Sovetsky Sport. October 2, 1985. Sixteen-year-old Leningrad gymnast Elena Shushunova ended the competition perfectly, winning three gold medals on the last day of the tournament.
This is the end of the fascinating gymnastic performances that were intriguing at the beginning and named the laureates at the end, which took place in Moscow's Izmailovo Sports Palace. It's a pity to say goodbye to the heroes of the USSR Cup and USSR Championship - they showed us the true beauty of sports!
It's very cozy, this Palace. Its huge stage inspired young "artists" who played their roles brilliantly, captivating the audience. And the main "director," that is, the main judge, Evgeny Belov, skillfully supervised the staging of the performance. Everything was on time and coordinated, and the head of the sports department of the Palace, Vladimir Pakhomov, worked efficiently and accurately. Of course, journalists and team representatives were grateful to the chief secretary Leonid Petrov for quickly obtaining the necessary information.
So, you've already met the winner of the USSR Cup, Elena Shushunova. The all-around European champion, without slowing down, vigorously and joyfully collected a rich September "harvest" of medals, and now her thoughts are already on that - in November, when the world championship starts in Montreal.
The conclusion after these competitions is this: gymnastics is constantly developing, each competition brought new discoveries - names and elements. Anyone who repeats their previous routines immediately falls back.
Is such a super-tough race necessary? Are we not losing green, fresh shoots in it? Yes, perhaps there are losses, but still there are more gains. There has alsays been and will always be an increase in difficulty, and there is always something that we are initially hostile to. It seems to us that there is "nowhere to go," and then time passes and we smile, remembering the distrust and skepticism.
At the Friendship-84 competition and at the European Championship, experts clearly saw: the overall progress of women's gymnastics is increasing, and programs are required that will serve as a guide for others. These are the compositions prepared for this season by Lena Shushunova - she is now a leader in all respects.
Do you think that the difficulty limit has been reached and there will be a lull on the platform? Nothing of the kind. Let's follow the performance of the gymnasts in the finals of the national championship of the individual events and listen to the opinions of authorities.
Vault. Commentary by Merited Coach of the USSR Mikhail Klimenko: The finalists showed good vault training. There is a variety, but I still wanted the girls to remember the Cuervo vault with a full twist. I am glad that the height of flights above the horse is increasing, which means that the competent technique of pushing off the springboard has been mastered. Eka Zeturidze from Tbilisi achieved a clear execution of the vault - a handspring, piked front somi with a 180-degree twist, but she still needs to tighten up the full-twisting Tsukahara.
Lena Shushunova showed Yurchenko vaults with one and two twists. Record difficulty so far! In general, this spectacular vault is promising and can include various modifications. For example, the young Riga resident Natasha Laschenova is trying the Yurchenko vault with a double back somersault. Perhaps this will soon become fashionable.
Uneven bars. Commentary by Merited Coach of the USSR Aman Shaniyazov: In recent years, girls have achieved brilliant results on this gymnastics apparatus. Using the top pole as a horizontal bar opened up unlimited possibilities for finding original solutions. The trend now is: strong gymnasts have two striking elements in their bars routine, while the real leaders have three. For example, Shushunova has a Tkachev, a Delchev, and a moon salto dismount. 9.95 is a deserved score.
Irina Baraksanova is perhaps behind in terms of difficulty, and she definitely needs to learn something spectacular. But for now, Ira is "saved" by her amazing purity of execution and her graceful lines.
Anzhela Schennikova has achieved harmony, although not yet completely: there is a lot of expression, bold flights, and unexpected connections in her exercise. The score was 9.7, which accurately reflects the skill of this gymnast. By the way, Anzhela also has a lot of original moves on the balance beam, which is thanks to coach Galina Sazonova.
Olya Mostepaova scored 9.0 on the bars. There were mistakes, blots, and there was no excitement or inspiration.
Balance beam. Ira Baraksanova, a quiet girl with serious blue eyes, captivates us not only with her excellent stability but above all with her bold gait and relaxedness. Such bright performances are remembered for a long time.
Finally, Kiev resident Oksana Omelyanchik also transformed. Again a smile, again the light and elusive leaps of a "sparrow" on a thin blade. And her score in the finals is 9.7, just like Baraksanova.
Floor exercise. Ten points for Shushunova - this is the most difficult acrobatics, this is a rapid pace, this is the impulse and excitement of the performance. True, it's a little sad that we won't see the old floor routines in the "retro" style anymore. Or maybe we should not forget them?
Omelyanchik didn't smile, she laughed! And coach Tatiana Perskaya pressed her hands to her chest - her student came to life and again felt a taste for performing. For three days she couldn't find a place for herself. Maybe she overtrained?
In general, the final chord of the final evening was a success. The gymnasts smiled on the mat and smiled on the pedestal. And it would be nice if we could see these smiles in Montreal too.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
45th USSR Championships in gymnastics in individual events. Moscow. 30 September.
Women. Final score is in brackets.
VT: 1. E. Shushunova (Leningrad) - 19.7 (9.85); 2. E. Zeturidze (Tbilisi) - 19.475 (9.775); 3. E. Kozlova (Riga) - 19.025 (9.625).V. GOLUBEV