Sovetsky Sport. May 30, 1970 (our special correspondents). World champion Mikhail Voronin continues to hold the lead at the USSR gymnastics championships. After completing the compulsory program, Viktor Klimenko is almost a point behind him, and Viktor Lisitsky is more than two points behind him.
A few telling numbers. Out of 42 participants that had scores below 9 points: floor exercise - 22, pommel horse - 22, rings - 18, vault - 3, parallel bars - 13, high bar - 22. Of course, it's possible to justify this circumstance by once again referring to the fact that the current compulsory program is reaching its last months - until Ljubljana. But firstly, there are 42 candidates for the all-around championship, nominated by the society. Therefore, they had to learn the compulsory program. Second, in general, any neglect of this area of gymnastics education is unacceptable. The fact that the next program wil be introduced for four years instead of two underlines the special importance attached to it by the FIG. The 'school' is valuable because it provides a selection of elements on each apparatus, the correct execution of which requires versatililty from the athletes, a real all-around training. The tricky part of the current compulsory program? Each exercise includes at least one 'fatal' element, fulfilling which means solving half the battle. Let's say, on the horizonbal bar it's 'a big turn forward and an entry with one leg,' and on floor it's connected with 'a flip and a subsequent somersault forward.' The most curious thing is that gymnasts starting from the Second Category insert these movements into their optional routines. However, in this case, the ill-fated elements are interspersed into the exercises after a series of intricate connections - although they are well known, you seem to stumble upon them and, out of surprise, mess them up. To prevent this from happening, high technique is needed.
It's no coincidence that we have focused so closely on subtleties that are of interest perhaps only to specialist . Let us remember that Shakhlin and Voronin laid the foundation for success in major competitions precisely with their brilliant routines on the first day. There is also a psychological background to this: if the compulsory one is successful, then faith in one's own abilities grows stronger, and the judges can gain confidence in those who have passed the checkpoint of the competition well: this means there is no need to doubt the gymnast's technical foundation.
The leaders passed the compulsory test, not without some hiccups, and shone only on individual events, as can be seen from the scores. Voronin, who failed to hit the springboard both times in his vaults and was not too pleased with his performance - he wanted to do better, but was unable to get angry.
But the vault was a vault, and the rest looked great for him. The beginning of the parallel bars routine - 'somersault to hang' - looked like a powerul deep chord, preceding a melody that flowed smoothly and leisurely. On the rings, the fixation of static positions was so emphatically long that at that time we had time to admire him and look at Zinaida Voronina who, as she admitted later, was even more worried than when she herself was on the platform.
What is Voronin's secret that determines the power (there is no other way to say it) of his performing style? He perfectly - neither earlier nor later - knows how to catch a moment of tension or relaxation. The position of his body is as good as a painting. During the routine, he thinks two elements ahead, hence the routine looks like a merged, solid piece, compositionally unified, while many others have a clear view of the stitches: I did this, I got ready, I did that.The quality of Voronin's talent, of of course, largely depends on nature, but he also works powerfully.
We would like to compare his performance with the work of young ones - A. Maleev, G. Bogdanov, V. Boiko, V. Fogel, and E. Ananskikh. The first three are 22 years old. At this age Voronin was already a world and European champion. The other two are 20, but even then our leader participated in the Tokyo Olympics as an alternate .
Maleev and Fogel need to improve their positions. Especially the first one, who 'failed' the preliminary round and had to make incredible efforts to get to the final. And, for example, Fogel's repeatedly mentioned 'one-legged entry' did not work at all, for which a severe penalty of 8.95 was imposed. Maleev was not spared either; the element was performed rather shoddily. We are not going to be harsh on these two: they won one apparatus - vaulting - from Voronin. Fogel is an excellent vaulter and had the highest score of the day. (9.6) and was in the top ten overall. Although Maleev did not make it to the final - he missed by 0.6, a tenth on each apparatus, but according to the results of the first compulsory, he was fifth. And yet they are far from our leader!
Bogdanov is a gymnast of great potential. His peformance is captivabing with his unbridled daring and determination. But there is something about him - he needs to be more collected on the platform, more restrained, more elegant. His floor and parallel bars are good. but he lost control on the high bar. He 'rolled,' and although straightened out, he still got 8.6. Bogdanov soberly examines mistakes and analyzes them. He told us that he now clearly understood the shortcomings of his compulsory training and knew what to work on.
Ananskikh is a technical 'school gymnast,' but he had two serious errors - 8.6 each - on the parallel bars and high bar, but he made it to the finals. He lacks poiwer, he seems to get lost in the apparatus, and is not so noticeable.
Boiko suddenly 'cut through' on the All-Union platform. Earlier, in the juniors, he didn't stand out in any way. Now he is 17, a reserve finalist (if someone falls ill or refuses to compete). He still lacks a general gymnastic culture of elegant movement. With the pommel horse (a delicate apparatus in this sense) his attitude isn't good: he often falls. If Boiko had gotten not 8.0, but 9.0 in the compulsory program on this apparatus, he would have shared 8th place with Fogel.
Please note that this is the compulsory program. Boiko has generally mastered it poorly, and without this he has no reason to even think about the European and world championships.
So, the finalists have been decided. Among the 16, experienced athletes predominate somewhat. It should be noted that other prominent gymnasts did not make the finals - in addition to the experienced Maleev, for example, Olympian V. Ilinykh.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
USSR gymnastics championships. Minsk. 29 May. Men. Compulsory program. Compulsory scores are shown in brackets. 1. Voronin (Dinamo) - 114.9 (9.6, 9.55, 9.8, 9.35, 9.7, 9.55 = 57.65);2. Klimenko (Army) - 113.95 (9.5, 9.5, 9.25, 9.4, 9.7, 9.5 = 56.85); 3. Lisitsky (Army) - 112.8 (9.35, 9.25, 9.25, 9.2, 9.55, 9.45 = 56.05); 4. Diomidov (Army) - 112.45 (9.25, 9.4, 9.4, 9.4, 9.5, 8.95 = 55.9); 5. Bogdanov (Army) - 111.7 (9.45, 9.3, 9.2, 9.3, 9.45, 8.6 = 55.3); 6. Karasev (Zenit) = 111.65 (9.3, 9.4, 8.75, 9.25, 9.3, 9.25 = 55.25).
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