Sovetsky Sport. April 17, 1984. At the national championship in gymnastics, after the compulsory program the leaders are Minsk resident Yuri Balabanov with 57.95 points and Muscovite Olga Mostepanova with 38.85 points.
Two days of competition have already passed, the intensity of the rivalry has completely captured the audience, but you can't help remember the opening of the championship - it was extraordinary. In Donetsk, a farewell ceremony took place for two outstanding gymnasts from the sport: the Olympic all-around champion and the 1979 all-around world champion Alexander Dityatin, and the Olympic, world and European champion Alexander Tkachev.
They will both turn 27 this year and they, full of strength and desire, remain in gymnastics - they will be coaches and educate young masters.
Last year, both Alexanders competed at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, and today they are already strictly judging the skill of their successors. How did they comment on the performances of the gymnasts in the compulsory program?
Alexander Dityatin: I liked the Minsk resident Yuri Balabanov. I know his optional routines very well, they are original, but at "school" he really revealed himself, perhaps for the first time. It's very imortant that Yuri showed excellent, almost standard, performance of the compulsory exercises. This means that he was equipped at the highest technical level. Rings - 9.9, parallel bars - 9.8, floor - 9.7. These scores speak for themselves given the strict judging rules. Vladimir Artemov from Vladimir also showed smooth overall preparation with scores ranging from 9.55 to 9.65. He has clearly improved the elegance of his performance.
Alexander Tkachev: I thought that the leader would be the 1981 all-around world champion Yuri Korolev from Vladimir - he performed cleanly on all events and was in second, but on the pommel horse he suddenly dropped off (8.7) and immediately found himself in ninth place. It will be difficult for him to climb up now... I was happy for Minsk resident Pavel Sut - after the 1981 world championship, where he greatly helped the team win the gold medal, he had a decline and some kind of back luck. But now Pasha has regained confidence.
The girls actually had higher scores. It should be noted that the current compulsory program clearly does not correspond to the difficulty of modern women's gymnastics: the routines are too simple. But, of course, in order to stand out on the platform, you need to perform the elements at some "cosmic" level, at the maximum amplitude, bordering on the risk of falling. Muscovite Olya Mostepanova showed this amazing precision of execution.
The way she presented every element, every connection - it was simply amazing! Without effort, simply and naturally, Olya surprised me in this academic compulsory. No, I'm not overpraising her: what happened was what happened. She was especially successful on floor (9.85) and beam (9.75).
An interesting interpretation of the compulsory program was also shown by Elena Shushunova from Leningrad, Natalia Ilienko from Alma-Ata, Vera Kolesnikova from Voronezh and, of course, Muscovite Olya Bicherova, who this time only failed on one element on the unevn bars (9.35).
TECHNICAL RESULTS
50th USSR All-Around and team Championshipin gymnastics. Donetsk. April 14-15.
Compulsory program.
Men. 1. Yu. Balabanov (Dinamo) - 57.95; 2. V. Artemov (Burevestnik) - 57.7; 3. A. Tumilovich (Dinamo) - 57.3; 4. P. Sut (Trud) - 57.2; 5. B. Makuts (Army) - 57.15; 6. M. Kokorin (Dinamo) and S. Martsinkiv (Army) - 57.1
Team standings. 1. Dinamo 1 - 284.95; 2. Army 1 - 281.7; 3. Burevestnik - 280.75
Women. 1. O. Mostepanova (Dinamo) - 38.85; 2. E. Shushunova (Army) - 38.35; 3. N. Ilienko (Dinamo) - 38.25; 4. O. Bicherova (Army) - 38.05; 5. V. Kolesnikova (Spartak) - 37.9; 6. I. Baraksanova (Army) - 37.85
Team standings. 1. Army 1 - 188.45; 2. Spartak - 186.9; 3. Dinamo 1 - 186.65
V. GOLUBEV