ACOG - News - IBM

(1 Aug 1996; Day 12)

Group Competition the New Wave in Rhythmic Gymnastics

Requiring the precision of a surgeon, the energy of a sprinter and the teamwork of a bucket brigade, the newest event in rhythmic gymnastics is the group competition, making its debut in the University of Georgia Coliseum at the 1996 Olympic Games.

One rotation in group competition has the team of five rhythmic gymnasts, performing to music, tossing, twirling and tumbling with five hoops. The timing, and therefore the teamwork, involved is extraordinary. All five hoops are frequently sailing through the air at the same moment, but they never collide, always landing safely in the hands, on the feet, or even around the torso of a teammate. One teammate will send a hoop flying, and another, without turning her head, will bounce it off her back, spinning along the groud back to another teammate.

"Group competition is fun, but also a challenge, because one depends on everyone and everyone depends on one," says Ivelina TALEVA of Belarus. "It's not like competing as an individual, where your mistake costs only you. If you make a mistake in group, it is a mistake of the whole team."

TALEVA's Bulgarian team did not make many mistakes. It was the top scorer, with 39.016 points, in the team competition in the preliminary round. Spain was in second after Thursday's competition, scoring 38.966.

The other event in group includes two ribbons and three balls. While this equipment is also used in individual competition, the artistic choreography of the group routines sets it apart from the individual competition. And, as with the hoops, it requires timing, technique and teamwork. The United States team learned the meaning of teamwork over the past two years.

"We lived together, we trained together, we went to school together," says the USA's Brandi SEIGEL. "We are a team in every sense of the word, and that's why group is so much fun. The best part is the interaction with others. The hardest part is that a bad day for one person is a bad day for the team."

"I like it," says Estabaliz MARTINEZ of Spain. "You are with friends. It is easier to walk out on the floor together than to go alone."

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Theresa Kelly Gegen.


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Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.