Notice: This text has a Half II which could be discovered right here.
One of many nice traditions in non-Olympic sports activities is the idea of sports activities groups retiring the numbers of athletes who had iconic careers. It’s a gesture of respect indicating that the athlete who wore that quantity left such an enduring impression, their legacy can by no means get replaced. Thus, the quantity they wore belongs to her or him eternally. The omission of that quantity in future competitors serves as reminder to an athlete of previous greatness that may by no means be forgotten.
Gymnastics doesn’t have this idea as a result of jersey numbers aren’t a factor in gymnastics. Though I’d argue gymnastics has one thing even higher, the idea of an eponymous ability the place gymnasts can have their identify entered into the Code of Factors. This system even permits gymnasts who by no means made it to the Olympics to have their identify repeated by commentators in the midst of an Olympic Video games even many years after they retired.
Particular person gymnasts are not often related to only a single quantity, largely as a result of it’s uncommon for a gymnast to be assigned the identical bib quantity twice. However there are a few events the place a gymnast achieved a efficiency that was so iconic, the bib quantity she wore together with it turned eternally linked together with her identify.
Elena Mukhina: 165
Despite the fact that she handed away in 2006 and by no means turned an Olympian, there continues to be a large on-line group devoted solely to remembering the profession of Elena Mukhina. As a result of her lifestory is so highly effective, Mukhina has that impression on individuals. The Mukhina fandom continues to carry “165” in excessive regard particularly as a result of that quantity is intertwined together with her athletic success.
Elena Mukhina is the one athlete in ladies’s inventive gymnastics (WAG) historical past to win an All-Round title in a non-boycotted competitors on the World Championships and/or Olympic degree (Group-1 Degree), and solely have one profession look at mentioned degree. Whereas each different WAG icon has worn a number of bib numbers all through her profession, within the case of Mukhina the bib she wore on the 1978 World Championships is the uncommon instance of single bib quantity defining your complete profession of an All-Round Champion as a result of she wore no different quantity in main competitors.
Mukhina’s efficiency on the 1978 World Championships is by many metrics one of many all-time biggest performances in WAG historical past. Mukhina’s 1978 end result ranks 2nd finest all-time in Information Crunch #3.1 in addition to being one of many highest scoring leads to Information Crunch #4.1. The #165 Mukhina wore on the 1978 World Championships is each synonymous together with her identification and is a trademark of some of the spectacular athletic performances in WAG historical past.
Whereas it could be unorthodox, if not logistically unfeasible to “retire” a bib quantity to honor a selected gymnast, if FIG ever have been to undertake this custom #165 could be the only most justifiable quantity to retire. The idea of retiring jersey numbers within the context of tragedy is without doubt one of the frequent causes sports activities groups elect to retire a selected quantity. Given Mukhina’s excessive standing inside gymnastics historical past, and the horrific circumstances wherein her profession ended, to order #165 as a approach to proceed her legacy is slightly apparent.
Nadia Comaneci: 73
This choice wants little rationalization. The quantity 73 is what Nadia Comaneci wore on the 1976 Olympics when she turned the primary gymnast to attain a Good 10. It could go down because the second the place gymnastics reached the top of its recognition within the pre-Simone Biles period. The 1976 Olympics made Nadia essentially the most iconic profession WAG had ever skilled and it wasn’t till the arrival of Simone Biles that anybody was capable of problem Nadia for that title.
However Nadia was greater than only a celebrity gymnast who wore a bib with a 73 on it. Comaneci’s Good-10 on the 1976 Olympics actually broke the scoreboard which didn’t have the power to supply a “10.00.” So, it showcased “1.00” as an alternative. The truth that a gymnast scoring a Good 10 was thought-about so unbelievable that occasion organizers hadn’t accounted for this state of affairs when designing the scoreboard added to the fascination with what the younger Nadia had achieved.
Photos of the scoreboard have been plastered all over the place with the enduring “1.00” being the signature takeaway from the 1976 Olympics. However amongst all the enduring footage of Nadia’s 1.00, there may be seen the quantity proper on high of it, Nadia’s #73 bib quantity.
