Sovetsky Sport. May 29, 1970 (our special correspondents). The first team of the Armed Forces (V. Lisitsky, E. Ananskikh, V. Boiko, G. Bogdanov, A. Vashchaev, S. Diomidov, V. Klimenko, and V. Razumovsky) again became the champion of the USSR in gymnastics. The sportsmen of Dinamo were second, and Burevestnik finished third.
We conducted our reporting from three points: each of us watched the winning team and now share our impressions of the undercurrents of an outwardly calm day of the team competition.
The Army team was objectively stronger than others. But no one dared to say "they will win," because their rivals were led by M. Voronin. When it was all over, S. Diomidov said, "We were talking about the strength of Dinamo. But the collective spirit, the responsibility of everyone, helped us win."
First to compete on the parallel bars was V. Boiko. His routine was not brilliant, but not too bad either. V. Klimenko saw the score and was dumbfounded: "Guys, they gave it 8.5!" There were oohs and aahs about the judging. Coach V. Brezhnev came up: "Vitya, you looked at the wrong scoreboard. He got 9.25." It was a funny indicent, but also indicative - everyone was rooting for each other. Without this, there is no team.
As always, Diomidov was lethargic and a little mopey before the start - he is energized by the competition. On bars, he worked like in the good old days, and the 'helicopter' named after him in the Code of Points was excellent. He's been having trouble with it lately, but now he got 9.65.
The second apparatus was high bar. Bogdanov spun his double somersault so recklessly that he flew literally a centimeter away from the bar. A frightened sign rustled through the arena. "Are you scaring people?" the guys said. Making jokes means they are gaining confidence in success. Diomidov was called. Silence. Sergei's weight is quite substantial - 72 kg. The bar bends with a groan, a measured squeak is heard, and in the middle of the exercise there is suddenly a shriek - which means that the gymnast made an inaccuracy. 9.45. Sergei, unwinding the bandages from his hands, calmly says: "I like to start with the optional program. It's a good time to test new things, because you won't be able to test them in the finals, where you have to work reliably."
The lead was growing, and although they were in no hurry, the Army team could organize each other. It must be said that the captain, Litistky, played a huge role in their success. He knows how to get the guys in the mood - when serious, and when necessary - with a joke.
Dinamo's fight for the gold did not last long. They fell behind by two points after the second apparatus, and after the fourth apparatus their silver medals were also in danger - on the horizontal bar the team scored 8.9. Later, however, everything turned out all right.
On the first apparatus, rings, A. Trifonov started. He got 9.1, and said: "Not bad, I was the table setter." And these were, perhaps, his only words for the whole evening: the 20-year-old pale and withdrawn Voronezh resident, silently and busily performed the difficult, inconspicuous and important role of the table setter, Only once his score did not go into the piggy bank, while the rest of his scores ranged form 9.25 to 9.4.
In general, the backbone of the team turned out to be veterans: M. Bogus, V. Shamenko, Yu. Tsapenko. They call themselves and each other old people. And they touchingly worry about everyone who is over 26, regardless of the society they represent: they have their own clan, welded together by long-standing friendship, experience, and courage. How Shamenko and Bogus raved about Lisitsky's routine on the parallel bars. "Well, let the young ones prove it."
Tsapenko is an always preoccupied person. Just as the team finished performing on the apparatus, he is already in a hurry. "Let's go, let's go to the next one." While dismounting the high bar, he touched the bar with his feet, then walked away and berated himself. "Ai-ai, Tsapanko. Too bad. Ai-ai." Tsapenko did his job without any unnecessary words, except to joke around when it was hard. We should say something special about Bogus. One of us saw him at home, in Tbilisi, during training. We can say with full responsiblity: few gymnasts in the country work so selflessly. And even he was completely written off.
"Ah!" Voronin cried out in annoyance. The rare trick, a double twist in a dismount from the rings, didn't turn out the way the world champion would have liked. But the routine itself with the novelty in the middle also looked un-Voronin-like, powerful, flighty, and clear, and received 9.65. Here are his other scores: vault - 9.3 (he tried a 'screw'), bars - 9.7, high bar - 9.55, floor - 9.5 (he already performs the double twist quite consistently), pommels - 9.65. He had just arrived from a trip. In addition, his goal is to try out new things on the first day. He frowns, thinks, weighs, and only at the very end jokes - with a stingy, also Voronin-like grin: "The shooting is finished." He's fine, as they say.
