IMAGINARY SUMMER OLYMPICS - Poll #30 - Athletics - Men's 10,000m; Athletics - Women's 10,000m; Swimming - Men's 100m Backstroke; Gymnastics Artistic - Men's Horizontal Bar; Gymnastics Artistic - Women's Balance Beam

[rafalgorka 1,821]

I have a day off-work today so here is another poll.

 

These are olympic champions in certain events.

Imagine that all these champions are on the top of their game at the very same moment in time.

Who would have won gold?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_athletics_(men)#10,000_metres

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_athletics_(women)#10,000_metres

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_swimming_(men)#100_metres_backstroke

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_gymnastics_(men)#Horizontal_bar

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_gymnastics_(women)#Balance_beam

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Voting in this one ends on Monday.

[phelps 8,766]

Athletics, men's 10000m...that's difficult because a lot of great champions have run this race through last 100+ years and as you know, it's almost impossible to compare performances from so different periods...

I was really stuck in between Nurmi and Zatopek (even if Gebresilassie and Bekele also deserved to be mentioned), but finally I opted for  Emil Zatopek because of his unmatched triple (5k, 10k, marathon) in a single edition of the Olympics.

 

Athletics, women's 10000m...I thought about Tulu for a while, but Dibaba was a more complete runner than her compatriot, so I ended up pickin'  Tirunesh Dibaba...

 

Swimming, men's 100m Backstroke...maybe Roland Matthes deserves a better treatment, but he pays for sure the place where he comes from...therefore, I chose  Aaron Peirsol, surely a better swimmer overall if we look beyond the single distance.

 

Gymnastics, women's Balance Beam...that's easy...despite all controversies, she's still unmatched, the true queen of this event... Nadia Comaneci.

 

Gymnastics, men's Horizontal Bar...modern athletes might have more technically difficult exercises and might be more exciting to watch, but I just have to pick  Mitsuo Tsukahara, a man that left one of the most important footprints in the history of the sport (and the only one to win twice this specific discipline).

[CCB 628]

Men's horizontal bar: Epke Zonderland is by far the most spectacular gymnast on the horizontal bar of all time. If only he had won more Olympic golds. He deserved it. 

[Jinzha 703]

So many great champions in this poll. Especially the 10.000m for men was a tough choice between Zapotek, Nurmi, Gebrselassi and Bekele. I ended up going for Gebrselassi because his achievements are more recent and thus more known to me.

[rafalgorka 1,821]

@thiago_simoes I wonder what are your thoughts on these two gymnastics events.

[thiago_simoes 1,460]

I am 10 minutes late and the poll was closed, but I would go with Cassina on the high bar and Korbut on the balance beam.

 

Cassina is stylish and elegant, and his focus on flashy release moves was ahead of his time. I like his form too. Zonderland would be my second choice, but he has very poor form and the deductions for late pirouettes and untidy body shape are very apparent, so Cassina is ahead of him in my book. But Zonderland is fantastic too, especially because he has such high difficulty!

Korbut was the first one to perform a back sommersault on beam. This completely changed the way girls performed on beam. Not only they needed to be elegant, they also now had to throw difficult acrobatic skills. Ponor would be my second choice. Very confident on most of her skills, a style of her own, but I just can't choose anyone but Korbut here because that would just feel wrong.

And the ones I would definitely say no, I'd never pick them: Wevers and Hashimoto.

[rafalgorka 1,821]

3 hours ago, thiago_simoes said:

I am 10 minutes late and the poll was closed, but I would go with Cassina on the high bar and Korbut on the balance beam.

 

 

Thanks for the in-depth analysis. Brilliant as always.

 

I promise I will let you know a bit earlier when the next gymnastics poll appears!

[rafalgorka 1,821]

Results

 

ATHLETICS - Men's 10,000m

 

1. Haile Gebrselassie ETH (T)

2. Mo Farah GBR (T)

3. Paavo Nurmi FIN

 

It is fortunately quite rare here that I need to break the tie for the 1st place. In such cases I choose the one I voted for by myself. So there is a gold for Gebrselassie after a tense finish against Mo Farah, sth like he sprinted out Paul Tergat in Sydney.

 

ATHLETICS - Women's 10,000m

 

1. Tirunesh Dibaba ETH

2. Sifan Hassan NED

3. Derartu Tulu ETH

 

SWIMMING - Men's 100m Backstroke

 

1. Aaron Peirsol USA

2. Matt Grevers USA

3. Mark Tewksbury CAN (T)

 

GYMNASTICS ARTISTIC - Men's Horizontal Bar

 

1. Epke Zonderland NED

2. Mitsuo Tsukahara JPN

3. Fabian Hambuchen GER

 

GYMNASTICS ARTISTIC - Women's Balance Beam

 

1. Nadia Comaneci ROU

2. Sanne Wevers NED

3. Olga Korbut BLR (T)

 

Thanks for your votes and comments!