Sovetsky Sport. April 20, 1985. This year, all competitions in our country and tournaments abroad are dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The sporting youth of the planet, with its achievements, seems to salute the peaceful sky above its head and the heroic exploits of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
There were young, perky faces in the parade of participants of the championship in the Almaty Sports Palace. Our champions, the masters of the platform, are young. They do not know the horrors of war. In front of them is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. A row of gray-haired people is not so slender, but they are wearing sashes. Their entire chests are decorated with awards. Their eyes betray their excitement and joy.
T. E. Dordyi approaches the microphone. A strong gymnast, he fought in the division named after General I. V. Panfilov. He is an All-Union category judge. He is 71. He says: "We fought at the front so that you could live happily." Eighteen-year-old Merited Master of Sports Dmitry Bilozerchev left the gymnasts' ranks and replied: "We will be worthy of the memory of war heroes."
The 51st USSR Championship began on such a high, patriotic note. And the girls opened it with performances of the new compulsory program, which came into force in January of this year. It is known that the "school" exercises change in gymnastics every four years. Over time, the compulsory program becomes more difficult, and it includes elements and combinations that were previously considered to be ultra-fashionable tricks. A typical example: the once-difficult Tsukahara vault for women is now included in the compulsory program. And you are given not two, but one attempt to complete it.
Many people like floor exercise. Our country's specialists were asked to make a compulsory routine for the women's technical committee of the FIG. And so, at the competition of choreographers, the routine composed by Merited Coach of the USSR Galina Savarina was the winner. The music for the floor routine was proposed and arranged by accompanist Irina Khramenkova. Lyudmila Turischeva, a member of the technical committee of the FIG, said that this composition was accepted practically to applause.
Indeed, the new floor exercise is lyrical and takes us back to the time when the spirit of poetic movement reigned on the floor. But now it's also impossible to avoid difficulties, and in Savarina's exercise there are several elements and leaps that require special preparaation, accuracy, and attentiveness from gymnasts. And although the girls tried to achieve high scores on the floor, many of the participants still failed here.
For example, take Eka Zeturidze from Tbilisi. She recently won the Riga-85 tournament. Last year at the USSR Cup she distinguished herself on the floor. But today Eka only vaulted well - 9.55. Alas, she failed on the floor - 8.65. Muscovite Olga Bicherova, having healed her injuries, bravely "fought" the compulsories. She completed three events quite well, but on the floor mat she suddenly staggered dudring a handstand and touched her foot to the mat - 0.5 points lost. The score was 8.7.
Who showed exemplary performance in floor exercise? Kiev resident Oksana Omelyanchik - 9.7. She generally performed with extraordinary enthusiasm, her movements were honed, and she performed everything with maximum amplitude. She also received the highest score of the day (9.75 on beam) to add to her arsenal.
According to the Merited Coach of the USSR Anatoly Kozeev, the most difficult exercises in the compulsory program are on uneven bars and balance beam. It was on these two events that there were especially many falls and breakdowns. Leningrader Elena Shushunova scored only 9.0 on uneven bars, and 20-year-old Rostovite Natalia Yurchenko scored 9.05 on beam. Only Omelyanchik, Irina Baraksanova from Tashkent (she got 9.6 on floor and uneven bars) and Armine Barutyan from Yerevan performed without any obvious breakdowns. Other gymnasts had many errors in their performance, and we must honestly admit that the new compulsory program has set a serious task for coaches: there is still a lot of work to be done on it.
Due to injury, Merited Masters of Sport Olga Mostepanova, Natalia Ilienko, and Tatiana Frolova were unable to compete. Well, which of the new wave did we like? For example, I liked the elegant style of the two young Muscovites Oksana Averkova and Ekaterina Sapaeva, students of coach Nadezhda Maslennikova. Master of Sport Viktor Sultanov believes that ninth-grader from Grodno Zhanna Kravchuk, a student of coaches Natalia and Viktor Khomutov, is very promising. Former world champion Sergei Diomidov (he is responsible for women's gymnastics at Dinamo) noted two junior European champions - Elena Zabrodina from Kuibyshev and Natasha Frolova from the city of Pushkin, Leningrad region.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
USSR Gymnastics Championships. Alma-Ata.
Women. Compulsory program. 1. O. Omelyanchik (UKR) - 38.45; 2. I. Baraksanova (UZB) - 38.0; 3. N. Yurchenko (RSFSR) - 37.85; 4. E. Shushunova (LEN) - 37.55; 5. A. Barutyan (ARM) - 37.3; 6. S. Murzunenko (UKR) - 37.1.
Team standings. 1. Ukraine - 184.85; 2. RSFSR - 183.35; 3. Moscow - 182.8.
V. GOLUBEV