I Got Per-Country-ed at the Olympics

What better way to prepare for the Olympics than by talking about per-country rules.

Per-country rules were instituted at the Olympics in 1976, limiting participation in the all-around final to three athletes per country and participation in the event finals to two athletes per country. Starting with the 2004 Olympics, participation in the all-around final was also limited to two athletes per country.

What follows is an accounting of all the women’s athletes who finished in the qualification places (that is, top 36 AA from 1976-2000 and top 24 AA from 2004-2016; top 6 on events from 1976-1980 and top 8 on events from 1984-2016) but were eliminated from finals because of per-country rules.

This does not include those who placed outside the cutoff but were later skipped over for other athletes when accounting for per-country (for example, Gabrielle Douglas’s 10th place finish on floor in 2016) because if per-country didn’t exist, they still would not have qualified.

First, some superlatives.

Finished 3rd and didn’t make the final

Gabrielle Douglas, 2016 All-Around
Natalia Shaposhnikova, 1980 Bars
Maria Filatova, 1976 Vault
Svetlana Grozdova, 1976 Floor

Per-country-ed out of two Olympic all-around finals

Cristina Grigoras, 1984 and 1980
Maria Filatova, 1980 and 1976
Eva Ovari, 1980 and 1976

The 3(+) timers club

Cristina Grigoras, 1984 All-Around, Vault, Bars, Floor; 1980 All-Around
Mihaela Stanulet, 1980 All-Around, Vault, Beam
Michelle Dusserre, 1984 All-Around, Bars, Floor
Maria Filatova, 1980 All-Around, 1976 All-Around, Vault
Elvira Saadi, 1976 All-Around, Beam, Floor


Romania

Lavinia Agache – 1984 – All-Around – 11th place
Oana Ban – 2004 – Balance Beam – 5th place
Loredana Boboc – 2000 – All-Around – 17th place
Cristina Bontas – 1992 – Uneven Bars – 8th place*
Mariana Constantin – 1976 – Uneven Bars – 6th place
Laura Cutina – 1984 – Vault – 8th place*
Laura Cutina – 1984 – Balance Beam – 8th place
Aurelia Dobre – 1988 – Balance Beam – 4th place
Rodica Dunca – 1980 – Balance Beam – 4th place
Georgeta Gabor – 1976 – All-Around – 21st place
Gina Gogean – 1992 – Floor Exercise – 8th place*
Eugenia Golea – 1988 – All-Around – 18th place
Anca Grigoras – 1976 – All-Around – 15th place
Anca Grigoras – 1976 – Balance Beam – 4th place
Cristina Grigoras – 1984 – All-Around – 8th place
Cristina Grigoras – 1984 – Vault – 8th place*
Cristina Grigoras – 1984 – Uneven bars – 8th place*
Cristina Grigoras – 1984 – Floor Exercise – 7th place
Cristina Grigoras – 1980 – All-Around – 15th place
Vanda Hadarean – 1992 – All-Around – 11th place
Ionela Loaies – 1996 – All-Around – 23rd place
Maria Neculita – 1992 – All-Around – 17th place
Mirela Pasca – 1992 – All-Around – 19th place
Celestina Popa – 1988 – All-Around – 10th place
Celestina Popa – 1988 – Balance Beam – 7th place
Melita Ruhn – 1980 – All-Around – 13th place
Mihaela Stanulet – 1984 – All-Around – 10th place
Mihaela Stanulet – 1984 – Balance Beam – 6th place
Mihaela Stanulet – 1984 – Vault – 8th place*
Anamaria Tamarjan – 2008 – All-Around – 16th place
Gabriela Trusca – 1976 – All-Around – 18th place
Mirela Tugurlan – 1996 – All-Around – 15th place
Dumitrita Turner – 1980 – All-Around – 22nd place
Camelia Voinea – 1988 – All-Around – 22nd place

