Sovetsky Sport. April 24, 1984. On the last day of the championship, women competed in the finals in individual apparatuses. The winners (both male and female) received tokens and diplomas, and the medals of the USSR championships will be contested at the USSR Cup at the end of June in Moscow.
It seemed that special attention would be given to the competitions in Donetsk because this was the 50th anniversay of the Championship of the Soviet Union. What an event! And it would have enormous educational significance for young athletes if they were well prepared for it, if they thought through the entire program of the holiday, if they invited all the sports veterans who created the worldwide fame of our gymnastics.
None of this happened in Donetsk. No memorable badges, no souvenirs, no pennants, no competition programs that would tell about the history of Soviet gymnastics. Everything was too ordinary. But the most important thing is that offensively few spectators came to the Druzhba Sports Palace. What kind of celebration is this with half-empty stands... It seemed that no one was interested in making the anniversary championship memorbale and leaving a mark compared to other tournaments.
If it weren't for these annoying troubles, the championship would have been a great success. After all, the participants themselves tried to show everything they were capable of, for which they worked so hard. In the last final, the gymnasts, although noticeably tired (that's how difficult it is to compete according to the full Olympic regulations!), risked elegant, bright sketches with rich strokes on the canvas of the platform.
A ninth-grader at a republican sports boarding school and a student of Minsk coach Roman Levin, Olga Kondratieva has established herself as a "jumping dragonfly": in her excellent performance, her two Yurchenko vaults acquired new shades, a new sound - they are almost perfect in terms of the height of the flight.
Oksana Omelyanchik, a 14-year-old Kiev student, showed an original, unusual composition. What Tatiana Perskaya's pupil does on the uneven bars is like a rocket-throwing fireworks display. Oksana received a higher score here than Muscovite Olga Mostepanova. And in the floor, Omelyanchik even surpassed the world championship silver medalist Mostepanova in total points.
Floor exercises are perhaps the seed of women's gymnastics. On this event, the athlete can fully reveal her individuality and find contact with the audience. For example, 14-year-old Eka Zeturidze, a student of Tbilisi coach Raisa Penkova, was especially noticeable on the mat - and earned the same score as Mostepanova (9.75). It's clear that Zeturidze is talented, has natural artisty, and will grow in skill.
Comments on the women's performance at the championship by Vladimir Zaglada, candidate of pedagogical sciences:
"Places in the all-around championship were distributed fairly. Natasha Ilienko was sometimes close to the top, but falls or mistakes prevented her from achieving the desired result. Last year, at the USSR Spartakiad, Natasha looked great with her program, and now she has moved up another place, updating and strengthening her exercises. Olga Mostepanova had her first competition after the world championship. It's difficult for her, she has grown 9 centimeters during this time, but despite the breakdowns her routines are still stabilized and fit nowadays."
"Irina Baraksanova and Oksana Omelyanchik were noticeable at last year's national championship (in the Spartakiad program). They didn't stop mastering their skills and have now practically caught up with the leaders in many ways. Elena Shushunova has the most difficult routines. She and her coach Viktor Gavrichenkov take an active position, looking for elements that are extremely difficult to perform.""
"Vera Kolesnikova is also firmly in the group of the strongest. Having polished her compulsory skills more thoroughly, she is competing for a place in the main team this season."
"The situation with world champions Albina Shishova and Olga Bicherova is still unclear. They both entered below their capabilities and had too many falls. Albina had absences from training. This could not but affect her athletic form.
"Olga updated her routines on three events, and this could not but affect her preparation."
TECHNICAL RESULTS
50th Individual and Team USSR championship in gymnastics. Donetsk. 21 April.
Women. Individual event finals. Half the sum of the compulsory and optional programs, plus final score (in brackets).
VT: 1. O. Kondratieva (Trud) - 19.525 (9.9); 2. Zh. Kozulina (Dinamo) - 19.45 (9.875); 3. O. Mostepanova (Dinamo) - 19.45 (9.775).
UB: 1. O.Mostepanova - 19.475 (9.75); 2. O. Omelyanchik (Spartak) - 19.35 (9.8); 3. N. Ilienko (Dinamo) - 19.15 (9.5).
BB: 1. N. Ilienko - 19.35 (9.8); 2. O. Mostepanova - 19.075 (9.6); 3. A. Shishova (Dinamo - 18.875 (9.3).
FX: 1. O. Omelyanchik - 19.65 (9.9); 2. O. Mostepanova - 19.625 (9.75); 3. N. Ilienko - 19.425 (9.75).
V. GOLUBEV