If Mukhina is exclusive in that her complete profession comes right down to only one bib quantity, the identical is true for Nadia however for a distinct cause. Nadia’s 1976 Olympic bib quantity took heart stage in her historical past making second. The affiliation between Nadia’s bib quantity and the primary Good 10 in gymnastics historical past is so widespread, that gymnastics followers have been recognized to put on T-Shirts with 073 and 1.00 printed on it.
There’s even a Nadia themed watch which options pictures of the enduring gymnast, together with the with 073 and 1.00 numbers related to the Good 10 scoreboard.
As for the bib itself, it has been preserved on the Olympic museum in Switzerland. The truth that this specific bib is in a museum is all that must be mentioned on the subject of whether or not or not this bib needs to be handled as a historic piece of sports activities historical past.
On quite a few events Nadia has talked about how the quantity “73” has a particular that means when the it’s additional damaged down. It’s a specific matter that Nadia has a fascination with and incessantly feedback on this matter in her interviews.
7 = The variety of Good 10s she acquired in 1976
3 = The variety of gold medals she received in 1976
7 + 3 = 10
Between Elena Mukhina #165 and Nadia Comaneci #73, they’re by far the 2 most noteworthy examples the place gymnastics followers can recite a bib quantity from reminiscence.
Olga Korbut: 253
Earlier than there was Nadia Comaneci in 1976, there was Olga Korbut in 1972. If Nadia is essentially the most iconic WAG heroine of the pre-Biles period, Olga Korbut is with out query the second most iconic athlete from this period. Collectively, Korbut and Nadia modified WAG and ushered it into the fashionable period we all know and love at this time.
Whereas Nadia was the gymnast who achieved the best ranges of fame within the twentieth century, Olga Korbut was the one who did essentially the most to revolutionize the game. Korbut’s legacy is so impactful that gymnastics historical past could be divided into two eras. The pre-Korbut and post-Korbut eras.
Korbut’s contributions to this revolution didn’t occur slowly and with time, it occurred straight away, and that instantaneous got here on the 1972 Olympics. The 1972 Olympics was Korbut’s debut in any high-profile competitors. Earlier than then Korbut had not appeared as a competitor on the European Championships, World Championships, or World Cup. The 1972 Olympics was Korbut’s nice introduction to the worldwide sporting group and she or he overtook the game like a tsunami.
Korbut’s 1972 Olympic performances have been WAG’s nice breakthrough in not one, however two totally different realms. The primary realm pertained to the Code of Factors, the place Korbut’s distinctive model ushered in a brand new emphasis on acrobatic stunts, high-level issue, and jaw-dropping routines. Within the aftermath of Olga Korbut, the issue degree of the game grew on the quickest tempo it had ever skilled.
The second realm pertained to the perceived recognition of gymnastics which grew considerably throughout Korbut’s profession. Olga Korbut was the gymnast who did essentially the most to deliver WAG from a sport that wasn’t handled as one of many premiere Olympic sports activities, into being precisely that. Audiences immediately fell in love together with her and Korbut’s recognition has carried over into each technology of gymnastics within the many years since.
Olga Korbut’s 1972 Olympic look is without doubt one of the most crucial moments in WAG historical past, if not the very flashpoint that made the fashionable period of gymnastics doable. Which is why treating the bib quantity she wore throughout these Olympic Video games as a historic bib quantity worthy of retirement an apparent selection.
Vera Caslavska: 49
Within the case of Larissa Latynina and Simone Biles, each gymnasts are worthy of getting certainly one of their bib numbers retired, however deciding on which bib to retire is troublesome. Take Simone for instance. It was in 2016 that she had her most profitable Olympic video games, however it was 2019 the place she received essentially the most gold medals in a single competitors. You can additionally make the case for 2018 which was the one event wherein Simone swept a contest by successful a medal on all six occasions. How do you select which of Simone’s competitions is essentially the most historic?