The youngest Dinamo member is 18-year-old A. Nozadze. "Back, back, back," coach G. Burdzhanadze whispered when Amiran worked on the rings. His back is still narrow, he still has enough strength. Nozadze could jump and run after finishing the exercises, not knowing the score yet - just for fun. In joy he could have forgotten the way from the platform, he could have been worried about failure. "It doesn't matter, huh? Yeah, it doesn't matter." And yet he grows into a fighter, and he enjoys fighting.
V. Ilinykh is five years older. He went to the Olympics, but his fighting character still didn't show up in him. No, no, and his soft eyes take on a confused, even frightened, expression, and excellent performances alternate with failures (vault - 8.75, bars - 8.3). His technique is excellent, he is elegant, and the main thing for him now is to learn to clench himself into a fist. If you learn, you will finally become a great gymnast.
Burevestnik arrived at the championship with the rank of third-place winner of the previous championship, but it was not at all the same athletes who took the stage now to win this title. Only Kiev resident E. Furman is now involved in that success. So the students had to essentially start over again. Furman was assigned the role of table setter. He did 'bend-unbend' quite clearly - both scores were 9.3. And then everything went like clockwork. E. Mikaelyan's vault received 9.45, and 18-year-old N. Andrianov received 0.1 more. Suddenly, after the first rotation, Burevestnik found itself in second place - ahead of Dinamo. However, no one attacched much importance to this surprise.
Difficulties began on the next apparatus - parallel bars. An hour and a half later,when the platform was empty, and the gymnasts, having folded their belongings in bags, were awaiting the results of the team competition, Vyacheslav Davydov tried to understand what had happened:
"Maybe we started off too dashingly, and the decent scores didn't exactly lower the mood for the competition, but somehow affected the overall tone of the team. Filatov started on parallel bars and failed on a simple element. Mikaelyan tried so hard to immediately correct the situation that he made a lot of mistakes. Kolya Andrianov also didn't reach a 9.0. In a word, a chain reaction began."
The students' misfortunes didn't end there. Mikaelyan was the first to compete on the high bar. While performing a double somersault dismount, he landed poorly and made a big mistake - so much so that he was carried off the platform. The guys sat as if submerged. The coaches searched for words to encourage them. And when the next one, Kolya Andrianov, had to go up to the platform, an older teammate approached them all and said quite simply: "Calm down. Pretend that you didn't hear anythying." It was 'iron' Shakhlin.
No miracle seemed to happen after that. The guys continued to 'fall over' one after another. The turning point came later, when it seemed that everything was lost and the medals had to be forgotten. At this difficult moment, there was an athlete on the team who, gritting his teeth, gave everything he could - Yefim Furman.
Things went smoothly on floor exercise. Andrianov was supported by an athlete from Lvov, V. Safronov, who is a student of the legendary Chukarin. V. Melnikov who just couldn't finish his combinations on the high bar, pulled himself together and got 9.35.
Before the last apparatus, rings, Burevestnik was trailing Zenit by almost one and a half points. This apparatus requires a fair amount of physical strength, and the student team is not rich in athletes. But you should have seen how at that moment the guys took care of each other, encouraged each other, and helped in whatever way they could. Scores from 9.0 and higher were included in their rings total. When the team results were announced, Shakhlin approached the team again and said:
"Well, comrade 'oil students', allow me to congratulate you on your bronze medals."
They all answered him with joyful smiles.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
USSR Gymnastics Championships. Minsk. May 27. Team results. 1. Armed Forces 1 (Litistky, Ananskikh, Boiko, Bogdanov, Vashchaev, Diomidov, Klimenko, Razumovsky) - 339.95; 2. Dinamo (Voronin, Bogus, Ilinykh, Lomtev, Nozadze, Trifonov, Tsapenko, Shamenko) - 335.45; 3. Burevestnik (Furman, Andrianov, Davydov, Melnikov, Mikaelyan, Safronov, Sokov, Filatov) - 329.45. 4. Zenit - 329.0; 5. Spartak - 327.35; 6. Avangard - 323.85.
All-around standings. Optional program. 1. Voronin (Dinamo) - 57.35; 2. Klimenko (Army) - 57.1; 3. Lisitsky (Army) - 56.75; 4. Diomidov (Army) - 56.55; 5. Karasev (Zenit) and Bogdanov (Army) - 56.4.
M. GOLUBEV, M. SUPONEV, AND S. TOKAREV