As of UCLA and Pauley Pavilion, after four rotations out of six,
Vibmar and Li Ning remain tied for the all-around finals in men's gymnastics.
They have been tied for the last three rotations. It is mano-mano, face-to-face.
Great competition here. Li Ning's got his two best events coming up,
one being parallel bars and the other high bar, but he's had some trouble on the high bar in the past.
How about Peter's last two? He's got the vault and the parallel bar.
Peter's very strong on parallel bars. He's got to hit a good vault. He's got a handspring
brandy, but he's got to hit that in order to score that 9-9.
And the vault is, you know, wishy-washy. You never know, but remember when we were in Budapest,
Li Ning fell off the high bar there and he fell off again in the World Cup.
So the man is not invincible.
Makes it exciting, doesn't it?
Number 11, Li Ning, 20 years old, People's Republic from Chatham against Lidmar here,
23-year-old Los Angelino.
What I'd like to make that half of the Olympic team came from right here at UCLA. Tim Daggett
didn't make the all-around, scored very well. He'll be in the finals, but both Mitch Gaylord
and Peter Vidmar are here training under Art Sherlock and Makoto Sakamoto, and that really
says something for their program. Peter at parallel bars.
Peter knows he's got to hit this vault too, because one little step on the landing is going
to be a 9-9. If he can pull a 10 off here, he can jump ahead of Li Ning, and that's
what he wants right now. And what Li Ning said is so important.
It's the guy that handles the tension the best.
Waiting on a score again, as we've seen so often this week, and the effect it has on
the athlete who's next up. It isn't fair. It absolutely is unfair.
Manual scoring would be better than the timing devices that we have here that take a genius
to operate. Around the racetrack, we call that stall walking. Li Ning too is not.
Looks like caged animals. Talk about the tension. Wouldn't you love to measure the blood pressure
of those two athletes right now? Remember in an interview, Peter Vidmar said,
when I get tense, I try to smile, and somehow that helps me come out of it?
Yeah, but you can tell it's a fake smile. Now Li Ning getting his parallel bar ready
with a little choke on the ground. He's got to get ready for that.
Parallel bar ready with a little chalk and water. Unfortunately, they both go at the same time.
Now the crowd getting restive.
Peter Vidmar has finally gotten the signal. The judges say, come on, here's the green flag.
Let's see your front with a half turn. We're going to see both performances.
Peter is generating his speed. Remember now, flight and landing are everything.
Flight was good. The landing was one small step. Takes it out of the 10 range and then it lays
it right on Li Ning. Well, in this competition, Gordon, it's 9-9 for that vault. Here's a side
super slow motion shot of it. Pushes off nice and high. Good form in the air. Takes that step
backwards. Now live Li Ning. Wow, look at that Thomas Flair. High comes down to a giant
cast. Backer prize half turn. There's his Healy to a L support. Now we'll see his press.
9-9 for Peter Vidmar's vault.
Li Ning trying to work so carefully.
There's a break in his knees, which could make a difference. Great landing, but he had a big knee
break in his Stutz hand. It's got to be just a lack of concentration. How can you bend your knees
on a Stutz? I mean, that is something that maybe a high school gymnast might do from time to time
with learning gymnastics. Or an Olympian sometimes. A Stutz handstand. Here's a slow motion look at
the Thomas Flair on the end. Boy, talk about getting the hips up and getting the extension
in the legs. That flexibility is tremendous. And then he pushes into a handstand. He stops that
circular motion. Goes right into a handstand. His reverse Stutz. He's a little loose in his legs,
which is surprising. This is a tough event for Li Ning. Press to a handstand. Vidmar got a 9-9
on vaulting, so he's got a score here. And that break is going to hurt him. Here comes, here comes
Stutz handstand. Dammit off there. Now the Stutz. Bend his knees. Unbelievable. 9-8 for that routine.
9-8. So Vidmar will take the lead into the final rotation.
And we'll be back after an ABC News break and a word from your local stations.
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Time. Back at Pauli Pavilion for the all-around and the men's gymnastic competition while we were
away. The Japanese Koji Gushiken went on the horizontal bar. Here it is on videotape. And the
Japanese really taught all of us how to swing on the bar. Watch the originality of this event.
We'll get right into his one arm work. There it is. Half turn. Back into a Stalder shoot.
