In Sydney, the floor music included songs from The Rock, Addams Family Values, The Mummy, and The Truman Show, among others.
A small surprise: In 1984, 1992, and 1996, several floor routines featured music associated with the host country. In 2000, that trend was not as pervasive. Of course, there were exceptions — like McIntosh’s use of “Waltzing Matilda” or Slater’s use of “I Still Call Australia Home,” which was contentious, by the way. (More on that below.)
25 Sep 2000: Elena Zamolodtchikova of Russia (centre) wins Gold, Svetlana Khorkina of Russia (right) wins Silver and Simona Amanar of Romania (left) wins Bronze in the Womens Floor Exercise Final at the Sydney Superdome on Day Ten of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport
During the women’s all-around at the Sydney Olympics, the vault was set 5 cm too low. Multiple gymnasts vaulted on a horse set at 120 cm when it should have been set at 125 cm. As a result, several gymnasts fell, including the favorite for the all-around title, Svetlana Khorkina.
During the third rotation’s warmup, Allana Slater insisted that something was wrong, and eventually, the vault was raised to the correct height (125 cm). After the competition, Kym Dowdell, the competition manager, issued a statement:
“Unfortunately, equipment personnel failed to set the vault at the appropriate height.”
Qtd in. International Gymnast, November 2000
But how? How do equipment personnel fail to set the vault correctly?
That’s the question that the gymnastics community has been asking for over two decades.
Well, I have a hypothesis. It has to do with the apparatus norms that were printed in 2000.
17 Sep 2000: Annika Reeder of Great Britain in action on the vault during the Women’s Gymnastics Qualification at the Sydney Superdome on Day Two of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. \ Mandatory Credit: Billy Stickland /Allsport
Note: Reeder was injured on her vault landing during the all-around final.
