted teams? Sure! She did in Japan the year before, so who’s to say she couldn’t again?
She was a firecracker. Extremely mentally and emotionally tough. The sort of competitor who rose to the occasion.
Obviously, as with any sport, past wins or traditions of dominance may help, but the only thing that truly counts is who gets it done on *that* day, in *that* moment.
You could be the 2x defending champion, coming into the championship undefeated, but if you don’t get it done on the day it matters, you don’t win. Your previous victories mean nothing other than having got you to that game/competition. The Soviet bloc had a tradition of success, Mary Lou Retton had beaten them the year before. It was anybody’s game. Nobody can definitively say she had no chance, had they come.
She won. She earned her gold medal. Haters gotta get over it.
Wow. He only reinvented the sport. Comaneci started challenging for the Romanian Nationals at age NINE. She became the best EVER. She is one of NINE Karolyi Olympic Champions. Then he came to the U.S and single handedly made the U.S. competitors, MLR becoming the first All Around Champion OUTSIDE EASTERN EUROPE (Beating Szabo, a Karolyi product). That 84 team was the first US Women's team to medal in international competition since 1948. It was the Karolyi six pack that kept US Gymnastics strong from the 91 worlds through the Magnificent 7 (Strug, Moceanu). Meanwhile Marta Karolyi has overseen the program achieve Soviet style dominance.
What an amazing moment in gymnastics. Still tugs at my heart when I see this.
I watched Mary Lou make those incredible vaults live. She was spectacular. Well deserved win!
I remember watching this on TV with my parents when I was a child. My father just stared and said "I didn't know the human body was capable of such feats." What an amazing performance--she's a machine.
I think it's just amazing that AFTER getting the 10 on her first vault, she chose to vault again! From what I understand about gymnastics(which isn't much, so correct me if I'm wrong) but it's the best score out of the 2 vaults, so she didn't HAVE to vault again, right? And she still did - and nailed it! Assuming I could ever do something as amazing as these gymnasts do, if I got a perfect score, I wouldn't want to try a 2nd time for fear of not getting a perfect again. What confidence she had!
At that time, it was best score out of two vaults in the all around, so she technically didn't need the second vault--but as the announcer said, she wanted to make the point that this was no fluke.
It brought tears to my eyes watching this again. She made us all so proud! I'm sure praying for her now!
Hells yeah... I remember seeing this when I was 8.
That SMILE though!!! Has always has been my female Olympic hero!!! Today I'm praying for total and complete healing for Mary Lou wherever she is in the hospital fighting for her life over the rare form of pneumonia!
I do believe that this performance put her on the Wheaties cereal box. I was just a kid but I remember this.
Get well Mary Lou....October 2023. We are all cheering for you to get well and you will be so proud of your children.
My fav gymnast !! I remember watching this! She was FIRE!!! Determined!! Love her and her AWWWWWWESOME coach!!! Simone is great. Love her as well💞 Personally, I like the past gymnasts...There's an element that is missing today....
I love this. What confidence on her part! And Bela gets so excited at these competitions. Gymnastics is truly beautiful to watch.
I never get tired of seeing this. You couldn't script a better story- she wasn't considered the top gymnast on the team heading into LA. Making a 10 when it was the only way to win made her one of the greats. Nailing it a second time when it didn't even count just made her badass.
Agree 100%. She was just fabulous. And she still seems like such a lovely, positive person - saw her interviewed the other day.
Im 12. I love gymnastics, I hope one day to be good as Mary Lou Retton she is truly a champion in my eyes and thousands of others!!
It never ceases to amaze me that there are people like you out there, tearing down the amazing achievements of dedicated, hard-working people who grabbed ultimate success. I think you should take a good look at yourself and make some changes in your life.
I remember watching this live in 1984
I do too it was exhilarating watching history
Just unconditional confidence on the sprint. She knew she was going to nail it. And she most certainly did. One of the greatest moments in American Sport's History.
Mary Lou Retton spoke great things about Simone. Mary Lou Retton was my favorite back in the day.
Gives me goosebumps! Wish I had been alive to witness this!
Ohhh...how I loved to watch Mary Lou Retton. She has been my favorite gymnast since the 80's. I haven't really watched gymnastics since her, until Gabby Douglas. I finally have a reason to watch gymnastics again.
+DARLENE GEYER That's sad, because they aren't even in the top 10 best gymnasts in the world.
Freaking hilarious how many self-proclaimed experts there are! If Mary Lou was 16 today and going through the same training, had the same rules, and same scoring system- she would still kick their butts and still be a sweetheart while doing it.
I get so many chills from this. How inspirational. I love her.
this is soooo 80s
lol yup
I've probably watched this video a thousand times on my old VHS. Still makes me smile and tear every time.
