Gymnastics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games:

As in 1992, eight gymnasts advanced to the final round based on the qualifying scores in the team all-around, with a maximum of two per nation, but the final placements were determined only by the score posted in the final round. Russia’s [Svetlana Khorkina] was a specialist in this event, as she was relatively tall for a female gymnast in this era (165 cm) and her tall and lithe body made her swings appear more impressive. She had won the 1995 World Championships and was the silver medalist in 1994. She won the gold medal in Atlanta, although it was relatively close as she had a margin of only 0.013 points over China’s [Bi Wenjing] and American [Amy Chow], who shared silver medals.

Khorkina would compete through the 2004 Olympics. She was a three-time world all-around champion (1997, 2001, 2003), but never managed gold in that event at the Olympics, placing second in 2004. On the uneven bars, her record is unchallenged as she defended her gold medal in 2000, won five World titles (1995-97, 1999, 2001), and six European titles in a row (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004).