Looking back on Rhythmic Gymnastics

Following up to my recent post looking back on the 1996 Olympics, I thought I would share one of the photos I made while assigned to cover the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition. Sports Illustrated ran a photo I made of the gold medalist, but my favorite photo from the competition was of Elena Vitrichenko of the Ukraine, left, who placed third overall. This picture seemed to capture just how amazing, shocking and humorous the sport is. These athletes were incredibly agile and flexible and exhibited incredible precision. Needless to say, it was a difficult sport to photograph because the action happened so fast. While positioned on the floor on the edge of the mat, I made this image with a Canon 200mm f/1.8 lens, which Canon unfortunately doesn't make anymore.