Sovetsky Sport. June 29, 1984. Volgograd resident Alexander Pogorelov won the crystal prize for the second time in a row.
Alexander Pogorelov, a junior lieutenant of the Soviet Army, silver medalist in the team competition and in the horizontal bar at last year's world championship, came out onto the platform, collected and pale, to perform his final exercise on his favorite apparatus. He had just taken the lead and had very little left to do to repeat his achievement of last season - win the Cup - by getting at least 9.5 points.
Experts know that Pogorelov has one of the most difficult routines in the world on the high bar. Sasha learned a back somersault with a 540-degree twist and a forward somersault with a twist for the first time on the world platform (by tradition, we propose to name these elements after the first performer). And the 22-year-old (he will turn 23 on November 1) performed this routine, stunning in terms of tricks, almost flawlessly - bitingly furiously and bravely - for 9.9, and he accepted congratulations.
I asked Pogorelov: "What were you thinking about before your final event?"
"I had always been second behind Misha Kokorin and I remembered the world championships in Budapest. There in the all-around, I confidently held second place behind Dima Bilozerchev and believed that the silver was in my pocket. But I made a mistake on the parallel bars and the horizontal bar and ended up in tenth place..."
"No, this must not happen again, I told myself. Kokorin's fall on the parallel bars almost knocked me to my knees - it seemed that Misha would not give up the victory, he had a good lead over the others. And here I ordered myself: prove that you are a man, pull yourself together, show your character."
At this tournament, a new Alexander Pogorelov appeared before us: matured, believing in himself. The basics of gymnastics were taught to him by Vladimir Davydov from the Trud sports school in Volgograd, and then he learned more advanced skills from the coaches of CSKA and the national team. He was constantly let down by instability. Sasha sometimes shone in certain events, although it was felt that he should reveal himself as an all-around athlete, because he had prepared spectacular routines on each apparatus.
What happened to Mikhail Kokorin? His mistakes on parallel bars (8.7) and high bar (9.3) can only be explained by inexperience. He was in the lead both in the compulsory program and for four rotations in the optional program. Behind him there was a strong fight for medals - this dispute was led by Martsinkiv, Alexander Tumilovich, Eduard Gevorkyan, Yuri Balabanov, Pavel Sut, and Yuri Korolev. But, of course, Pogorelov looked the most reliable. (Here it must be said that world champions Artur Akopyan and Vladimir Artemov dropped out of the competition due to injuries.)
Martsinkiv and Tumilovich showed their fighting qualities.
Eduard Gevorkyan, a 20-year-old student of coach Varktez Arakelyan from Yerevan, is an interesting figure. Edik doesn't seem to fit the modern standard of an elegant gymnast - he's stocky with bulging muscles. But he is so uncontrollably brave, passionate, and with some kind of desperate determination he rushes to perform the most difficult elements that you can't help but think that on the platform there are really rich opportunities for personal expression for any athlete who, above all, dreams of high results. And there is no need to be afraid of all your dreams. The women's USSR Cup was won by Muscovite O. Mostepanova - 78.05.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
29th USSR Cup in gymnastics. Moscow. 27 June.
All-Around. Sum of the compulsory and optional rounds (a final round was not held). 1. A. Pogorelov (Volgograd) - 115.25; 2. S. Martsinkiv (Lvov) - 114.7; 3. A. Tumilovich (Vitebsk) - 114.65; 4. Yu. Balabanov (Minsk) - 114.6; 5. E. Gevorkyan (Yerevan) - 114.45; 6. P. Sut (Minsk) - 114.3; 7. Yu. Korolev (Vladimir) - and A. Tikhonkikh (Leninsk-Kuznetsk) - 114.25; 9. M. Kokorin (Moscow) - 114.05; 10. B. Makuts (Lvov) - 113.9.
V. GOLUBEV