From October 15-19, 1967, Mexico City held the Third Pre-Olympic Gymnastics Meet. It was part of the Little Olympics. (Nowadays, we’d call it the Olympics Test Event.)
Almost all the stars of gymnastics competed. The most notable exceptions: Věra Čáslavská and Mikhail Voronin.
Let’s take a look at what transpired in Mexico one year before the actual Games.
As gym nerds, we’ve heard the story about the 1968 floor exercise final. It goes something like this: “Soviet Larisa Petrik’s preliminary scores were mysteriously upgraded, enabling her to tie Věra Čáslavská for the gold medal on floor.”
Well, the story is more complicated, and the sinister undertones aren’t true. The judging scandal is a myth. Plain and simple.
Let’s take a look at what happened by looking at primary resources from the time.
In early April, Artur Dalaloyan tore his Achilles. In July, he competed and helped his team win an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
It’s a jaw-dropping story, but it’s not the only jaw-dropping Achilles story in Olympic gymnastics history.
This post throws off the chronological order of this website. I know, it bothers me, too.
Nevertheless, I feel like it’s important to document the floor music of this year’s Olympics. FX music tells us a lot about the general cultural zeitgeist in the world, as well as what is (and isn’t) allowed by the FIG.
Even before the U.S. selected its teams for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, American politicians were concerned about the nation’s performance.
After the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Senator Humphrey of Minnesota wanted to create a “White House Commission of Sports.”
Why? Because the Soviets were kicking our asses, and it was not a good look for the United States because Americans were winners.
He didn’t actually say that. Here’s what he did say:
If you’re reading this site, you’re. a gym nerd at heart. Now, it’s time to see just how much of a gym nerd you are. Take the quiz below to find out.
A quick recap: At the 1964 Olympics, Endo Yukio won the all-around competition after a questionable pommel horse routine. He had 3 major breaks during his routine. Yet, he received a 9.10, and gymnastics fans were outraged about the overscoring.
From the women’s competition at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, we head to the men’s competition.
Spoiler alert: Once again, there was a big judging controversy that sparked debate about abandoning the 10.0.
In preparation for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, let’s look back at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, starting with the women’s competition.