Sovetsky Sport. September 27, 1966. The world championships in gymnastics, which was so eagerly awaited by fans and specialists of this sport, is over. As expected, it resulted in a dispute between the Soviet and Japanese male gymnasts, and the Soviet and Czechoslovakian female gymnasts. The Soviet Union athletes emerged from this contest with 14 medals, six of which were gold. This is a great success, especially since the ranks of international gymnatics is being replenished with new reserves every year. The rapid growth of achievements of gymnasts from the German Democratic Republic is especially pleasing. Yugoslav Cerar and Hunganian Ducza continue to shine.
The medal draw in individual events began with men's floor exercise. Voronin won the right to compete here, just has he has in other events. Karasev was seventh in this event. Considering the rule that if one of the finalists withdraws, and the starting number goes to the first of the remaining athletes, our team decided to regroup, make Mikhail's job a little easier, and give Valery a chance to get his bearings.
The young gymnast performed his routine, which was not too overloaded with tricks, quite well, starting with a twist and ending with a high somersault. Valery made a good impression on the judges, which will be useful to him in the future. This exercise was rated 9.45 points, which gave him a total of 19.0 and fifth place.
The cascading, eccentric manner of Menichelli who, as usual, peformed in short bursts, had a better effect on the demonstrative spectators than on the puritanically minded judges. The latter found many flaws in the Italian's aerial acrobatics. He becomes the bronze medalist - 9.65 (19.3). The new champion Nakayama, and the silver medalist, Endo, performed their routines in a stormy, daring, but strict Japanese style. They scored 19.4 and 19.375 points respectively.
Yugoslav Cerar remains unsurpassed on the pommel horse. His circles are high, his swings are precise, and he masters the body of his routine as much as possible. He won the title - 9.8 (19.525).
Voronin's routine was slightly spoiled by a crumpled dismount - 9.7. But the total of 19.325 gives him the silver medal. Bronze was predicted for Laiho, an elegant 'horseman' with a high seat. But he managed to 'saddle' the horse precisely between the pommels. The bronze medal had to be handed over to Japan's Kato (19.125).
Voronin's performance on the rings can be considered a teaching aid, a standard for any gymnast - from entering the platform to dismounting and leaving. His rise to the handstand and a large turn back through straight arms were framed by such a 'cross,' such an 'angle,' such a pirouette in the dismount, that you will admire it. A 9.9 for the second time! No one has ever seen anything like this at a world championship. His total is 19.75. Voronin's imitator on this apparatus, Nakayama, decorated his routine with a spectacular upside-down cross and brought his total to 19.5 points. The non-stop, powerful, mighty routine of the bronze medal winner, Menichelli, was worth 9.8 in the judges' opinion. In the end, his total was 19.475. Diomidov received 9.55 and took fifth place with a total of 19.2 points.
Voronin performed the vault surrounded by four Japanese. It is always more difficult for one. His overall score was 18.65, for fifth place. Matsuda, whose chances were the highest, began his final series of vaults. Pushing off from the near and high-scoring end of the horse, he flew up and accurately landed like a dart for the gold medal - 9.7 (19.425). All the Japanese perform the same vault. They don't complicate it. The main thing is precision, and there is precision. Kato gets 9.6 (19.325) and the silver medal. Nakayama gets 9.5 (19.05) and the bronze medal.
On the parallel bars, Diomidov and Voronin are the main contenders for the highest scores.
In the finals we did not see the Japanese Tsurumi afer the rings because he dropped out of the competition due to illness. Cerar and Menichelli were in the most aggressive mood. Both of them decorated their routines with several new elements. But it was in vain. They failed to catch up with Diomidov - 9.75 (19.55). Voronin got 9.7 (19.4).
The horizontal bar remains. Here the Japanese are the masters of the situatio. Champion Nakayama got 9.9 (19.675). Olympic champion Endo, who was not able to win an individual gold medal in Dortmund, became second with 9.8 (19.6).
The women entered the fray in the evening. The vault competition did not promise us anything good. Among the six finalists, there was only Kuchinskaya. She was the first to go. She is not nervous at all. The preliminary score with which Natasha enters the final does not oblige her to show maximum diligence in the fight for medals. But calculations of this kind do not exist for Kuchinskaya. It is important for her to perform the most difficult vault: a sideways somersault with a 270-degree twist, to feel the speed of the run-up, the pleasure of the flight, the joy of a good landing. When the sportswoman, unable to hold herself back, leans forward a little, you don't feel annoyed - 9.666 (19.316). After 15 minutes it turns out that such a score is enough for a bronze. The champion here is the unrivaled Vera Caslavska, who performed her vault well - 9.833 (19.583).
Caslavska has prepared an extra-class routine on the uneven bars, equipped with two pirouettes from the support position and a hanging position. She doesn't hold back, working with sweeping, daring movements... And suddenly, while gripping the top bar, Vera's hands trembled. She didn't fall, but the mistake was evident - 9.666. This means that Natasha, who easily fluttered across the bars before Caslavska, has the highest score of 9.8 (19.616). Kuchinskaya's routine was impressive in terms of content: in included both a pirouette and a rocket dismount after a turn on the lower bar. She froze, as if digging her toes into the platform, throwing her head back high. And you should have seen how she skipped, like a girl, to the podium for the first world gold in her life! And there, side by side, stood the experienced Ikeda - 9.766 (19.566), and her compatriot Mitsukuri, who showed a delightful trick, the long description of which (from a support on the upper bar with a 180-degree turn to a support on the lower one) does little to characterize its swift grace. Her score is 9.8 (19.516).
The six balance beam finalists are warming up. Caslavska performs first. She is a little nervous. This is evident from how long she is trying to concentrate. Unfortunately, she suffers from loss of mental balance, as well as loss of balance during turns and jumps...and her dismount is not precise - 9.6 (19.333).
Kuchinskaya, without making her way easier, shows all the poses, jumps, and turns. Natasha's gait is elastic, light, and fearless - 9.9 (19.65)! She is unattainable and a champion again. And Larisa Petrik - all pace, temperament, and passion - gets herself a bronze medal - 9.6 (19.25).
The opening number of the floor exercise final was a solo by Japanese Furiyama. This time the Japanese tried to prove that they are strong in choreography. Furiyama had an original, modern, even fantastic routine and a high score of 9.666. This made the task somewhat easier for Larisa Petrik who, after three front swings and the same number of 'Bedouin' somersaults, decided that enough was enough - she was tired - and limited herself to only flacks - 9.6 (19.416) in her routine.
Czechoslovakian gymnast Kubickova performed brilliantly. The rhythm is unsettling and disturbing, conveying a sense of harshness and anger throughout. The judges, as well as the public, liked her very much (9.7).
Now it's the turn of the all-around world champion. She concentrates for a very long time. Latynina, sitting next to us, says: "Vera will create whatever she wants, but she won't take risks or throw out a twist."
That's right - Caslavska laid out the entire conceivable assortment of somersaults on the carpet. But she held back that too risky trump card. And Natasha did a great job. Again, completely unexpectedly for herself, she defeated Caslavska, her idol. 9.9 (19.733) and a third gold medal!
In the end, Zina Druzhinina literally set the audience on fire. Judging by the reaction, it was necessary to give a full 10. It was embarrassing. The scoreboard showed 9.933.
S. TOKAREV and A. CHAIKOVSKY