Sovetsky Sport. October 1, 1985. She is impetuous and assertive, this tenth-grader from Leningrad, a collector of stamps and matchbooks, passionate about mathematics and biology. At school, she's an innovator, and at gymnastics she's a troublemaker. coach Viktor Gavrichenkov didn't just hurry to create a program that is now the crown jewel of the All-Union and European platform. The senior coach of the country's women's national team, Andrei Radionenko, convinced Gavrichenkov: "Elena's trump card should be extraordinary difficulty. She is strong, bouncy, and can learn any new thing."
She learned them and mastered them. She won the USSR Cup a year ago. At the Friendship-84 international tournament she was third in the all-around, losing to Olya Mostepanova and Czechoslovakian gymnast Hana Ricna. Success at the continental championship and now, in Moscow, is a continuation of Elent's ascent. In the summer she fell apart, training went sluggishly, and some thought that the season would not work out for her. But Shushunova's advantage is that she gets into sports shape very quickly. Her routines are extremely interesting, and only Lena with her tenacity can withstand such a burden. Now she is "ringing," tumbling easily, and her eyes are burning with excitement. Hurry up to the platform!
Lena also tumbled easily at the Izmailov Sports Palace. For the vault she received 10 points, and for the premiere of her floor exercise to the music of Duke Ellington's Caravan - 9.9. Moreover, the Leningrader performed a layout double somersault at cosmic heights, as gymnasts and acrobats say. She's not the only one.
Photojournalist Boris Svetlanov, the elder of the journalistic corps, came up to me and asked: "Well, who is the most beautiful gymnast on the platform?" I answered jokingly: "Lida Gorbik. And still just as beautiful."
Of course we remember the national champion in floor exercise, Lida Gorbik. She is now Lida Tkacheva and has a son. She coaches with her husband Alexander Tkachev at Dinamo Moscow. Lidia's student Svetlana Kibanova also performed a double layout somersault on the floor, perhaps even higher than Shushunova. To which Boris Shakhlin said in surprise: "Her acrobatics are no worse than those of the men."
Modern gymnastics constantly surprises and delights us. This is wonderful! Two years ago, no one would have believed that girls could perform double layouts. But now - please! Eka Zeturidze from Tbilisi who, by the say, is clearly growing and improving (she was seventh in the all-around), also amazes with her "cosmic" acrobatics on the floor mat.
Anzhela Schennikova's third place was a surprise. However, maybe this is a pattern? The tenth-grader from the sity of Ustinov has won the Druzhba competition, won silver medals at the event finals of the national championship, and won a major tournament in China. A very modest and sweet girl, her parents (crane operator Gennady Grigorievich and nurse Zoya Yefimovna) can be proud of such a daughter. At school she liked algebra and literature, and in gymnastics she likes the uneven bars and balance beam. Coach Galina Sazonova has many capable students, but Schennikova is rising to the heights of excellence.
What about our famous gymnasts? Oksana Omelyanchik got a little confused and fell off the uneven bars. Coach Tatiana Perskaya was tormented by guesses: "What happened to my always cheerful and playful student?"
Olga Mostepanova competed only on floor (9.8). Her Italian Capriccio by Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Galina Melyakina, is perhaps a new word in choreography and interpretation of modern floor compositions. In general, she remained in eighth.
Merited Master of Sports from Moscow Olga Bicherova (tenth place) and Tatiana Frolova from Bryansk (fifteenth) are already slightly behind in difficulty, but their desire to compete and help the team is worthy of praise.
On Sunday, the men competed for national championship medals.
If this report talked about the cosmic heights of the female gymnasts, then of course I couldn't help approaching and getting acquainted with the USSR pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Titov.
"This isn't my first time at gymnastics competitions," said V. Titov. "In general, astronauts love this sport. My daughter Marina, a fourth grader, studies at a ballet studio in the capital. But then she told me that she wanted to go into gymnastics. We argue - I like Yura Korolev, and she likes Valentin Mogilny."
"I believe that Korolev will show himself yet. He didn't stop growing and wasn't afraid of failure. Just like last year, he won the floor exercise again. His routine is beautiful! And the double somersault with a twist is a brilliant achievement, truly cosmic," the cosmonaut smiled.
Volgograd resident Alexander Pogorelov scored a golden double - he was the best on the rings and high bar.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
30th USSR Cup and 45th USSR Championships in gymnastics. Moscow.
Women. Sum of compulsory and optional programs. 1. E. Shushunova (Army 1) - 77.1; 2. I. Baraksanova (Army 1) - 76.25; 3. A. Schennikova (Trud) - 75.9; 4. O. Omelyanchik (Spartak) - 75.45; 5. Zh. Kravchuk (Trud) - 75.35; 6. V. Kolesnikova (Spartak) - 75.1.
Team results. 1. Army 1 - 374.4; 2. Spartak - 372.0; 3. Trud 1 - 369.9.
USSR Championships in individual events. Finals score in brackets.
Men
FX: 1. Yu. Korolev (Vladimir) - 19.35 (9.75); 2. A. Tumilovich (Vitebsk) - 19.35 (9.7); 3. M. Kokorin (Moscow) - 19.325 (9.75).
PH: 1. D. Bilozerchev (Moscow) - 19.6 (9.9); 2. A. Tumilovich - 19.225 (9.75); 3. V. Artemov (Vladimir) - 19.225 (9.65).
RG: 1. A. Pogorelov (Volgograd) - 19.275 (9.65); 2. M. Kokorin - 19.25 (9.7); 3. E. Gevorkyan (Yerevan) - 19.2.
VT: 1. E. Gevorkyan - 19.025 (9.6); 2. Yu. Porplenko (Simferopol) - 19.025 (9.55); 3. Yu. Korolev - 18.6 (9.3).
PB: 1. V. Mogilny (Leninsk-Kuznetsk) - 19.325 (9.8); 2. V. Artemov - 19.275 (9.6); 3. O. Kapetov (Kharkov) - 19.2 (9.7).
HB: A. Pogorelov - 19.2 (9.8); 2. V. Gogoladze (Tbilisi) - 19.125 (9.7); 3. M. Kokorin - 18.875 (9.35).
V. GOLUBEV