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AT its very core, gymnastics has always posed the bold challenge to try something new, to
distinguish yourself from the rest. Fueled by that goal, innovative coaches have long collaborated with willing gymnasts to pull off the improbable. And unveiled at just the right moment, such inventions can mean the difference between toil and triumph.
Creativity is the soul of gymnastics. It manifests itself in such a way that we, as observers of the most beautiful and evolutionary sport in the world, are momentarily mesmerized. We are forced to believe what we see, because we just saw it. And then we utter, "Unbelievable!"
From subtle to sublime to insane, these noteworthy ele. ments define gymnastics. Many have changed their respective events, others the sport itself. Still more have disappeared altogether because of their sheer difficulty. Though it is impossible to list every original skill or combination (and often just as difficult to credit the true originator), we offer the following chronology of gymnastics ingenuity. A timeline of really cool tricks.
1989
Olesya Dudnik may have won vault at the Stuttgart worlds, but her beam routine was otherworldly. It featured this go-for-- broke roundoff, lay-- out-full as well as a side aerial to two lay-- outs. However, an awkward step after her triple twist dismount left the skillful Soviet with 'only' 9.937 and the silver!
1989 Kim Gwang Suk electrified the crowd at the world championships in Stuttgart, combining a Tkatchev with a Xiao Ruizhi. Alas, the diminutive North Korean (4-foot-4) ultimately failed to make an impact on the medals when she took an extra swing after a Jaeger. Kim ironed out the bugs two years later to win the uneven bars gold at the Indianapolis worlds, but slipped to fourth at the '92 Olympics. When officials noticed her birth date was listed as Feb. 15, 1971 at the Olympics, they did a little math. Kim would have been 13 in Stuttgart (she looked about 10), which is too young. As a result, the North Korean women were banned from the 1993 Birmingham worlds. Moral of story: If you're underage, don't draw attention to yourself by winning a world title.
1966 Irate spectators whistled, jeered and stamped their feet for 1 hour and 3...