There's the Stalder named after Joseph Stalder, a Swiss Olympic champion. Here comes the release
mover. Reverse head. He's got another full-crested repatch. Here on out. It's just routine. Get into
your inverted giants. Now dislocate and try not to make mistakes. Koji Gushiken is now on the
defense. He'll try a double layout dismount and he just kneels. He's got a 9.95 for that performance
and that keeps him very much in the chase against Vidmar and Li Ning. Vidmar for the moment has
taken over the lead from Li Ning. Now we go live to Bart Conner on the parallel bars. And you're
going to just love this exercise. It's just a fabulous exercise. Watch this free hip circle.
Now back into the bar. Here comes a back to a catch. Now he was world champion in this event.
He's no fluke. Into a straddle. Now watch this. Pirouette in the straddle position. He gets down
to one bar. Moves the other hand over. Now another pirouette in the straddle position.
And then he'll press back up and all of a sudden he's playing to the audience.
And he's wooing the judges through the hands of the audience.
Back in. His handstand. And a double off. Oh, had it not for that step backwards you were looking at
a perfect exercise. The step will hurt him. What a great crowd pleaser.
Super slow motion look at his dismount now. He takes it up really high.
Watch Bart's form in the air. He points his toes in a double back. That's something that's very rare.
You don't see that very often. But he's so trained to keep good form. In fact,
he rarely ever works out with bad form in warm-ups.
Pays off in the meat, doesn't it? Yeah, and his coach Paul Zert has a different philosophy.
It's like, don't ever be careful. Just have a good time. Swing out. Go for it.
And he's been that way all his career.
Waiting on the score. We're going to have another little change. Not only Vidmar put a little
distance between himself and Li Ning, but Bushiken now has moved into first place. 9-8-5
for Bart Conner. Those steps really cost him. Here's Tong Pai now. And we've joined it in
progress. He just did a reverse heck. He's been very steady on the high bar historically. Now he's
in Eagle Giants. Hop out. Could see a triple fly-away.
Could see a triple fly-away. No, a lay-out double fly-away, but what a classy double lay-out
fly-away. Just absolutely gorgeous. He loved that landing himself, didn't he? He wanted to feel it
for a little while, didn't he? Nailed it. Last part of his routine again. Hops out of inverted
Giants. Wines up for his dismount. This guy can do about five different dismounts, but here he
chose a double lay-out, two somersaults in a straight body position. Look at the form in the air.
Looks for the landing. Lays it in and stays there for a couple seconds just to prove that he's got
it. Man, he needs a parachute. Well, that amazing tap that he gets on the side of the bars. The bar
there is tremendous. 10-0 on the high bar for Tong Fei. Look out. We'll have another change in the
score now. A perfect 10 for Tong Fei. As we say in gymnastics, everyone moves down a notch.
So it's all wrapped up now with Bushiken and Li Ning and Big Mar, and now perhaps Tong Fei
will get in contact with their leaders. Now on videotape, let's take a look at Mitch Gaylord.
He'll be trying a full-twisting Sukahara. Gets it. Good form in the air. Has that
slight hop that we've seen almost all night. Now we'll get a look at it in super slow motion.
And you'll see where Mitch really pushes off the horse. He doesn't get his second arm extended
quite enough, but he pushes off the horse really well here. It's a side angle. Pushes and extends
the first arm. Let's go a little early there. Could have pushed it around a little longer.
Over-rotated, but he kept his straight body position in the air, which is the layout position.
Scored a 9-9 for that vault. And now after five rotations, here are the stanzing. Bushiken of
Japan has moved into first place behind Big Mar and then Li Ning. So with one rotation left,
that's the way it stands, and we'll be back in a moment.
One more rotation to go, and the man's individual all around gymnastics,
and it just couldn't be closer. Peter Vidmar just that much behind the Japanese. One more event,
but they're not quite ready right now. They're between it. So let's tackle another subject.
Everybody's got to eat. I don't think you could argue with that. And so it is with the Olympics.
Let's check in on the subject of food. Reporting on that, Kathleen Sullivan.
If you ever thought it was tough to get your family to agree on what to have for dinner,
then pity the poor chefs in the Olympic villages. Not only do they have to cook for athletes ranging
from 80-pound gymnasts to 350-pound weightlifters, but they also have to contend with a series of
national cuisines that range from Andorra to Zimbabwe. The numbers are staggering. During
the two weeks here in Los Angeles, Olympic Village chefs will cook more than a million meals. But
let's put it this way. That means some 200 tons of meat, 17,000 pounds of pasta, and 1.7 million cups
of ice cream. The most favorite food, fresh fruit. Athletes apparently like all types, eating an
average of 16 pieces of fruit each day. And to a few people's surprise, hot cereal is the least
favorite food. It's been taken off the menu. But that hasn't kept athletes from savoring a variety
of foods. Olympic bylaws require that all foods in the village must be shared, no matter how exotic
or rare. And that's resulted in a surprising run on kimchi, the fiery pickled cabbage favored by
Koreans. And while we're talking about Koreans, we'd like to set the record straight. It seems
that a few days ago, a nasty rumor was going around, had it that the Koreans were cooking
snakes in their rooms. Well, we snooped around and found out that it wasn't snakes,
but snacks. Jim, bon appetit.
