slow in performance (short-lived bursty TCP connections) if it was ever used to transfer resource heavy HTML pages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol)#Reception

Well duh. A bicycle is also overloaded and cumbersome, if it was ever used as a car.

Edit: to clarify, the whole point of the gemini web is to avoid heavy and complex site layouts. Automatic embedding and stuff just doesn’t happen there. Also doesn’t use HTML but Gemtext. So, short-lived and bursty connections, are a ideal fit.