Gymnastics's G.O.A.T.: Nadia Comaneci, Simone Biles, and More
Gymnastics requires strength Athletes can’t complete skills without it STICK THE LANDING Great gymnasts have competed against one another for years in the Olympic Games and World Championships Yet choosing which athlete is the greatest of all time G.O.A.T. is not a simple task 4
SVETLANA KHORKINA claimed the gold medal on the uneven bars at the 1995 and 2003 World Championships SAWAO KATO helped his team win the all-around title by 0 4 of a point NADIA COMANECI earned seven perfect scores at the 1976 Olympics SIMONE BILES has four elements named after her including a floor exercise move that has the highest difficulty rating in women’s gymnastics That’s partly because scores changed after the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Greece Before those Games a 10 was a perfect score The new system is based on two different scores One score rates the difficulty of a routine The other score rates how well the gymnast performs Before 1991 World Championships were held every four years Since then the events have taken place every two years except for Olympic years So modern gymnasts have more chances to earn medals FACTS AT A GLANCE 5 5
Both men and women do floor and vault routines And they both compete for team and individual all-around medals But they also have different events Women compete on the uneven bars and the balance beam Men perform on the pommel horse the rings the parallel bars and the horizontal bar The best gymnasts of all time have a few things in common They have usually won an all-around gold medal in the Olympics They are in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame or are headed there They have more medals than most other gymnasts have And they often have gymnastics moves named after them Athletes have been raising the bar on the balance beam since it became part of the Olympics in 1952 6 6
You may not be familiar with some of the names in this book But it’s impossible to tell the history of gymnastics without them You might disagree with the rankings Or you may feel that someone important has been left out Your friends will have their own G.O.A.T. opinions Disagreeing is part of the fun Forming your own opinions about some of the world’s top gymnasts is what this book is all about Gymnasts perform tough moves on the rings while trying to keep them still 7
