Will there ever be another Olga?

Did you see Olga Korbut on TV earlier this week? There she sat, a big smile on her face, every bit the naughty little Munchkin we all knew back in 1972.  The gymnasts need to smile more, to be beautiful, and to entertain, she said.  I, and several others, wish alike.  It's 40 years since we have seen her like at the Olympics; yes, Nadia came four years later and entranced us with her steely perfection, but it was Olga who stole our hearts. 

Where will the next Olga come from?  Will there ever be another?  Perhaps not ... time has passed, we are all more media-savvy and cynical, athletes more contrived and less spontaneous, the sport's Code of Points denuded of the semantic subtleties of the unique, expressive artistry that the world found so enchanting. 

But sitting there, amongst the judges, is a woman who was once as charming and delightful as Olga could ever be ... a former gymnast who thanks to the vagaries of world politics and the sheer depth on her national team, was never seen at an Olympics ... FIG judge Oksana Omelianchyk-Ziurkalova, 1985 World Overall Champion, 1985 World Floor Champion, Soviet reserve at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Soviet reserve at the 1984 Oloumoc Games, the Soviet 'alternative Olympics'.

I was sitting there, in the audience, during the 2001 World Championships in Ghent.  Oksana and a judging colleague had taken up a couple of seats in the row in front of me, and were conscientiously recording the uneven bars routines, checking their marks against those of the official judging panel.  In person, Omelianchik is as charming as on the floor; people came to shake her hand, always greeted with the greatest of courtesy and a big smile.  As she rose to leave the arena, the first bars of a gymnast's music rang out ... coincidentally, the first bars of Oksana's 1985/1986 floor routine.  I couldn't help but smile, and she quietly smiled too.






Later today, in the all around final, Oksana will be an execution judge on vault - you can see the judges' assignments below.  Remember her floor routine as you watch today's final.

Other former gymnasts judging at today's Games include 1972 Olympian Antonina Koshel (Floor), Romania's Anca Grigoras (floor), Czech Republic's Hana Liskarova (Ricna), Hungary's Szusanna Kalmar.  The superior jury includes President Nelli Kim (1976 and 1980 Olympian, 1979 World Champion) and uneven bars supervisor, 1972 Olympian Liubov Burda-Andrianova.