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
Given that Los Angeles is the heart of American cinema, it makes sense. There were songs from movies like Night Shift, Indiana Jones, Rocky, and James Bond.
Another theme: Americana.
In addition to the emphasis on American TV and films, there were plenty of other American moments — from Szabo’s routine to “Hooked on America” to Wu’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” to Bileck’s “Rodeo” montage. (Rodeo is a ballet composed by American composer Aaron Copland.)
Ecaterina Szabo, Romania, gold medallist (Photo by S&G/PA Images via Getty Images)
Just as there was a lot of flamenco music during an Olympics held in Spain, there was a fair amount of U.S. music, particularly from the American gymnasts and the Romanian gymnasts.
Another Big Trend: Songs from movie soundtracks.
The French team pulled from recent movies like The Mask and Basic Instinct. But there were songs from older movies, including Galieva’s Charlie Chaplin tribute and Marinescu’s music from the Italian film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.
UNITED STATES – JULY 29: KUNSTTURNEN: BODEN/Frauen ATLANTA 1996 29.7.96, Lilia PODKPPAYEVA/UKR GOLD – MEDAILLE (Photo by Mark Sandten/Bongarts/Getty Images)
The big trend in floor music in 1992: Flamenco, flamenco, and more flamenco.
For decades, flamenco music has been a constant during women’s floor exercise, but the trend perhaps hit its crescendo during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. (You can read a little about the politics of flamenco at the bottom of the page.)
Yello: In 2021, Billie Eilish was the big contemporary music sensation during floor routines. In 1992, it was Yello.
Throwbacks from 40ish years prior: The nostalgia machine is always alive during floor exercise, trying to target audience members and judges in their 40s and 50s and beyond. In 1992, it emerged in pieces like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “An American in Paris Ballet.”
BARCELONA – AUGUST 1: Henrietta Onodi of Hungary competes in the Floor Exercise on August 1, 1992 during the Women’s Gymnastics competition of the 1992 Summer Olympics held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
As far as FIG events are concerned, women’s individual floor exercise was first introduced at the 1950 World Championships, but at the time, gymnasts did not use floor music. In fact, at the 1950 FIG Congress, the delegates had to decide if gymnasts should perform to music at the 1952 Olympics, and they voted against it (eight votes to three).
It wasn’t until 1958 that music was introduced for individual floor routines, both compulsory and optional.
Below, you’ll find recordings of the music for the compulsory routines from 1958 until 1996. For some of you, the music will bring back fond memories. For others, it’ll bring back nightmares. But hopefully, you’ll find a piece you enjoy listening to.
19 Sep 1988: Phoebe Mills does her floor exercise during the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Mandatory Credit: Billy Strickland /Allsport
What were the 1968 Olympics like from the perspective of a Women’s Technical Committee member? Well, the Vice President, Valerie Nagy of Hungary, wrote an article for Olympische Turnkunst, in which she summarized her views.
Not surprisingly, she pointed out that there was some “clever teamwork” among the judges.
Male gymnasts have always competed on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar, right?
Wrong.
Male gymnasts had quite the journey to today’s competitive format. Here’s a look at events in which the men competed in the early years of the Olympic Games and World Championships.
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.
Before Nadia Comăneci’s and Nellie Kim’s perfect 10s at the 1976 Olympic Games, there was a long line of gymnasts who obtained perfect scores at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, or the European Championships. (Originally, the World Championships were called the International Tournament.)
Some of them even managed perfect totals, meaning that they received the maximum score for their compulsory and optional routines combined.
So, here’s a chronological list of the gymnasts who were “perfect” before Comăneci and Kim.
Kunstturn-WM in Basel 1950: Barren-Sieger Hans Eugster (Photo by RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
