Sovetsky Sport. September 21, 1982. The USSR gymnastics championships ended in Chelyabinsk with the awarding of medals in individual events. For the women, all the gold went to Rostov-on-Don, to V. Rastorotsky's school: Natalia Yurchenko won vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, and Albina Shishova won balance beam. For the men, Bogdan Makuts (rings, horizontal bar) and Yuri Korolev (floor exercise, parallel bars) each won two gold medals, Dinamo's Vladimir Artemev was first on pommel horse, and Army club member Igor Tashlikov was first on vault.
The new, as we know, is the firmly forgotten old. Tashlikov showed off a vault that was unveiled (in a slightly different interpretation) by Alexander Katkov at the USSR Spartakiad eleven years ago - an Arabian somersault. Maybe in another ten years it will enter the general repertoire?
During the event finals, participants who think freshly and unconventionally catch the eye more vividly than in the all-around competition. For example, it is the Army man V. Tsvetkov, who showed a two and half somersault forward on the vault, it is the young Chelyabinsk gymnast R. Gabitov from Trud, who has an original combination on the floor - from Delasalle scissors to a handstand with turns (of the same type as the Olympic champion S. Grozdova once performed).
But here's a thought. The routine on the apparatus must, in principle, correspond to the original idea of the apparatus - to show, first of all, the athlete's highly-advanced qualities. What's on the rings? Strength comes first. But purely strength connections aren't enough if, say, A. Atakhanov from Burevestnik and Yu. Balabanov from Dinamo perform three elements in a row, then the soul rejoices. But this is not five, like Dityatin.
Let's take a look at the women's part of the event finals. Today the uneven bars are similar to the men's high bar. There are giant swings, Delchevs and Tkachevs. Tricks are difficult, but you look and don't understand why the lower bar is attached to the uneven bars. Meanwhile, the design of the apparatus dictates the direction of execution of non-standard options, and our foreign rivals often fruitfully use this path.
As for the balance beam routines, they also often lose the idea of testing one's sense of balance. The apparatus has turned into a tumbling track - but a narrow one. From this point of view, Shishova's routine is radically different from the others, and should be called "the selected works of V. S. Rastorotsky," since there are Turischeva's forward rolls, and Shaposhnikova's planche, and a somersault with a twist choreographed for Shishova. Yurchenko's loop is also impressive (the unusual trick where Natasha flips in the air across the beam and wraps herself around it should be given a better name). But what about Yurchenko falling again with an incredibly difficult mount - a round-off to a one-leg landing - makes me remember how many times Turischeva failed to get to a handstand on the uneven bars. At the time Rastorotsky was told: "Throw out that cursed handstand, to hell with it." But he persisted. And over time, his famous pupil learned to do the trick even with her eyes closed.
Now, as usual, about floor exercises. How can one not sigh about the past, about the concerts that the floor exercise finals turned into? And here, all these days not a single girl had a single smile on her face - oh, how little inspiration! Of course, if you're only thinking about how to make your twist tighter, there's no time for smiles. But if plasticity, artistry, and aesthetics cease to be such reliable weapons for us as in the recent past, they will eventually become reliable weapons for our competitors.
In order to improve the choreographic culture, A. Radionenko invited People's Artist of the Belarussian SSR V. Davydov to work with the team, but according to the ideas of the senior coach, he only has a barre (in ballet lexicon), and it's only a class, and the performances should be done locally. The idea is correct in principle - the original practice, when the national team choreographer created everything for everyone, sometimes leads to standardization of the routines.
But let's ask ourselves: do we have enough strength on the floor? Yes, in Moscow there is L. Sokolova, G. Savarina, and E. Kapitanova (you can feel her daring style in Mostepanova's routine), A. Selezneva in Leningrad (it would be a pity if she moves away from gymnastics completely), V. Kosolapova in Minsk, N. Marakova in Alma-Ata. However, in general there is a shortage of qualified choreographers. Should we approach the relevant organizations with a proposal that the training course for sports choreographers at the State Institute of Theatre Arts be open not only to figure skaters but also to gymnasts? Or maybe the idea of creating an artistic council for our national team isn't such a pipe dream after all?
In conclusion, I will return to the question of the location of the championship. Who is to blame for the fact that it was in an athletics arena? Not the local organizations, at least. They did everything they could, and if it were not for the help of the Sports Palace team (director P. Romanovsky) nothing would have worked out at all. But what to do, since the Gymnastics Directorate of the USSR Sports Committee could not agree with the Hockey Directorate on a "window" in the national championship, nor did it accept other proposed dates? Of course, if the leadership of our gymnastics was satisfied with the situation in which the championship was watched by less than a thousand spectators at a time, that was a matter for the leadership. But that is to the detriment of the promotion of gymnastics, no doubt.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
42nd USSR gymnastics championships in the individual events. Chelyabinsk. Finals scores in brackets.
Women
VT: 1. N. Yurchenko (Dinamo) - 19.575 (9.9); 2. A. Shishova (Dinamo) - 19.475 (9.85); 3. O. Mostepanova (Dinamo) -- 19.3 (9.6).
UB: 1. Yurchenko - 19.45 (9.6); 2. Mostepanova - 19.3 (9.6); 3. Shishova - 18.775 (9.6).
BB: 1. Shishova - 19.075 (9.8); 2. L. Kovalenko (Army) - 18.85 (9.5); 3. Mostepanova - 18.8 (9.65).
FX: 1. Yurchenko - 19.55 (9.85); 2. Mostepanova - 19.3 (9.8); 3. E. Prusova (Trud) - 19. 05 (9.7).
Men
FX: 1. Yu. Korolev (Spartak) - 19.325 (9.75); 2. B. Makuts (Army) - 19.15 (9.55); 3. D. Bilozerchev (Army) - 19.0 (9.6).
PH: 1. V. Artemev (Dinamo) - 19.4 (9.7); 2. S. Martsinkiv (Army) and Bilozerchev - both 19.275 (both 9.8).
RG:1. Makuts - 19.475 (9.8); 2. A. Atakhanov (Burevestnik) - 19.05 (9.5); 3. Yu. Balabanov (Dinamo) - 18.975 (9.55).
VT: 1. I. Tashlikov (Army) - 19.375 (9.825); 2. Korolev - 19.025 (9.525); 3. V. Levenkov (Dinamo) - 19.025 (9.5).
PH: 1. Korolev - 19.1 (9.6); 2. Makuts - 19.1 (9.55); 3. V. Artemov (Burevestnik) - 19.05 (9.55).
HB: 1. Makuts - 19.725 (10.0); 2. Balabanov - 19.65 (9.95); 3. P. Sut (Trud) - 19.575 (9.9).
S. TOKAREV