It wasn't Khorkina's vault

Svetlana Khorkina: Her last competition?

BBC commentator Barry Davies looks back at a turbulent gymnastics event in Sydney and the contrasting fortunes of two Russian stars.

After the American female gymnasts took centre stage in Atlanta, in my opnion, it was the men who were the stars of the show in Sydney.

Alexei Nemov was a definite star and a crowd pleaser. One of the most impressive things about him was that over over the three days he seemed to control his natural exuberance.

It was his efforts that got Russia to the medals podium, which perhaps suggest a lack of strength in depth among the team.

The men's team was the best competition because, on two counts, the women's was very unsatisfactory.

In the team competition, I don't know how else they could have done it, but if you have six teams in a final and only four pieces of apparatus you have to work out how you spread those across the six countries.

Unfair

The Romanians won the gold medal having sat out the last two rotations.

There have not been too many people who have won their gold medals sitting down!

And then, of course, there was the incident when they found the vault had been set too low. I believe quite strongly they should have stopped the competition then, even if it meant abandoning the gala.

It was unfair. Although they gave gymnasts the opportunity to go again they ignored the affect it had on people who did not do well in the vault.

Andreea Raducan: Games' most unlucky athlete

It's like taking part in a football match where you hit the post three times only to be told afterwards the post was in the wrong place.

I think that rather spoilt the women's competition and really undermined the challenge of Svetlana Khorkina in particular.

Then the girl who won it, Raducan, finished possibly as the unluckiest athlete of the whole Games.

Unlucky

I do not believe she was in anyway a drug cheat. I think she was just extremely unlucky and, obviously, the organisers felt they couldn't make an exception.

It's an argument you can agree with, but it's really hard on her and such a shame.

From a British point of view, getting three girls through to the last 36 was a huge advance for which the lottery deserves a fair amount of praise.

Khorkiina is a star... beyond her gymnastic ability

  Barry Davies

If I had to pick out the most memorable point of the Games, I suppose the nailbiting moment was the women's bars and what happened to Khorkina.

She is a star, there is no doubt about that, beyond her gymnastic ability.

She provided all the drama and sadly I think that may be the last we will see of her. She will probably retire now.