Merci, Kathleen. Well, you're looking at, what is that, Westwood we have behind me right now?
Still daylight here in Los Angeles, of course. That just a little before
730 in the evening. What an exciting 730 is going to be, however, as we prepare for
that final rotation in men's individual all-around gymnastics. Later on tonight,
we're going to have men's volleyball for you. If you didn't see the women's volleyball game last
night, be sure not to miss the men's tonight. It's a very exciting sports in these Olympics.
The boxing competition continues. We'll also have cycling to show you. And on this program,
and of course, on our late night coverage. So right now, why don't we go back out to
the gymnastics, and Jack Whitaker. All right. Thanks very much, Jim. Here,
the standings after five of six rotations. Michigan of Japan, the 27-year-old gym instructor
at Tokyo University. Thirsty, can taste the medal. He really wants it badly. Bidmar of the United
States, Li Ning of China, Tong Fei of China. And we're getting ready now for the final rotation.
As we look at Peter Bidmar now in a great position to become the first American to win
an Olympic medal in this. Kurt talked to him earlier. Peter, after that team victory,
how do you psych yourself up for this individual all-around competition tonight?
Well, I don't know if I have to psych myself up so much as I feel that I'm prepared. I've
competed in compulsories and optionals now. I'm used to the equipment. I'm used to being out in
front of that crowd. And I don't know. I think that in the times that you've competed in all-around
finals, sometimes you feel a little bit more relaxed out there. Even though the all-around
title is at stake, just because you know what to expect. I've been out there on the floor. I
performed all my optional routines out there in front of the crowd. And I feel that maybe I can
perform even better routines. But we'll just have to wait and see. We'll wait and see. Peter Bidmar,
man with a name like Bidmar, ought to have a jaw like that, shouldn't he? Strong, square.
You know, he didn't compete in a competition until he tried out for the 1979 World Championship
team. No high school competition. There you're looking at the leader at the moment going into
this final rotation, Koji Gushiken. It's interesting, Jack. His coach has been really
patting him and hugging him. And I think that they know he's in the lead at this point, which is
pretty weird, I'd say, because they must have the scores right there and they must be figuring
them. Because there's some smiles there. They know he's in the lead. And they're really
they're concentrating at this point. He's first up on the floor. So the coach, the man you see
with him, his name is Abe. And he coached Mr. Watanabe, who was so influential in the American
program. Those bells signal that the final rotation is underway. The leader, Koji Gushiken of Japan,
disappointed as you were, Kurt, with the 80 boycott, but he's hung in there. Now, Jack,
I think he may be at a slight disadvantage working first at floor exercise. He doesn't have a
spectacular exercise. It's a good exercise. It's a very stock exercise for an international
competitor. But there's no great excitement, no double side saltals or no real originality.
See him concentrating there and talking to himself.
His best offense is just make no mistakes. That might have been a little prayer there, Gordon.
Now he's going to go open with a double back.
I started to a flip flop with a full twist.
Perilously close to the out of bounds. Now come back with a piked double back.
Well, he's he's cooking.
You'll see some flares here right up to the handstand.
Right behind you can see Peter Vidmar getting ready to go on the parallel bars. We'll have that for
you. Punch, counterpunch. Dive roll. Now get back to the center. Use up some time. Get some
valuable oxygen into those lungs. Try to get rested up for another double back. He's going to
get a little bit of a backflip. He's going to get a little bit of a backflip. He's going to get a
try to get rested up for another double back something for a dismount. There he's heard the
sound. He now has 20 seconds in which to complete this double back something. Stock routine so far,
but as we said, no major mistakes. That routine will play. And he loves it. There's Peter just
starting on the parallel bars. He's twenty five hundreds of a point behind Gushigan.
There's Diyamudov out to the side. Real originality. Nice composition in this exercise.
Back into the center now.
Double off with just a slight hop. The crowd says go Peter. Go Peter. Well that exercise by
Gushigan, I tell you, I think it was near nine nine five ten oh and so now we have another nine nine five nine
nine oh you never know. It's really close at this point. There's Gushigan and he is loving the
competition. I think he's really enjoying himself. There it's Vidmar. He's helping Mitch Gaylord get
the bars set. Nine nine oh for Gushigan. Nine nine oh for Gushigan on the floor exercise.
