IG looks back at the 1988 Olympics

1988 Olympics
Sept. 17- Oct. 2
Seoul, Korea

The first fully attended Olympics since 1976, the '88 Games in Seoul, South Korea were anxiously awaited by gymnastics fans, and they certainly weren't disappointed by the red-hot competition.


MEN'S TEAM



There were two kinds of teams in Seoul, the Soviets and everyone else. The men from the USSR dominated the competition from start to finish. It wasn't a question of if they'd win, but by how much. How good were the Soviet men? Their alternate, Valentin Mogilny, was a legit contender for all-around gold.

After compulsories -- where eventual all-around champ Vladimir Artemov earned the first-ever mens' Olympic compulsory perfect 10.0 on parallel bars -- the Soviets had nearly a five point lead, and their optionals were even better. There, Vladimir Gogoladaze nailed the first Olympic triple back on floor. All told, the Soviets would earn seven 10.0s in 36 optional sets. Their team total (593.35) was a record.

The Soviets set the standard, but there were other teams in Seoul. East Germany was second with newcomer Andreas Wecker ('96 Olympic high bar champion) and Japan earned third behind the performances of two teenage sensations, Yukio Iketani ('92 floor silver) and Daisuke Nishikawa.

The biggest news in the team competition didn't even effect the team results. Two-time world champion and all-around favorite Dmitri Bilozerchev knocked himself out of the overall hunt with a freak error on his final event. A miscued series of one-arm giants on high bar ended in tragedy (and a few sore ribs) when he came crashing down on the bar after losing his balance. At the time, team scores carried over to the all-around and Bilozerchev had just opened the door for talented teammates Valery Liukin, the reigning European champ, and Artemov. ("New Life" would become the norm in 1989.)

Medalists ...
1. Soviet Union (593.35)
2. East Germany (588.45)
3. Japan (585.60)




WOMEN'S TEAM

The Romanians entered Seoul as the reigning world and Olympic champions. They had upset the Soviets in Rotterdam the year before and benefited from the boycott in '84. Both teams came to Seoul looking for gold.

The USSR would find it. Incredibly, the Soviet coaches sidelined '85 co-world champ Oksana Omelianchik, relegating her to the alternate position, perhaps to demonstrate their team's amazing depth. The Soviets were so secure that not even the last minute loss of Olga Strazheva (injured on beam) could stop them.

The Romanians, on the other hand, were at a disadvantage without world champion Aurelia Dobre. Dobre competed in Seoul, but was a shadow of her former self (her skill level having been drastically affected by recent knee surgery). The Romanian women were led instead by Daniela Silivas, the reigning European champion.

But not even Silivas, one of the '80s greatest gymnasts, was no match for the Soviets. The USSR jumped to an early led and continued leaping past the field with ten after ten. Romania held on (and kept it competitive) for silver, but the real battle was for bronze.

Little was expected of the U.S. women's team sent to Seoul. There was no Mary Lou on the untested squad, but they performed brilliantly and, seemingly out of nowhere, became a medal threat. They finished the meet in fourth, three tenths away from bronze medalists East Germany.

It was the most controversial finish of the Games. In compulsories, the U.S. women had been hit with a five tenth penalty for an obscure rule violation. (The team alternate, Rhonda Faehn, had remained on the podium -- a violation of the rules -- after assisting Kelli Garrison with her beat board. At the time, Faehn had no idea this was not allowed.) The penalty was assessed by Ellen Berger, the president of the women's technical committee who also just happened to be from -- you guessed it -- East Germany.

While much was made of the controversial U.S. finish behind the East Germans, many gymnastics experts would contend that neither squad deserved the bronze. Bulgaria did.

The fifth place Bulgarian women, relegated to earlier sessions and lower scores, were brilliant. Led by Diana Dudeva, Boriana Stoyanova and Daniela Vodnitcharova, they had six of the most innovative, artistic and powerfully tumbled floor exercises of the Games.

Medalists ...
1. Soviet Union (395.475)
2. Romania (394.125)
3. East Germany (390.875)


MEN'S ALL-AROUND

Before the meet even began the medalists were almost assured. Soviets Vladimir Artemov, Valery Liukin and Dmitri Bilozerchev were set to sweep. The only question was: In what order?

