Svetlana Boginskaya - an imaginative young lady

I was  browsing some old Olympics VCR ,  came across the  Seoul Olympics Gymnastics Highlights.

 I  love watching Svetlana Boginskaya ;an imaginative young lady, performing her floor routines. She is a real artist. She is adroit enough to perform complicated elements and has a very attractive appearance. But I used to remember Svetlana’s habit of landing dismounts and vaults with one foot in front of the other. Born February 9, 1979, Minsk, Belaruss. She fell in love with gymnastics after her first lesson.

Coach, Liubov Miromanova loves Svetlana like a daughter and takes care of her but at the same time welcome her pupil’s creative endeavour  in gymnastics. Floor exercise is a perfect example..

Few experts  thought that the 5 ft 5, 100 pound Boginskaya would go smoothly through the Olympics, in which even leaders make mistakes  at any moment. But the elegant 15 year old proved her class and stability, and her “highness” helps her on floor exercise where she tumbled a double twisting double back which is usually performed by shorter gymnasts, and never though possible for a taller girl like Boginskaya. But it was more her innovative interpretation of “Carmen.” She portrays Carmen, a special arrangement by a Soviet composer..

In the abstract routines, Boginskaya creates beautiful lines through her command of ballet and conveys a sense of desperation as she reaches out to the audience. And each time she performs the exercise, the crowd responds with equal emotions. One can tell that  she’s  put her soul into the routines, and each movement means something to her.       

Floor Exercise was always Bogi's signature event.  Though she didn't have the most difficult tumbling by '92, her expression, passion and performance made up for it.  Her '92 routine was not as wildly popular as its predecessors, but it retained all of the style, class, flair and attitude that was her hallmark

Nicknamed “The Goddess” by her fellow gymnasts, Boginskaya could not have picked a better place than Athens to live up to her name during the World Championships in 1997.

Retired after 1992 Olympics, moved to Houston, to train under Bela Karoly. Married to William Yee. He owns a sports-ware company.

With her experience and creativity, Boginskaya will most likely produce an even greater generation of gymnasts.