Man this still gives me chills 25 years later. I remember watching this as a little boy. I had seen the USA team at a Car Wash in Houston raising money to go to the Olympics. I was so excited to see the girls on TV a few weeks later. Ah memories!
Aww, she does suchc good gymnastics and she is a star and is PERFECT!!!
I had to work until late, so I made my family tape (videotape back then) the Olympics so I could see it. I remember this moment! Everyone deliberately did not watch her during the day so that we could all watch her together when I got home! The moment was electric, even over the TV.
I loved Mary Lou Retton so much this is her best vault ever!
I was 14 years old when I saw this! Mary Lou is still awesome :-)
very few sports have that ONE PERFECT MOMENT... but i saw this live when i was 8, and it was chilling... and then, to prove that it was no accident, she went and did it again... wow... she even got her face on a box of Wheaties...
Awesome - I have never been as happy for an Olympian as I was for Mary Lou Retton when she won the gold!
This moment makes me proud! I am crying, I was only four then. I love watching moments like these. My favorite Olympics is 1996 I believe it was in Atlanta. Then the one in Barcelona was good too.
Yep, 1996 games were in Atlanta. Too bad they were marred a bit by the Centennial Park bombing after which an innocent man was wrongly implicated. The Barcelona games In ‘92 were very good also.
I remember the '92 Barcelona games as I was living in the hometown of Shannon Miller. Remember when she returned home, the town had a parade for her. Made sure I was there. How often in life are you going to be able to be at a coming home parade for an Olympian?
Praying for her to get well. I’ll never forget watching this in 1984. She’s always been a hero of mine even though I’m Canadian. Get well, Mary Lou, you’re loved. I’m praying for you.
❤️
I was only 3 at the time, but I remember her. She was my idol. Nowadays the girls rarely smile or even move like she did. Maybe it's more technically difficult these days, but she was still fast, powerful, and could stick her landings like no one else.
I've probably watched this vault a thousand times. This still makes me smile from ear to ear on my old VHS tapes..
Having my modest victories in karate a while ago, I cry on such videos...
When the Olympics were GREAT! I hope we have the will to bring America back to greatness. It was great in the 80s!❤
Best Olympic moment in history along with the US Hockey team win!
When life is really getting me down I watch "Miracle" - even though I know the ending I literally am on the edge of my seat screaming! I grew up with 3 brothers, my oldest brother 7 years older and when I was like 10 he would take slap shots on me in the driveway (he used a tennis ball, ha ha) and would announce the whole Ranger game! I had my softball mitt and the big hockey goalie mitt. Years later my older daughter playing catcher I yelled out "play like JC (Jimmy Craig) and one dad who was still playing hockey got it and talked to me, ha! Love our USA 1980 men's hockey team! Love MLR too!
August 3, 2024, 40 years today. It was one of the great United States Olympic moments. Mary Lou was incredible.
Nadia had some errors in her perfect 10s too. But scores rise throughout the competition, so if the judges start too high, they have to keep increasing to reward routines that were better than previous ones
kmburkezoo in the judging world, it’s called contest dynamics! Either you are a judge, or you are a very intuitive person!
She performs a laid-out, full-twisting Tsukahara, which is a half twist onto the horse followed by a backward full twist off the horse.
Mary Lou's Amazing and her smile's so cute💕she look very nice
I remember that performance, I was only 6 years old. I was watching the gym at t.v. and I were very touched by this gymnast. Thank you for sharing this great moment XD
I don't know anything about gymnastics, but even I can tell that jump was a thing of beauty.
I had to work from very early in the morning until late at night, so my family would tape the gymnastics and wait to watch it with me when we got home. This was so exciting to see! What a sport she was to make that second vault after the drama of winning the gold. I remember that Bela Karolyi teased her, "Go do a third one!"
Same thing for me too. I still get tears in my eyes watching this again all these years later. Just absolutely amazing!
What I love is that as soon as Mary Lou stuck her landing she stood straight up and did her "finished" pose, and she did it with such confidence. While last night's gymnastics was very exciting, the girls rareely stuck their landing and when they did they paused with their knees still bent thinking, "Am I balanced? Do I need to hop? Or step? No? Alright, do the 'finished' pose!" Good job to USA last night, though! Way to take Gold & Silver! Mary Lou rocks!!
