Sovetsky Sport. January 4, 1978. Visiting Card: Natalia Tereschenko. Born 1962. Lives in the village of Ust-Omchug, Magadan region. "Trud" Society. Winner of the 1975 youth championship of the country among candidates for master of sport. Silver medalist of the 14th Spartakiad for Schoolchildren in 1976 and the 2nd All-Union Youth Sports Games. Coach - Eduard Nechai.
When they want to show the breadth of the geography of our women's gymnastics, they always name Natasha Tereschenko. She lives in the distant village of Ust-Omchug, in the Tenkinsky district of the Magadan region. From Moscow to Magadan on an IL-18 it's a ten-hour flight, and then another 270 kilometers to get to the village.
To the surprised question: "Why do you work there?" Eduard Petrovich Nechai replies with no less surprise: "Why shouldn't we work there? The conditions are no worse than others. We have our own comprehensive sports school with skiing, boxing and gymnastics. By the way, we have four coaches and 120 young gymnasts."
In fact, Nechai himself was born in the Amur region, then his parents moved to Ukraine, to Kirovograd. He was a gymnast, graduated from the institute, and coached. He came across Natasha Tereschenko, and Eduard Petrovich immediately saw the talent in her. It seemed like everything was going well. OK, not really. The gym was bad and the equipment was old.
Nechai decided to leave with his wife - they worked as a pair. Natasha'a parents unexpectedly and easily agreed to the move. "Honor Magadan like Magadan. There is work everywhere."
"I couldn't live without the taiga. It captivated me. I'm an avid hunter and fisherman. I also felt that things would go better for me away from well-traveled roads. I didn't give up learning about coaching and subscribed to the methodological literature." Nechai mused about the past.
Natasha Tereshenko finished fifth at the 1977 USSR Cup. Nechai was sitting on the podium, seemingly calm, and when I asked if he was pleased with Natasha - after all, it was the first time she finished so high - Eduard Petrovich answered: "It's a pity that her back arched. She had bobbles here and there."
I traveled to Moscow with Nechai in the same train compartment, and he wrote something in a thick notebook almost all night. "It was the training plan," he explained in the morning. "Natasha will prepare for the World Cup."
In competitions of recent years, Tereschenko has always been in the conoisseurs' field of view. Her routines are powerful and well-tailored. Her vault and floor exercises are at the level of world standards. That's her. Natasha Tereschenko was the first in the world to perform a Tsukahara vault with a twist. Then Nelli Kim learned the valt, and it brought her Olympic gold.
An important feature is in those girls who are now noticeable on the platform. All of them have a character with 'pepper.' "I've heard this about Filatova, and about Shaposhnikova, and about Mukhina, and about Kim. And my Natasha likes to debate and is a little stubborn," smiles Nechai.
"Here's one detail. Four years ago we taught her a double somersault on the floor. Suddenly she found out that somewhere at a competition this unprecedented trick had already been performed. I saw that Natasha completely lost her spirit, and she wasn't interested in training. It wasn't to her liking, you see. I offered to teach her how to add a twist. And she immediately perked up. By the way, if you start teaching Natasha something, she won't stop until she has mastered it. She mastered the double somersault and twisted her vault."
Here's the latest news: at the USSR youth championship, held in mid-December in Cherepovets, Tereschenko took second place in the all-around and won three apparatus finals: vault, floor, and beam. Moreover, Natasha showed a new vault - a Tsukahara with a 540-degree twist. So she really wants to be the first.
G. VLADIMIROV