United States

Mohini Bhardwaj – 2004 – All-Around – 8th place
Pam Bileck – 1984 – All-Around – 17th place
Pam Bileck – 1984 – Floor Exercise – 7th place
Wendy Bruce – 1992 – All-Around – 28th place
Dominique Dawes – 1992 – All-Around – 26th place
Gabrielle Douglas – 2016 – All-Around – 3rd place
Gabrielle Douglas – 2016 – Balance Beam – 7th place
Michelle Dusserre – 1984 – All-Around – 12th place
Michelle Dusserre – 1984 – Uneven Bars – 4th place
Michelle Dusserre – 1984 – Floor Exercise – 5th place
Laurie Hernandez – 2016 – Floor Exercise – 4th place
Kathy Johnson – 1984 – Vault – 5th place
Kathy Johnson – 1984 – Uneven Bars – 8th place*
Courtney McCool – 2004 – All-Around – 13th place
Betty Okino – 1992 – Vault – 5th place
Carly Patterson – 2004 – Uneven Bars – 8th place
Jaycie Phelps – 1996 – All-Around – 17th place
Aly Raisman – 2016 – Balance Beam – 7th place
Kyla Ross – 2012 – Balance Beam – 6th place
Alicia Sacramone – 2008 – Balance Beam – 4th place
Bridget Sloan – 2008 – All-Around – 11th place
Chelle Stack – 1988 – All-Around – 32nd place
Kerri Strug – 1992 – All-Around – 14th place
Tracee Talavera – 1984 – All-Around – 16th place
Jordyn Wieber – 2012 – All-Around – 4th place

Soviet Union/Unified Team

Svetlana Baitova – 1988 – All-Around – 13th place
Svetlana Baitova – 1988 – Balance Beam – 7th place
Oksana Chusovitina – 1992 – All-Around – 30th place
Elena Davydova – 1980 – Floor Exercise – 5th place*
Maria Filatova – 1980 – All-Around – 7th place
Maria Filatova – 1976 – All-Around – 9th place
Maria Filatova – 1976 – Vault – 3rd place
Svetlana Grozdova – 1976 – All-Around – 9th place
Svetlana Grozdova – 1976 – Floor Exercize – 3rd place
Elena Grudneva – 1992 – All-Around – 22nd place
Nellie Kim – 1980 – Balance Beam – 4th place*
Natalia Laschenova – 1988 – Vault – 4th place
Natalia Laschenova – 1988 – Floor Exercise – 5th place
Yelena Naimushina – 1980 – All-Around – 12th place
Yelena Naimushina – 1980 – Floor Exercise – 5th place*
Elvira Saadi – 1976 – All-Around – 7th place
Elvira Saadi – 1976 – Balance Beam – 5th place
Elvira Saadi – 1976 – Floor Exercise – 6th place*
Natalia Shaposhnikova – 1980 – Uneven Bars – 3rd place*
Elena Shevchenko – 1988 – All-Around – 14th place
Olga Strazheva – 1988 – Vault – 6th place
Olga Strazheva – 1988 – Uneven Bars – 5th place
Stella Zakharova – 1980 – All-Around – 8th place
Stella Zakharova – 1980 – Balance Beam – 4th place*

China

Deng Linlin – 2008 – All-Around – 9th place
He Xuemei – 1992 – All-Around – 27th place
Huang Mandan – 2000 – Uneven Bars – 5th place
Huang Qin – 1984 – All-Around – 21st place
Huang Qiushuang – 2012 – Uneven Bars – 7th place
Li Yifang – 1992 – Balance Beam – 8th place
Wang Huiyung – 1988 – All-Around – 34th place
Yang Yun – 2000 – Balance Beam – 8th place
Yao Jinnan – 2012 – All-Around – 22nd place
Zhang Xia – 1992 – All-Around – 35th place
Zhou Qiuri – 1984 – All-Around – 19th place

East Germany

Carola Dombeck – 1976 – All-Around – 33rd place
Gabriela Fähnrich – 1988 – All-Around – 25th
Angelika Hellman – 1976 – All-Around – 13th place
Silvia Hindorff – 1980 – All-Around – 21st place
Steffi Kräker – 1976 – All-Around – 21st place
Katharina Rensch – 1980 – Vault – 6th place*
Bettina Schieferdecker – 1988 – All-Around – 30th place
Karola Sube – 1980 – All-Around – 23rd place
Birgit Süß – 1980 – All-Around – 17th place
Birgit Süß – 1980 – Vault – 6th place*

