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Just enough Russia edges Belarus for rhythmic team goldPosted: Saturday September 30, 2000 7:20 AMUpdated: Monday November 13, 2000 1:38 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Russia won gold in the rhythmic group competition Saturday, edging Belarus in a tie-breaker. Both teams finished with 39.500 points, but Russia won when each team's highest and lowest scores -- which had been tossed out -- were put back in. Greece won the bronze. "Russia was instrumental in initiating the group performances," said Valentina Ivanizkaya, a Russian assistant coach. "It was their dream to win." The United States doesn't have a team in either group or individual. The individual all-around final is Sunday, with world champion Alina Kabaeva of Russia favored. Rhythmic gymnastics blends the grace of dance with the skill and strength of sport. But it still looks more like art than what's going on across the road at Olympic Stadium. The Russians came onto the floor for their first event, the clubs, dressed as if they were performance artists. Either that or a group on its way to a racy nightclub with their dominatrix-like outfits: tight black leotards trimmed in silver to look like bustiers and pants with oval cut-outs all the way up the leg. Performing to music from "The Matrix," they tossed their clubs high in the air while contorting their bodies in shapes not seen since Gumby. They sauntered across the floor with sultry dance steps, moving in perfect unison and harmony.
The Russians scored a 19.800 for the clubs, the same as Belarus. In the second event, a combination of the hoops and ribbons, the Belarussians looked like little girls on a playground. As four team members pulled three ribbons taught in a crisscross, the fifth threw a hoop high in the air, letting it drop gently down onto the ribbons and bounce back up again. They threw hoops to each other across the floor, deftly catching the whirling orbs as they balanced on tiptoe. With ribbons swirling above their heads, they twisted and turned with grace and ease. The Belarussians were excited when they finished, grinning as they waited for their marks in "Kiss and Cry," but they had to wait almost an hour to see if their performance would be good enough for gold. It wasn't. The Russians put on a spirited routine, and came off the floor pumping their fists in triumph. "The judging here is much more objective," said Titiana Vassilieva, another Russian assistant coach. "The people who win really deserve to win." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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