Reward for Courage

Pravda, 19 October 1981   "The world championships in gymnastics will soon take place in Moscow. Probably there will be a lot written about its participants. But I'd like the newspaper to write about the fate of the outstanding Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina. How is her health?" asks A. Chernenko from Makeevki, N. Simakov from Karaganda, and others.

The room is bright. In the window, bursting with bright rays, the October sun is peering through, illimunating on the window sill the tender petals of scarlet asters. Lena is lying with her palms on her cheeks and reading a book. She reads a lot now.

Elena Mukhina is known throughout the sports world. Gymnastics lovers have always been struck by her inherent style. She distinguished herself with the exceptional complexity of her routines that she performed with surprising ease. Complexity and simplicity - what lay between these two poles - is easy to guess: hard training, followed by joy and despair, ups and downs, disputes and searches for new elements that even experienced gymnasts found breathtaking. Elena Mukhina was all of these things. She and her coach, Mikhail Klimenko. They tried to be pioneers in everything, to make their own "word" in gymnastics.

After the 1978 world championships in the French city of Strasbourg, where Mukhina won the highest award in the all-around, one of the local newspapers put it this way. "Several thousand spectators gathered that evening in the stands of the "Penieu" hall and enthusiastically welcomed the new world champion. This charming Russian girl won us, the French, as well as all those who watched her magnificent performances. It was as if she synthesized in herself the fantastic technique of performing super-complex compositions with the bravery of Olga Korbut, the grace and plasticity of Elvira Saadi, and the inner concentration of Ludmila Turischeva. And with all this, the style of this Muscovite is vividly individual. She can't be confused with anyone!"

Lena didn't make it to the Montreal Olympics. She had one training goal - Moscow 1980. Her program was polished, she calmed down, and everything went well. With her character and efficiency, she was close to reaching the highest peaks.

The accident happaned 20 days before the start of the Moscow Olympics. During training in Minsk, Lena worked on a new element, prepared especially for the Games, a tumble on floor exercise, "one and one half flips with a full turn." At the time, this element was performed only by men. She would be the first female to do it. She had already done the complex somersault without a hitch, but wanted to do it even better. Her last attempt wasn't successful, and she fell...

The impact wasn't on her neck, says the professor, a Doctor of Medical Sciences, the head of the clinic of spinal cord injuries at the Institute of Neurology named after N.N. Burdenko of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, A. Livshits. She broke 3 vertebrae, and paralysis of the hands, feet, and breathing occurred. A few hours later, Livshits arrived in Minsk. Lena's state was critical, and the doctors' council decided to operate. One cannot emphasize enough the complexity of this operation. The surgery lasted four and one half hours. Neurosurgeons from Moscow, Leningrad, and Byelorussia fought to save the girl's life. In the morning, the patient showed the first signs of movement.

She was loved by the whole sports world, and this world was agitated. Calls, telegrams, letters... But there were those who tried in vain to play on another's grief. Some Western newspapers and "voices" who supported the shameful introduction of the boycott of the Moscow Olympics, shouted that without Mukhina the team of Soviet gymnasts was depressed and that the gold can be taken from them. Yes, Maria Filatova, Nellie Kim, Elena Davydova, and even those who weren't personally acquainted with Lena, also grieved. It was such a misfortune! But they weren't afraid to compete. They felt sorry for their Lenka. How could they help her? They knew her chareacter, the character of a true athlete. And they had to show that same character on the Olympic platform, and pour into themselves Lena's moral forces for a new victory for Soviet sport. And that's what they did. Gold in the individual competition was won by E. Davydova, and the USSR team won first place. It was excellent medicine from friends.

She is never alone. And this isn't surprising. That is another striking example of our Soviet way of life, of a person who has been in trouble. Mukhina has been surrounded by and cared for by scores of people from the Sports Committee of the USSR, the Central Committee of the Young Communist League, and the Central Army Sports Club, from institutes and from the clinic itself. Frequent visitors are coach Mikhail Klimenko and Olympic champion Lidia Ivanova, and for hours she is treated by a specialist in physiotherapy, Nina Lebedeva, who is a kind and sincere person. In the daytime, students and teachers of the Institute of Physical Culture are on duty with her, and students of the 2nd Medical School are on duty at her bedside at night. And, of course, her grandmother Anna Ivanovna. Masha Filatova, Nellie Kim, and other athletes, coaches, and friends often come to visit her. And hundreds of people from different countries help Lena cope with her health.

"The restorative period," says Arkady Vladimirovich Livshits, "is designed for the long term. I'm optimistic about her future. I'm confident that Mukhina will return to socially useful activities. Look at her: she's cheerful, happy, and energetic."

According to the doctors, Elena Mukhina showed extraordinary courage and steadfastness and a strong character during the months of the recovery period.

Elena Mukhina, who made a great contribution to the development of Soviet sport, was awarded the Order of Honor. Recently, at the 84th session of the IOC in Baden-Baden, the Soviet gymnast was awarded a silver medal by the IOC, which is awarded for outstanding services in the field of sports. This honorable award is marked first of all by courage - the main feature of great athletes.

She still has sports in her soul. And we believe that the time will come when she will return to the gym. Not for training and performances, but as a coach or judge.

This page was created on August 23, 2018.