Russia

Ksenia Afanasyeva – 2008 – All-Around – 6th place
Anastasia Grishina – 2012 – All-Around – 12th place
Elena Grosheva – 1996 – All-Around – 14th place
Svetlana Khorkina – 1996 – Balance Beam – 6th place
Ekaterina Kramarenko – 2008 – All-Around – 10th place
Angelina Melnikova – 2016 – All-Around – 22nd place
Ksenia Semenova – 2008 – Balance Beam – 8th place
Elena Zamolodchikova – 2004 – All-Around – 20th place

Hungary

Menke Almasi – 1980 – All-Around – 29th place
Erzsebet Hanti – 1980 – All-Around – 36th place
Marta Kelemen – 1976 – All-Around – 34th place
Maria Lovey – 1976 – All-Around – 27th place
Eva Ovari – 1980 – All-Around – 29th place
Eva Ovari – 1976 – All-Around – 25th place

Czechoslovakia

Dana Brydlova – 1980 – All-Around – 26th place
Eva Poradkova – 1976 – All-Around – 29th place
Anita Sauerova – 1980 – All-Around – 33rd place
Katarina Sarisska – 1980 – All-Around – 19th place
Drahomira Smolikova – 1976 – All-Around – 29th place

Bulgaria

Kamelia Eftimova – 1980 – All-Around – 34th place
Dimitrinka Filipova – 1980 – All-Around – 35th place
Mariya Kartalova – 1988 – All-Around – 35th place
Ivelina Raykova – 1988 – All-Around – 20th place

Ukraine

Alona Kavsha – 2004 – All-Around – 21st place
Anna Mirgorodskaya – 1996 – All-Around – 21st place
Tatiana Yarosh – 2000 – All-Around – 29th place

West Germany

Angela Golz – 1984 – All-Around – 31st place
Brigitta Lehmann – 1984 – All-Around – 31st place
Heike Schwarm – 1984 – All-Around – 31st place

Japan

Kawase Tokie – 1984 – All-Around – 31st place
Sugihara Aiko – 2016 – All-Around – 16th place

Canada

Jessica Tudos – 1984 – All-Around – 36th place
Gigi Zosa – 1984 – All-Around – 28th place

Great Britain

Jennifer Pinches – 2012 – All-Around – 21st place

France

Emile Volle – 1996 – All-Around – 36th place

Spain

Eva Rueda – 1992 – All-Around – 32nd place

*Athlete tied for last spot in final, and it is unrecorded whether they lost out because of per-country rules or simply on a tiebreak.

9 thoughts on “I Got Per-Country-ed at the Olympics”

  1. I totally disagree with the policy, but I’m looking forward to some drama.

    For example, if Day 2 of OT were Qualifications in Tokyo with the 6 USA women going:
    -AA Suni & Simone (Simone was 0.034 from being 2 per’d by Suni (58.166) and Jordan (57.499) with her 57.533 performance.
    -VT Simone & MyKayla
    -UB Suni & Jordan
    -BB Suni & Grace
    -FX Simone & Jordan

    Obviously we expect Simone to have a better day, but we’re expecting Jade, Suni and Grace to be much better with *hopefully* full recoveries at peak performance. I can’t wait for that AA policy to yield epic results for USAG.

  2. I also think Lavinia Milosovici finished 3rd on Vault in 1996 and knocked out of the final by Simona Amanar and Gina Gogean.

  3. Dawes was originally 2 per’d on FX in 1996 finishing 7th. Strug was 1st and Moceanu was 4th. Dawes got in because of Strug’s injury.

    Miller was 10th on vault so she was not 2 per’d by Strug and Dawes. She was next in line because Milo was 3rd but 2 per’d and Bogi was the last qualifier in 9th. So Miller in 10th got to go because of Strug. Amy Chow was 11th and Ji Liya 12th.

  4. What about Tan Xiajin? I think in 2014 the Chinese went 1 2 3 in UB qualification and she got kicked out.

    1. Correct! Ekaterina of Russia was actually also kept out of that final by two of her fellow countrywomen

    1. This list will massively expanded after tokyo for many of the teams depending on how many decided to compete more than 1 events

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