Actually, the Soviets could probably have went 1-6 if the rules allowed. (Only three per country may compete in the all-around finals.) Sergei Kharkov, then just 17, was ranked an impressive fourth after the team competition and yet couldn't even take part. (He would later earn the floor gold.) Teammates Vladimir Gogoladaze and Vladimir Novikov were 6th and 11th, respectively, leaving IG writer Brian Cazeneuve to wonder: "Could the Soviet Nationals produce a finer 36 than the Olympic final? Likely so."

Artemov entered the competition with a .05 lead over Liukin (Remember: team scores carried over) and Bilozerchev, with his disastrous high bar set, was, by comparison, a massive .25 back.

Artemov and Liukin were in the same rotation and battled head-to-head with brilliant performances. Artemov, consistent and supple, and Liukin, exciting and outrageous, traded off the lead and kept the crowd guessing until the final event: floor. There Liukin faltered, failing to fulfill the two second balance requirement. (Oddly, he couldn't hold on to his Y-scale.) Artemov now needed only a 9.9 to win, and he got it.

"Of course I'm very happy," Artemov told the press after his win. "I've been preparing for this for a long time." Later, after he'd left the Soviet Union, Artemov would contend that head coach Leonid Arkayev was unhappy with his win, favoring rivals Liukin and Bilozerchev.

And what of Bilozerchev? At 16, this handsome talent had been the 1983 world champion but was denied his Olympics in '84. Then, in 1985, a tragic car accident almost cost him his leg. (Tests indicated alcohol was a factor.) Amazingly, Bilozerchev would battle back to regain his world title in 1987, but Olympic all-around gold would never be his.

In Seoul, Bilozerchev amassed the highest-ever all-around total (59.75). He scored nothing less than a 9.9 and ended his meet with three perfect 10.0s. It still wasn't enough.

Medalists ...
1. Vladimir Artemov (URS) 119.125
2. Valery Liukin (URS) 19.025
3. Dmitri Bilozerchev (URS) 118.975


WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND

It was a classic match-up. Powerful, serious Yelena Shushunova, the '85 co-world champ, was pitted against pixieish, emotional Daniela Silivas. Soviet versus Romanian. A scriptwriter could not have set a better scene than that showdown in Seoul.

They entered the meet separated by just .05, with Shushunova holding the narrow lead. They were in the same rotation and the leader, Shushunova, would be the meet's last competitor on vault. It's only fitting that it came down to that score.

Out of the box, Silivas leaped to a lead with her sprightly bars performance, earning her (what else?) a perfect 10.0. Shushunova outscored her rival on beam, but still trailed by .025 as they headed to floor. There, both clinched 10.0s with watered down routines. (Silivas nixed her double-double and Shushunova left out a whipback in the first pass.) There was no room for silly mistakes.

And so, of course, it came down to the last, and least forgiving, event -- vault. History would indicate Shushunova, a gymnast known for her expressiveness, would have the advantage but Silivas did have the lead and, since she performed prior to Shushunova, could clinch the gold with a 10.0.

Performing a Yurchenko-full, Silivas stuck her first attempt, a leg separation her only questionable deduction. What did the judges see? Three saw perfection, handing her a 10.0, two others a 9.9 and, suspiciously, Nelli Kim of the Soviet Union offered only a 9.8. Silivas would settle for the 9.95. Shushunova needed perfection for the win, and she got it.

"After my last vault, I thought maybe I should be the champion," Silivas said, shortly after the meet. It would never happen. Silivas would retire in 1989, perhaps the greatest gymnast of her time never to win a world or Olympic all-around title. Though she would go on to event finals and win three golds, this Olympics would, for Silivas, be mostly about disappointment.

The bronze medal went to little known beauty Svetlana Boginskaya, who also earned an individual vault gold. Boginskaya, who would reign supreme as world champ the following year, said later that these Games meant little to her because she felt unready for them. A few days after she returned home to the Soviet Union, her beloved coach, Lyubov Miramanova, hung herself. Miramanova's death haunted Boginskaya throughout her career, which included two more Olympic appearances.

American Brandy Johnson, 15, finished an impressive tenth in the all-around, but it was Pheobe Mills who would become the U.S. darling with her beam bronze. An American first in a fully-attended Games.

Medalists ...
1. Yelena Shushunova (URS) 79.662
2. Daniela Silivas (ROM) 79.637
3. Svetlana Boginskaya (URS) 79.400