Fantastic; one of my favourite moments in gymnastics and in sport. Her joy was palpable and infectious:) You couldnt help but share it:) Phenomenal performance:)
Still my Gymnastics Idol and will be FOREVER!! Of course, can't forget that Red Corvette and the "...double double cheese cheese burger burger please?!" commercial!!! Still MY G.O.A.T.!!! ❌⭕💯%
I’m two years older than MLR and watched this very event live on TV. A couple months later I was there at the WVU homecoming game in ‘84 when the local Morgantown Chevy dealer awarded her that car during halftime. She was 16 but hadn’t had time to get her drivers license yet! Oh and I got to meet her that weekend!! Turns out my girlfriend’s roommate was from fairmont and went to high school with MLR prior to her moving to Houston to train full time at the Ranch. Maggie was her math tutor and MLR stopped by the dorm to say hi to Maggie. And guess who was hanging out in that room at that very moment? ME. She marched right in and the energy in there changed instantly. She was tiny and solid and adorable and so damn muscular. Wow
I remember watching this when I was 11 years old. I was so happy that Mary Lou did so good. I was jumping up and down.
Well said. How can you watch this and have anything but admiration for this young lady? No matter where you're from!
*Praying that you get well soon champ* 🏆🙏
I remember the moment. I was glued to the olympics that year and to women's gymnastics. That was such a great moment for her.
One of my favorite to watch. I was 6 years younger than her and I tried to follow in her footsteps but they were way better than mine. She brought home the gold and by the end of the week she on the coveted cereal box.
Mary Lou become the instant love of every American who watched her here; she had this amazing emotional abandonment that is so rare in gymnastics, and it was glorious to see!!! When she landed that perfect vault and jumped up and down with joy, you just couldn't help but fall madly in love with her! Amazing.
I love watching gymnastics! Thanks Buck!!
Great moment-time really flies...
I was in the fourth grade. She was my hero. I'll never forget it.
The women did two vaults each in the finals this year...and US landed on our feet...not our knees. Great video!!
Remains for me the most exciting moment in Olympic history- I remember being riveted to the t.v. in '84 and I still get goosebumps when I see it now! Not on this video but her dismounts from the bars were true poetry in motion...
isnt it amazing the change that gymnastics has gone through in the past 30 years. its just iincredible!
I didn't see it listed anywhere here so for some of the younger Mary Lou fans this was dubbed "The Vault Without Fault". Perhaps other American women have scored perfect 10's but Mary Lou Retton was the first to do it and she has been featured on the iconic Wheaties cereal box 3 times and that is an accomplishment. Thank you Ms. Retton for just being you. Hope you recover quickly.
Rising to the occasion at it's best.
OH MY GOSH!! I'M LIKE THE CROWDl! SHE WAS PERFECT!! GOSH I LOVE MARY LOU!!!! 😍😍😍
Nailing the first was champion. Choosing to do the 2nd one & nailing it was SAVAGE!
Just like my mother; she did it twice just to make sure everyone knew. I'm 50 and I will never forget this.
I was 16 and just riveted to the gymnastic competition. It was such an amazing moment. A year or two later I met Mary Lou and Bella Karolyi at a book signing. Both were very nice and of course I don't think Mary Lou's beautiful smile left her face the whole time.
One Of The Best Moments In All Of Sports!
She also need a 10 on the floor and got it before this one. She was down by 0.15 with the vault and floor left.
Mary Lou may have lacked in flexibility, but compare the form of both Retton and Szabo on their double backs for instance. Retton's looked much better. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but I still think Mary Lou deserved the gold.
I still get tears when I watch this.
what made it soo good is that she did it a second time to try her luck and she did it! shes a gymnastics boss!
HO IN WOLD SOMEONE COULD DO THIS THIS IS A FABULUS SHOW AND A BUITIFUL TALENT !!!!!!
Make America like this again!
RedElephantStampede lol
Only reason Mary Lou won anything is because the communist countries blocked the Olympics in 1984.
LOL, you mean have the Soviets boycott? Disappear? Not be contenders?
2 DECADES later Carly Patterson won the title of 1st American to win a Gold AA.
The Soviets won before & after 84....for decades.
Rhetton didn't win, she got lucky!
And the US won't have that luck again to make it "great", LOL.
Politics don't belong in sports.
@@ylekiote99999 True. But it was the totally dominant Soviet team she couldn't beat.
She couldn't beat Szabo if the Judges were fair.
I dont know what you are talking about, American women have won the all around just like this in the last 3 Olympics, along with the team gold in the last 2, and a whole host of other medals including gold. Take your political bulshit elsewhere at least until you know what the hell you're talking about.
It may not be today's vaulting, but that was so powerful. To keep your body SO tight, together and straight as a pencil as Cathy would say.....talk about difficulty. Marylou IS a 10. Always!!
I remember watching this she was just awesome!
beautiful!!! made me cry all over again....these gymnasts train harder than anybody!! even knowing the outcome i was still saying within myself come on Mary Lou you can do it!!!
Her 1984 Tsukahara was beautiful. One of the most beautiful vaults I’ve ever seen
she was amazing....an amazing gymnast....I miss the perfect 10!
I too remember wTching this. INCREDIBLE