Waiting on Peter Vidmar. That one step hurt him. That one nine one step backward got him the nine
nine. How can you complain with a nine nine? Peter gets a nine nine five. He'll take the lead.
Nine nine oh. Oh he's still twenty five hundreds of a point behind.
No he cannot win the gold. I was just going to say that Jack. That's unfortunate but it was there in
front of him and he could not have done a better job in this in this competition. I've never seen
Peter stronger. The fatigue did not set in. He was strong throughout. Nailed a nine nine at the end
of his last event. Mitch Gaylord on parallel bars. Diomedov lays it back front up rise. Healy twirled
to a straddle into a straddle planche. Nice strength move. Another Healy twirl.
Now here comes his required press.
And a double back off and Mitch has thrown a very nice parallel bar exercise. He was fifth coming
into this last rotation. Well there's a lot of doubt about the silver and the bronze medal
and still a little bit of doubt about the gold. Well Gushigan was leading at the moment. There's
a lot of smiles in the Japanese corner. And I've never seen Gushigan as good as he was tonight
either. Talk about a consistent performer scoring nine nines and tens in a competition like this.
And he's had two serious ankle injuries. He had an Achilles tendon operation in 1977. He's emotional.
I think he's crying. He might be crying in the corner there. He definitely is crying.
Here is Bart Conner on the high bar. Well he'll show you a little pizzazz here too.
Stem pirouette into a one-armed giant. Pivots back out.
There's his invert into eagle giants. Now he's got to do some release moves. Remember it's required.
There's another one-armed giant back in. I think he's going to play it safe again and not use the
release that he normally uses the Ginger. I think you're right. There's a full in double back
flyaway. It's a beautiful exercise but he did take his perilous part out. Well he really
fulfills the requirement by letting go with the two hands in his routine. So he's got that two hand
release regress but he didn't have the big one that he needed. Still got a score though.
Seventh going in at that point. Good score could move him up.
And here's a slow motion look at his dismount which is a full in back out.
Lays out the first part of it. Pikes the second. Full in. Pike back out. What a landing.
Waiting on the score.
In the last rotation pretty soon we'll know who's won the gold the silver and the bronze
but it's going to go right down to the end. Li Ning is the last performer on the high bar
in this rotation. Anything could happen Jack. You bet. Tongfei is still to go on the floor exercise.
I think Bart's happy with his night. I would think so. I think he's still high from the team
championship. They all are. That was a great night for this young man.
Any color of hardware that they take home from the all-around will be something they never had
before. Here's Gushigan. Crying. He feels it already huh? Yes. And you know he feels that
for the Japanese team. He feels that for Japan more than anything. They've wanted to stay up
there as a world power. They've done really well as a team but they've lost it in the recent years
and that just means so much to him. A.B. Grossfeld congratulating him there. Having a conference
there on Bart Conner so we while we're waiting on that let's go away for a moment. We'll be right back.
This man Koji Gushigan of Japan has won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games and the
men's all-around gymnastic competition. He was second in the world championships in 1983 but he
going to bring home the gold from Los Angeles. It's been a long time since the Japanese have
been up there and it's such an emotional time for him and I can sure share it with him.
Oh they'll be cheering in Tokyo when this news gets flashed won't they? Could breathe the same
kind of inspiration back into their program that the United States has gotten from the from the
team gold. They've been faltering a bit in Japan. Now the the silver and bronze is still up in the
air between Vidmar and Li Ning. I think part of the crying there Jack is I don't think he really
believed he could do it. Now Tong Fai. Watch this mound a double side somersault. Sidewards beautiful.
Conner has gotten a 9-9 on the horizontal bar. Now Tong comes back with a front step out
double twister and you'll see some originality here a full twisting butterfly.
Here it comes.
I like Tong's style in the floor also. Has great strength, great ballistic power when he tumbles
but he also has the finesse. Don't you like the way it's put together too Gordon? Very much.
It's like an artist painting on the mat.
Now he'll come back with a double back for his dismount. Cannot win the gold but he'll always
give you a good shot. A very very consistent performer. Tong Fai. That could put him in the
medal range. There's only twenty five hundredths of a point behind Li Ning coming into this rotation.
We'll have to go all the way down to the end to find out about the silver and the bronze. Here's
the dismount and this is probably the only deduction in his routine. He took a hop
backward on the double. Boy he's really trying here to pull it around fast so he can open up early
and see that landing. Another good day. Score not up yet. That would leave then after this score
only Li Ning. We understand Li Ning would need a ten to tie Peter Vidmark. Nine nine for Tong Fai.
