Sovetsky Sport. April 25, 1985. The Alma-Ata Sports Palace is empty. The audience have left the stands. I deliberately lingered and watched as the workers removed the apparatus. There's something exciting about it. The horizontal bar is being removed, and the heavy parallel bars are being taken away on a cart. I watch, and involuntarily movie frames of a breathtaking gymnastic performance scroll through my memory.
Progress of the Struggle. So, the last evening is the men's all-around final. It turned out to be extremely intriguing, and I'd like to tell you, the reader, about all the nuances of this fascinating spectacle, even though the main characters were both world-famous masters and debutants.
The intrigue of the final began to swirl. No one could have predicted that last year's national champion, Vladimir Artemov from Vladimir, who was confidently leading, would surrender his place.
If the compulsory program is still in the run-in stage (and this is understandable as the season is just starting), then the optional exercises of many finalists are impressive. They are well thought out, and you can feel that the coaches are not asleep but working with their students under the motto 'Time is passing!'
On floor exercise, the first event of the final, there was a change of leader. Bilozerchev, with his sharp elements that caused applause from the spectators, got 9.6. Artemov got 9.4 points. The other guys also performed their routines solidly and thoroughly. But Tbilisi resident Vladimir Gogoladze managed to stand out with special grace and elegance.
Trouble began on the pommel horse. Artemov 'saddled the horse' - 9.0. Balabanov almost ruined the ending - 9.3. Muscovite Dmitry Bilozerchev, the all-around world champion who often receives 10s, suddenly made a mistake and crumpled - 8.05.
Again, Gogoladze famously handled his routine - a real horseman! He got 9.75 and he moved into third place, displacing Alexander Tumilovich from Vitebsk. "Sasha's hand really hurts," said USSR coach Nikolai Liskovich. "But the guy's character is holding on, he's holding on."
Yes, such a turn of events was not expected. Well, let's get to know the newcomer, especially since you already know (after looking at the technical results) that Vladimir won the silver medal.
Last year, Gogoladze performed great at the Junior European Championship. This season, the student of the Economics Faculty at Tbilisi State University, who will turn 19 on August 18, made his debut on the adult stage. He was second at the Moscow News tournament, and first at the Riga-85 tournament.
New Items on the Platform. In recent years, we've become accustomed to the fact that the regular announcer of the competition, Roman Torpischev, announces at each championship, "Comrade spectators, you have just seen an element performed for the first time in the world..." For the first time in the world! These are daredevils, brave men who dare to perform unprecedented elements. Here, 17-year-old Ramil Afzalov from Tashkent performed a triple somersault forward from the high bar. Stepan Martsinkiv from Lvov showed 'Tkachev's flight' with a full twist, also on the high bar. Yuri Balabanov made an unusual turn with crossing the rings. It's very pleasant that these athletes received copyright certificates, which say: go ahead and name these elements in the regulstions by the names of the first performers.
Progress of the Struggle. It's impossible to keep track of all the scores at once. And I really want to know who received how much. The chief secretary of the competition, Leonid Petrov, comes to the rescue.
According to the scores, it's clear that on all events, Yerevan resident Artur Akopyan (1983 world championships all-around bronze medalist and world champion on vault) and Valentin Mogilny from Leninsk-Kuznetsk, were rushing toward the leaders. Just imagine, after 12th place in the compulsory, Artur eventually moved to fifth, and Valentin moved from 21st to sixth! That's how great they performed in the final.
So, Yuri Balabanov from Minsk finished first and performed beautifully on parallel bars and high bar.
Touches to the Champion's Portrait. He will turn 22 on February 2. He's a student at the Institute of Physical Education. A national champion in individual events. At the end of last year, he won the Chunichi Cup tournament in Japan.
Previously, Yuri caused a lot of trouble for coach Anatoly Ovsyak with his ardor and eternal arguments. It happened during training and even at competitions. They did not find a common language and Ovsyak kept looking for the key to the obstinate student.
"How about now?" - I asked Anatoly Ivanovich.
"We switched roles. Now Yura calms me down, and he asked me not to worry in vain. He said that we must win here. And he won," the calm Ovsyak laughed.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
51st USSR Gymnastics Championships. Alma-Ata.
Men. Half the sum of the compulsory and optional programs, plus the final. 1. Yu. Balabanov (BLR) - 114.575; 2. V. Gogoladze (GEO) - 113.575; 3. V. Artemov (RUS) - 113.3; 4. A. Tumilovich (BLR) - 113.225; 5. A. Akopyan (ARM) - 112.775; 6. V. Mogilny (RUS) - 112.55; 7. D. Bilozerchev (MOS) - 112.25; 8. P. Sut (BLR) - 111.625; 9. S. Gusev (RUS) - 111.575; 10. S. Miller (LEN) - 111.45; 11. A. Tikhonkikh (RUS) - 111.4; 12. S. Martsinkiv (UKR) - 111.35.
V. GOLUBEV