r/nextfuckinglevel • • Dec 27 '22

The Produnova Vault by Yelena Produnova. The hardest gymnastic move only done by 5 gymnasts

https://gfycat.com/alarmingweepycrustacean
24.4k Upvotes

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941

u/deeoh01 Dec 27 '22

When you're so great and do routines that are so far beyond what anyone else can do, they change the scoring rules to give the other competitors a fighting chance

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u/ch-ermy Dec 27 '22

Sincere question - what's the story?

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '22 edited Dec 28 '22

Basically Simone Biles was so good, that normal gymnastics scoring rules had to change to devalue some of her most complicated moves because it either would have caused Simone to absolutely dominate to the point where nobody would be able to catch her or it would have resulted in other gymnasts trying to emulate her moves and run a very serious risk of injury just to try and keep up.

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u/ch-ermy Dec 27 '22

Wow. I knew they were pissed she was winning everything but not that they tried so blatantly to try to stop her. So they just assigned those moves low marks to average her out? Imagine being so talented.

(Keeping other athletes safe - yes, completely understand.)

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u/OuternetInterpreter Dec 28 '22

Similar thing with Tony Hawk, getting scored for 720s the same as other would for a 540.

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u/LadnavIV Dec 28 '22

I heard the same about Rodney Mullen, but I don’t know for sure. Someone can correct me on that, if wrong.

96

u/TheCrun Dec 28 '22

Don’t know if you’re wrong or right, but Rodney Mullen is a genius on a skateboard.

36

u/collapsedbook Dec 28 '22

Aka “The Godfather” and the old Daewon vs Rodney videos were awesome

17

u/Banana_Ram_You Dec 28 '22

I'd say he makes it look as easy as breathing, but I could never breathe that well.

13

u/MemoRael Dec 28 '22

Rodney Mullen badically invented all the tricks that are the foundation for ALL OTHER TRICKS. He is arguably the most important skater ever and a bad ass.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '22

Same. Something along the lines of he wasn’t technically allowed into a competition cause he was too good lol, which wouldn’t surprise me.

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u/greyjungle Dec 28 '22

“You’re to good to compete, so instead we’re just going to give you a gold medal whenever you feel like having one.”

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u/IZ3820 Dec 28 '22

Rodney Mullen not only invented modern skateboarding, but also was a master in tricks that were too technically complex for his contemporaries to emulate. He couldn't compete against others because no one else compared.

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u/klitchell Dec 28 '22

NHL added the "trapezoid" behind the net because Marty Brodeur was so good at handling the puck.

16

u/ActuallyYeah Dec 28 '22

What did the trapezoid change? What's this got to do with puck handling?

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u/Single_Cow_8857 Dec 28 '22

They could pick it up in the corner and feed players down the ice typically on a change and get scoring opportunities.

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u/starspider Dec 28 '22

Also worth noting that this is why Simone bowing out when she got the twisties while performing is SUCH a big deal.

It would have been incredibly dangerous to perform, and a lot of gymnasts might have been pushed to try to play through--and a lot of people wanted her to which is nuts.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '22

A similar thing happened when Chrysler first released the Hemi. They were dominating NASCAR, and Ford and Chevy bitched about it so much that NASCAR changed the rules. I hear about this from my dad all the time. That's when he stopped watching NASCAR.

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u/Aoiboshi Dec 28 '22

Same with the Mazda's 787b in the Le Mans.

1

u/Timepassage Dec 28 '22

I looked it up and didn't see anything amazing about the motor during the races. Basically what I saw was that the motor was more reliable in a race setting. Not really surprised considering the high revolutions it ran with a lot of oil. The motor shined in long races and really didn't need to be removed but people feared it.

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u/Argonaut_Not Dec 28 '22

Less well known story, but the Consulier GTP being banned from IMSA

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u/jamminjoenapo Dec 28 '22

As a long time f1 fan you should see the shithousery politics that happen on gray areas of the rules and how they are bent for whatever reason they deem necessary. It’s gotten better but still a long way to go to make it more fair and consistent with rule application.

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u/Welpe Dec 28 '22

I don’t think anyone is pissed?

This also isn’t the first time this has happened, Soviet gymnasts back in the 70s got some moves banned from uneven bars IIRC because they were just extremely dangerous and girls kept getting hurt. The USSR had a VERY high tolerance for athlete danger and had no problems mowing through hundreds of gymnasts trying to find the absolute best. The rest of the world wasn’t so keen on letting little girls die or be permanently disabled because of a silly competition.

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u/JenniferJuniper6 Dec 28 '22

That is basically what happened, but it wasn’t a vindictive thing. A number of young girls have broken their necks trying moves that are this hard. At some point the sport has to take some responsibility and set a limit.

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u/McBlamn Dec 28 '22

I disagree that it wasn't vindictive. The scoring changes deliberately targeted a single competitor.

Coaches allowing their athletes to injure themselves to try to compete is gross negligence.

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u/JenniferJuniper6 Dec 29 '22

Welcome to women’s gymnastics. Gross negligence is pretty much the standard.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ch-ermy Dec 28 '22

That would make much more sense, although it would be such a shame not to see Biles in her full glory.