The identical challenge arises with Larissa Latynina. She received essentially the most Olympic gold medals in a single Video games in 1956, however received extra medals within the particular person occasions on the 1960 Olympics. Then there’s the 1958 World Championships which was essentially the most dominant results of her profession with 5 gold medals and a silver. How do you select between these three?
Vera Caslavska is totally different as a result of there’s unequivocally, one end result that stands above the remainder. Irrespective of what number of instances Caslavska dominated a distinct competitors, none of it comes near the legacy of what she achieved in 1968. In Mexico Metropolis Caslavska recorded the best stat line of her profession, and she or he did it on the Olympic stage.
Her 1968 medal haul the place Caslavska received 4 gold medals and a silver within the 5 particular person occasions stays essentially the most profitable medal haul any gymnast has ever achieved on the Olympic degree. Vera’s margin of victory within the All-Round was so giant, it could be the document beneath the scoring system that existed from 1952 to 2005. It additionally got here beneath the highly effective context of the Soviet invasion of Caslavska’s nation shortly earlier than the beginning of the 1968 Olympic Video games.
Caslavska received the 1968 Olympics regardless of the invasion forcing her to coach in a forest with no entry to gymnastics gear. Vera risked her complete profession together with her eligibility to compete on the upcoming 1968 Olympics by publicly denouncing the Soviets and the Soviet-installed authorities which now dominated her nation. Caslavska then risked her complete profession yet one more time by publicly protesting the USSR in the course of the medal ceremony of the 1968 Olympics.
For Caslavska, her biggest competitors, biggest Olympic second, and biggest act of non-public integrity all got here in a single competitors. And the bib she wore at this competitors was “49.” If Mukhina has essentially the most tragic bib quantity, whereas Nadia and Korbut have bibs from essentially the most traditionally important moments in ladies’s gymnastics historical past, Caslavska’s bib represents one of many biggest acts of non-public integrity and athletic prowess in gymnastics historical past.
Natalia Yurchenko: 29
Natalia Yurchenko by no means turned an Olympian, however she established a robust legacy for herself with the vaulting approach she pioneered. The introduction of Yurchenko-style vaults was some of the pivotal moments within the technical growth of ladies’s gymnastics. If Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci are two of essentially the most well-known names amongst the informal followers, Natalia Yurchenko is without doubt one of the most well-known names amongst the gymnastics die-hard followers.
With Yurchenko there is similar downside that arises with Latynina and Biles, how do you outline which competitors of her profession is essentially the most worthy of being enshrined through her bib quantity? If Yurchenko is remembered for her iconic vault, the competitors she debuted it got here on the 1982 Moscow Information the place she wore bib #29. However this was a slightly obscure competitors in comparison with the Olympics and World Cup. Maybe essentially the most important bib variety of Yurchenko’s profession was the #545 that she wore on the 1983 World Championships the place she received the All-Round?
One fascinating parallel between Elena Mukhina and Natalia Yurchenko is that each are All-Round Champions, each have just one All-Round medal of their careers on the Group-1 degree, and they’re the one two figures in WAG historical past who’re members of the Corridor of Fame with out ever being an Olympian. Whereas Nadia, Mukhina, and Caslavska are in a league of their very own on the subject of historic bib numbers, most of the arguments that may be made on behalf of Elena Mukhina’s profession additionally apply to Yurchenko.
The Mukhina comparisons coupled with the extenuating circumstances of Yurchenko being some of the extensively recognized figures inside the gymnastics group, I really feel this makes her case worthy of inclusion.
These 4 gymnasts and the 5 bib numbers related to them are my private alternatives for essentially the most historic bib numbers in WAG historical past. However might these bib numbers ever be handled like historic jersey numbers in baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball, and soccer the place they’re retired? The place does such a proposition rank on the dimensions of being “possible” to “outright silly?”
That’s a subject for Half II of this collection the place I discuss in regards to the evolution of gymnastics bib numbers.