Silver nine nine. Don't count a ten out for Li Ning. He'll either give you a ten or fall off the
bar. That's right. That's true. But he'll be up there cutting for it. This is Andrew Morris of
Great Britain. Right after him will come Li Ning. And the British have not had spectacular success
in the Olympic Games here. Now there was a front somersault straddle position re-catch almost to
the tee and a little bit too conservative. There's his reverse hecked. British much stronger and
optionals than they are in compulsory. They really gave any team chance away in the compulsory
exercises. Now getting set up for his dismount. Triple flyaway right to the seat.
Oh that's unfortunate. He had a good routine going and just over rotated that triple a little
bit. Well if I had to miss it I'd like to miss it on that side though. Yeah. Here's reverse
hecked. No no form deduction there. It's blind change preparing for his inverted giants.
Stoops in. Pulls one not even a full invert over the top and prepares for his dismount
triple triple flyaway. It's a good tap pulls it around nicely and he just pulls it around too far.
And almost every time someone does that we get a conference. Anytime there's a break it almost
always fouls the judges up. I don't know that that's happening here however. Peter Vidmar waiting
around for all of us to see Li Ning's performance. We we told you understand that Li Ning would have
to fire a perfect exercise in order to get a tie with the silver. Here's the gold medalist
and now the tears are gone and the smile is there. And Andrew Morris got a nine three five for that
horizontal bar exercise. Now Li Ning. Well guys it's either gangbusters or jail.
Starts off with a big cast to come right back in with a Stalder and here comes some one-arm work.
Half turn in.
Reverse Hecht. Reverse Stalder and he'll show you a straddle for Ronan. Nope. Change into Eagle
Giants. Hop back out. Now his dismount he claims is a triple flyaway and there it is and that's
how it should be done. That might be a ten. He moved his feet when he landed but I tell you
technically there's a deduction but they might not they might not take it all. He took a move out
that might have cost him valuable points. This little slow motion look will give you an idea
of what goes on with the hands. Releasing and regrasping. You've got to get that dowel over
the bar. That little piece of leather you see there over the bar in order to hang on.
Now his inverted Giants. Stooped in. No deductions in this routine. Didn't even spread his legs on
anything. Here comes the dismount. Didn't hold back at all. Went for a triple back.
Nice and high. One, two, three. Opens up. Now watch him move his feet a little bit there but
it was so slight. Yeah they did. They took took off for it. Nine, nine. Nine, nine, oh and that
means that Li Ning will probably get the bronze and Peter Vidmar the silver. And so Peter can
begin hyperventilating again. And that would that is I believe the first Olympic medal in this event
for an United States person. It absolutely is in history. The gold medalist getting congratulated
there by Tong Fei. A great marvelous evening for the Japanese. And again it maintains that beautiful
international flavor. This is the final. Gushiken, Vidmar, Li Ning. We'll be back in a moment.
Gouji Gushiken has just been given the gold medal. The all-around champion at these Olympic games.
Winner of the silver medal, scoring 118.675. Representing the United States of America.
Peter Vidmar. First United States Olympic medal in the all-around. Peter Vidmar. And I hope a man in Tucson, Arizona who started the United States Gymnastics Federation in his kitchen 22 years ago. Mr. Frank Baer is watching. And now Mike Jackie has been given the gold medal.
And I hope a man in Tucson, Arizona who started the United States Gymnastics Federation in his kitchen 22 years ago. Mr. Frank Baer is watching. And now Mike Jackie, his predecessor, can keep the wheels rolling. Boy, what growth the Federation has had.
The presenters are the Puerto Rican representative to the IOC, German Reckhoff, and Alex Lilo, president of the FIG Men's Technical Committee.
The bronze medal, with a total of 118.575. The representative of China.
Winner of the bronze medal, scoring 118.575. Representing China, Li Ning.
Tong Fei, his teammate, finished fourth. Mitch Gaylord finished fifth. And Bart Conner finished sixth.
And Jack, the difference between third and first here is a bent knee on the one hand and a hop on the other. That's the difference between gold and bronze.
It's amazing how close it was. And to have three Americans in the top six is incredible as well. And a marvelous come from behind victory really for Gushigan.
He finally hit that perfect ten and he then became so consistent with the nine-nines and nine-nine-five.
Jack is truly a fitting champion. The man is one hell of a gentleman.
Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of the national anthem of Japan.
The National Anthem of Japan
The Olympics. Not a confrontation of nations but the achievements of individuals. We'll be back with much more.