Sovetsky Sport. June 20, 1980. The USSR Cup in gymnastics started yesterday at the Sports Palace of the V.I. Lenin Central Stadium. Almost all of the strongest entered the fight, with the exception of Nelli Kim (she caught a cold) and Nikolai Andrianov (he bruised a rib the day before yesterday, but a council headed by Z. Mironova herself guaranteed that the all-around champion of Montreal would start training in three days).
So, the men's compulsory. The quiet roar of the arena, the deliberately calm remarks of the coaches. There is no standing ovation in the compulsory program. Here everything seems to be the same, with only nuances known to the connoisseurs.
Alexander Dityatin, the current all-around world champion, appears to us in this capacity for the first time: he was ill during the national championship. Today he started very strong: 9.7 on pommel horse, 9.7 on rings, 9.65 on vault, 9.7 on parallel bars... A champion series of scores.
Nevertheless, it was necessary to see his first approach to the platform. Before him, A. Akopyan worked on the pommels. He finished. Judge S. Diomidov gathered the other judges to discuss something. Dityatin suffered. He couldn't stand it. He ran up the stairs to the platform. He stands, rubs his palms with magnesium even though they are already white, while someone elses's number is on the scoreboard. He went down the stairs, then up again. And if he - impenetrable - still got a little nervous...
Here's the thing. The selection of the Olympic team has not been completed, and although someone is more confident and someone is less confident, until the moment when the head coach Leonid Arkaev lines up the gymnasts and clearly announces who is in the line-up, who is a reserve, and who else should wait in the wings, up to this moment, no matter how many titles you have...here you are chalking and chalking your palms, and they are sweating with excitement.
V. Markelov made a mistake on the rings (8.85), and his dismount on the high bar was inaccurate. A. Tkachev slightly spoiled his parallel bar exercise with a not quite clean dismount.
And thus, it turned out that they, without which the team cannot exist (I don't think it can), are bypassed by those whose chances are somewhat more problematic.
However, back to Dityatin. His broad, slow but powerful manner resembles the flight of a large bird. And although his last two scores are somewhat lower than the previous ones (9.5 and 9.45), but honestly it seems that he saved himself for the optional program. He quickly conquered himself, and when Alexander does this, his brain is exactly like a computer.
Who is following him? From the first to the last event, Eduard Azaryan was second, and he also grew powerful and self-confident. He was especially good on the rings (9.7), which is quite natural. Bogdan Makuts, a living spring, easily went from event to event, as if it cost him nothing. Broad-shouldered, angular Fedor Kulaksivoz fought like a lion. Everything is clear - these three have nothing to lose; if they succeed, they will get an Olympic ticket.
So, here are the top six after the compulsory program: Dityatin - 57.75; Azaryan - 57.35; Makuts - 57.15; Kulaksizov - 57.05; Tkachev - 56.95; Akopyan - 56.65
The women joined the fight late in the evening.
S. TOKAREV