SEOUL OLYMPICS 1988

Then came the Seoul 1988. The London Times reported, "The women’s individual all-round gymnastics final produced an amalgam of beauty, excellence, prejudice and, ultimately, the absurd." It was a competition dominated by Romanian Daniela Silivas and the Soviet Elena Shushunova. They were in the same rotation group and it was a neck-to-neck fight and nerve-wracking to watch. The lead yo-yoed between the two.

Although Shushunova performed with style her switched-hands grip in the UB, Silivas had the edge with the first 10. On they moved to the beam. Shushunova, with those incredible backward somersaults landing blind on one foot, scored a fraction higher, Silivas losing balance for a split second and being forced into an involuntary turn. Yet at times she kept contact with the beam with entwining legs like an ivy creeper. Look, no hands! Silivas led on points as they performed their floor exercises. Shushunova, in her leotard of almost elderly sophistication, mauve, grey and black, utilised a Russian dance to give rhythm to a bewitching sequence; a delectable 10. Silivas was her equal, perhaps even superior, corkscrewing in mid-air, somersaulting incredibly from a kneeling position all to a jazz rhythm. Another 10. Download part of her floor exercise from Seoul! Finally, they were at the vault. Silivas, still leading, was drawn first, spinning like a coin, with barely a touch of the horse as she cartwheeled three times, yet received only 9.950. Shushunova was drawn last of the group of six. She warmed up meticulously, and was clearly relaxed. Her first run was good but no more so, it seemed, than that of Silivas. It was a decisive 10.

Twist of fate? Quirk in rules of scoring (how could you better a perfect 10 even if your routine was indeed better)? Unfairness in the judging (accusations of outrageous favouritism were aimed at the Soviet judge Nelli Kim)? Silivas was pipped at the final apparatus. It was a narrowest of defeats. Silivas, in fact, beat Shushunova on the day’s four exercises by the same tiny margin she lost the medal, on account of the 0.050 points which the Russion carried forward from the preliminaries. The "newlife" rule that began the following year would have made Silivas the Olympic champion. Cameras zoomed in and switched between the elated Shushunova and the totally crushed form of Silivas. The photographers crowded around Shushunova. Silivas, a few yards away, sat on the floor, expressionless and hardly glanced when the champion walked by: one of them forever a national heroine, the other forever a runnerup, and all by the discretionary flick of a judge’s finger on an electric button.

Gymn Photography (c) Eileen Langsley

The Times explained its above statement, "How else can be described the wonderful performances of Shushunova and Silivas and their separation in determining the gold medal for the former by 0.025 of a point, or less than one 3000th part of their totals, on the arbitrary opinion of six judges. No logical person can happily accept such a refinement of human discretion."

However, there was sweet revenge in the Apparatus Finals when Silivas swept the board with three golds and a bronze. She outscored Shushunova in all four events. Silivas was first to go on the vault and not yet fully into the swing of the competition, won the bronze medal behind the young Svetlana Boginskaya and fellow Romanian Gabriela Potorac. But the rest of the day belonged to Silivas as she extrovertly played to the gallery and was crowned darling of the Olympic gymnastics tournament. She was superb and it was wonderful to watch her skills.

Photos (c) Eileen Langsley

In the post-competition interviews, Silivas refused to be drawn into comparing herself with Shushunova and was commended by many for her mature diplomacy. Even US coach and Romania defector Bela Karolyi complimented her. He had overheard Silivas’ coach suggesting the reply to the question, "Who is now the best female gymnast in the world?" be "Count the medals, and you’ll have your answer." Silivas smiled and never said a word. Karolyi added, "This kid had the honesty and decency to shut up. She didn’t want to say ‘I’m better’ because she knows Shushunova is the Olympic champion but she couldn’t praise a rival (for that would be against procedures dictated by many Socialist countries then). So she just didn’t say a word. These kids have more decency than all the judges and coaches in the world."

1988 ended sadly for Silivas with coach Maria Cosma defecting to Germany, and the 1989 Europeans saw her crown taken away by Svetlana Boginskaya. With a knee injury troubling her, Silivas lacked her usual sparkle in the Stuttgart Worlds and placed a lowly 12th in the AA. Still she bounced back (once again!) in the apparatus finals with three more golds. Another hat trick!

Picture above shows Daniela with teammates Lavinia Agache and Aurelia Dobre in what I believe to be the 91 Pros.

Gymn Photography (c) Debbie Poe

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