Sovetsky Sport. September 18, 1982. Gymnasts from the first Armed Forces team (B. Makuts, S. Martsinkiv, S. Khizhnyakov, I. Vernyi, V. Goncharov, A. Morozov) became national champions in the team event with 546.45 points. The first Dinamo team was second with 563.9 points, and the first Trud team was third with 561.5 points.
At first, Dinamo was in the lead, while their regular competitors started from third place in the compulsory program: they fell off the horse at the same time. However, when I expressed this idea to one of the many Army coaches, S. Pechendzhiev, whonever goes for a word in his pocket, nonchalantly remarked: "We simply lent them a point on the horse in the compulsory program, and they gave us a point in the optional program, with interest."
But it cannot be overlooked that Dinamo competed half of the second day with only five people: Alexander Tkachev bruised his heel badly when performing a piked double somersault on floor and was forced to withdraw.
Artur Akopyan, the former leader in the individual event, also got an ankle injury during the same event, which he performed for the first time. He sat down, covered his pale face with his hands, and his coach Genrik Vanetsyan turned dark with grief - perhaps the World Cup, which will be held in a month, will take place without him.
Now, based on the above, it seems quite inconvenient and out of place for me to talk about the urgent need for risk. For example, it would seem that one should symphathize with the all-around world champion Yuri Korolev or be indignant that the young man fell off the pommel horse again, earning only 9.1 (in Moscow a year ago he got 9.95). Or maybe, one is perplexed that the world champion on parallel bars, Alexander Dityatin, due to errors on this apparatus, received only 9.4, and on the floor landed face down on the mat (9.1). Maybe it's time to get discouraged?
But I'm talking about something else. About that very "madness of the brave," in which, as the Classics teach us, lies the wisdom of life. More precisely, that if you stop searching and hesitate, you will be beaten.
What element did Korolev stumble on? The "Delesalle scissors," which he was performing for the first time, and tried to switch back to regular scissors, i.e., with a very rare connection which enriched the champion's already-impressive routine. Dityatin stumbled on the floor mat performing a double somersault with two twists - his novelty. On the parallel bars, he did a 360-degree "overturn."
The judging code does not say that if you did it for the first time then the mistake is forgiven for the first time. And it's right that this doesn't appear. But there is another, moral, account I'm talking about now. We can remember the tragic - I can't find another word - fate of other great champions of the past, who once rose to the top, vowed never to lose again and, in order not to make mistakes, stopped learning new things. And this is where their decline began. Today in gymnastics the alternative is categorical - constant innovation is the key to victory, and repetition of what has already been done is like death. So, honor and praise to those who, having swallowed their own pride and ambition, sacrifice temporary success to seek new, lasting success. Praise goes to Korolev, Dityatin, and Pavel Sut, who on parallel bars performed a twisting somersault below the bars.
Special honor and praise go to Bogdan Makuts. When I saw his new element on the same parallel bars (again, such an attack is being made on this conservative apparatus), at first I didn't understand anything: it seemed like a Diomidov turn, but it didn't seem to be that. I went to Sergei Diomidov himself and asked for an explanation. Sergei wrote on a piece of paper: "With a forward swing, a 540-degree pirouette through a handstand to behind." To make it more clear to you, it looks like this: Makuts does a "twirl" as if not tightening it, and then goes back from the handstand, shoulder back, seemingly falling on his back, and masterfully prevents the fall with a stop. In short, this is a must-see. Diomidov's element was performed in the mid 1960s. It took more than a decade and a half for a new element to be born - the "Makuts turntable."
After two days, the record-holder became the leader - ahead of Sut and his fellow countryman, Stepan Martsinkiv, who this year was third at the Riga tournament, at the USSR Cup, and at the Youth Games.
In conclusion, a few words about the new, to to speak, "star." His name is Dima Bilozerchev. A Muscovite, an Army man. A student of coach A. Alexandrov. Just imagine - he's not even 16 years old. He was admitted to the adult competition "in exhibition only," under the strictest rule of exclusion. I'm not in favor of mindlessly jumping through age groups - all my life I've been advocating moderation in this matter, but what can you say if a guy not only has an athlete's figure and a mustache sprouting under his nose?
This guy is a wisp: Bilozerchev on the pommel horse, for example, does the Delasalle back and forth, and lightly and elegantly jumps over the pommels; on the parallel bars he performs the same "scissors" and then a giant swing; on the high bar he does a Tkachev, a Delchev, a one-arm giant, and a dismount of one and a half somersaults with a 180-degree twist. This is how acceleration grows, and the little devil isn't afraid of anyone - what's there to hold him back?
On Friday evening, the all-around champion of the USSR became B. Makuts - 115.65. In second place was P. Sut (114.525) and in third was Yu. Korolev (114.4).
TECHNICAL RESULTS
48th USSR gymnastics championship. Chelyabinsk.
Men. Sum of compulsory and optional programs. Optional scores are in brackets. 1. B. Makuts (Army 1) - 115.1 (9.8, 9.45, 9.75, 9.45, 9.6, 9.75); 2. P. Sut (Trud) - 114.525 (9.3, 9.65, 9.5, 9.5, 9.55, 9.65); 3. S. Martsinkiv (Army 1) - 113.3 (9.55, 9.6, 9.4,, 9.4, 9.2, 9.45); 4. V. Artemov (Burevestnik) - 113.25; 5. A. Dityatin (Dinamo 1) - 113.05; 6. Yu. Korolev (Spartak) - 112.8.
Team results. 1. Army 1 - 565.45; 2. Dinamo 1 - 563.9; 3. Trud 1 - 561.5; 4. Burevestnik - 557.7; 5. Labor Reserves - 554.05; 6. Spartak - 553.25.
S. TOKAREV