Sovetsky Sport. June 28, 1984. The men's competition in "school" began with surprises - the excellent winners of the April national championship, Minsk resident Yuri Balabanov and Vladimir Artemov from Vladimir, are not now among the leaders. What's happened? Yuri missed a pommel horse element (8.85 points) and made errors on the floor exerise (9.25). With these scores, he came in 12th place. Artemov walked very calmly and confidently along the steps of the all-around, everything was verified and worked out for him (he had 9.9 on the parallel bars), but on his last event - the horizontal bar - the national champion made a serious mistake (8.45).
Misha Kokorin was not surprised at all by his lead - he is an unflappable guy. Some spectators still ask: "Who is this Kokorin?" And to say the least, Mikhail can be considered a newcomer to the adult platform; it's only this season that he has tested himself in big tournaments. By the way, he immediately made an excellent debut - in Donetsk at the USSR championship he received the silver medal.
Mikhail won't be 20 years old until November. He is now, as they say, ringing with a feeling of strength, youth and stability. And one can understand the quiet joy of his modest, wonderful coach Evgeny Ivanovich Ilyin - he brought up hundreds of good kids in the sports school of Dinamo Moscow, and now he has a national team member.
Comments on the competition by international-class judge Timur Aastiani (Tbilisi): "It cannot be said that the compulsory program was perfected by all participants of the Cup. The gymnasts made quite a few mistakes and there were plenty of noticeable mistakes. Those who were always distinguished by the purity of their execution showed others how to correctly and competently interpret the exercises familiar to everyone. Volgograd resident Alexander Pogorelov, Minsk resident Pavel Sut, Alexander Tumilovich from Vitebsk and Olympic champion Lvov resident Bogdan Makuts most clearly and technically performed the complex routines."
Eighth-grader (although now she has moved to ninth) Olya Mostepanova demonstrated impeccable preparation in the compulsory program. This delicate gymnast wasn't afraid to take risks (in the sense that she achieved the maximum amplitude) and the impression of a completely unusual interpretation of the routine was created. But the national champion Natasha Ilienko from Alma-Ata, Irina Baraksanova from Tashkent, and Leningrader Elena Shushunova were a little cautious.
Natalia Yurchenko from Rostov was a bit worried - after all, she was performing again after a long break. She appeared on three apparatuses (vault 9.6, bars 9.8, beam 9.7) with dignity, as you can see. On floor Natasha made a mistake (she didn't hold the handstand) for 9.2.
Tatiana Frolova from Bryansk, Muscovite Valentina Shkoda, Minsk resident Natalia Ivankova, and Eka Zeturidze from Tbilisi looked very graceful. But everyone, except Frolova, had breakdowns.
The competition went on as usual, and on the sidelines they were discussing with interest the good news: 1978 all-around world champion Elena Mukhina successfully completed her studies at the Moscow Institute of Physical Education.
Chairman of the State Commission Professor N. Alfimov, Dean of the Sports Faculty S. Petrov, Professor V. Silin, and senior teachers and Candidates of Medical Sciences G. Popova and N. Podnebesnova came to Lena's home.
Lena excellently defended her diploma thesis (scientific supervisor - Associate Professor, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences E. Pozin) on the topic "Training Loads of the Strongest Female Gymnasts in the World." She passed the year exams in physiology and scientific communism with flying colors.
Grandmother Anna Ivanovna was very worried for Lena, but she was reassured by her granddaughter's thougthful answers. Now Mukhina is a specialist with a higher education and wants to study foreign languages and do scientific work. Congratulations, Lena, on your diploma!
Let us briefly summarize the results of the women's performance.
Comments from the Merited Master of Sports Olga Kovalenko:
"In general, the girls were well prepared. They mastered the exercises on floor and beam well. They can still achieve greater dynamism on the uneven bars and work especially hard on the vault landing. Almost none of the participants showed a reliable landing. This results in the loss of precious tenths of points. Mostepanova was, of course, ideal at "school."
On Wednesday, the men's winner of the USSR Cup was determined. He was Alexander Pogorelov - 115.25. In second was Stepan Martsinkiv - 114.7, and in third was Alexander Tumilovich - 114.65.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
29th USSR Cup in gymnastics. Moscow. 25-26 June.
Compulsory program, Men. 1. M. Kokorin (MOS) - 57.75; 2. A. Pogorelov (RSFSR) - 57.6; 3. P. Sut (BLR) and A. Tumilovich (BLR) - 57.25; 5. B. Makuts (UKR) - 57.2; 6. Yu. Korolev (RSFSR) - 56.95.
Compulsory program, Women. 1. O. Mostepanova (MOS) - 39.0; 2. N. Ilienko (KAZ) - 38.65; 3. T. Frolova (RSFSR) - 38.55; 4. E. Shushunova (LEN) - 38.4; 5. N. Yurchenko (RSFSR) - 38.3; 6. I. Baraksanova (UZB) - 38.0.
V. GOLUBEV