Sovetsky Sport. October 28, 1970. For the first time, a Japanese gymnast won the title of all-around world champion. He is 22-year-old Tokyo University student Eizo Kenmotsu. Japanese gymnasts Mitsuo Tsukahara and Akinori Nakayama also took all-around medals.
Team gold medals went to the representatives of Japan for the third time. Soviet athletes won silver medals, and the GDR team won bronze.
Yes, our guys were in a sad mood before the optional program. V. Karasev fell ill. But he was still preparing to go onto the platform.
In order not to describe in detail the course of the competition (TV viewers alreaedy know the result), I asked the debutant of our team, Georgy Bogdanov, to talk about the events in Tivoli Hall. So, the report is through the eyes of a participant.
"The girls encouraged us. They even seemed to console us. But that didn't make it any easier for us. I'm new to the team. I don't have any big titles, but I need to figure out why we performed so poorly in the first day of the competition. The guys felt out of placce and were very tired.
Our rest day passed without a hitch. Nobody talked about the upcoming struggle. But we realized that it was impossible to take back what we had lost. We went out onto the platform, and we were so angry - Valera Karasev, with a fever, did his best on the rings and earned a decent score. I did my routine, I'm resting, and I'm watching the Japanese. How are they doing on floor exercise? Suddenly Kenmotsu performed a triple twist. I will say one thing: in gymnastics this is an extraordinary event. Even my double somersault on the floor exercise, which is considered an extremely difficult element, paled in front of this unique twist.
Then we went to vault. Our scores were low here. It seemed to me that we were, as they say, being squeezed. But then, when the Japanese were vaulting, I realized that our guys are not so good on this event. Only Klimenko showed an excellent vault with a twist. In the other events, Klimenko and Voronin stood out among us. And if Misha had not ruined the double twist on the floor, he would have been second in the all-around. We tried, but compared to the Japanese we were inferior in terms of performance and difficulty. Pacing, pacing is what is needed now. And, of course, we need something surprising in our routines. Like, say, Tsukahara on the vault, or Kenmotsu on the floor. It's bitter to admit, but one thing is clear: we need to rebuild, update, completely change routines, work more. I don't see any other way out..."
So said the youngest gymnast. And, in general, he is right. The Japanese turned out to be stronger than our athletes. For many years they built their strategy on the advantage of difficulty, risk, and novelty, and thus significantly influenced the development of world gymnastics. A continuous search for tactical options (at various major tournaments, our rivals offered a choice of extremely difficult exercises - Ultra-C - or purity and elegance, or emphasized simplicity and stability) brought them success every time. The most important thing is that gymnasts in Japan do not stand still. Being world and Olympic champions, they continue to continually improve their skills.
The strength of the Japanese team lies in the evenness of their composition; almost everyone could replace the leader in difficult times. A. Nakayama broke down on the pommel horse, and he was immediately replaced by E. Kenmotsu. This is a unique gymnast in general. Possessing an insufficiently proportional difficulty, Eizo simply transforms on the apparatus. His body is light and obedient, his acrobatic jumps are high and swift, his movements on the parallel bars and on the high bar are precise and beautiful.
Compared to Mexico City (where Eizo was fourth in the all-around), Kenmotsu noticeably improved in difficulty and purity in Ljubljana.
Two years ago, M. Vovonin named M. Tsukahara among the most dangerous rivals. The Japanese have a clear, airy style. In Ljubljana Tsukahara amazed the experts with a daring vault and a very difficult dismount from the high bar (a double pike back somersault). And so Tsukahara intervened in the dispute of all-around primacy and reached the second step of the podium.
Our team lost to the Japanese by 6.75 points. I asked the opinion of Merited Master of Sports Valery Kerdemelidi about the reasons for such a major defeat.
"It seems to me," he said, "that we have not quite correctly set the main task. Before we beat the Japanese, we must first catch up with them. They have gone far ahead. Flexibility, agility, and plasticity are the three trump cards of Japanese gymnasts. And they also have other trump cards, perhaps the main ones - perseverance and hard work. Anyone who has seen the Japanese in training will say that they train every day as if tomorrow they must take part in the world championship. This predetermines their success."
In our team over the years - from Dortmund to Ljubljana - one gymnast closed all the gaps. But Voronin performed worse than usual - after all, a huge physical and mental load fell on his shoulders. And no one managed to replace him.
What do our team members think about failure?
V. Klimenko: We haven't made a step forward compared to the Mexico City Olympics. The team has lost the traits of the old team. Everyone is going differently. Everyone is doing whatever they want. We don't have our own fate, and we got lost on the platform. There were some bright performances, but it didn't feel like we were a team. The Japanese literally churned out their routines. They came out like an assembly line. But at the same time, their routines corresponded to the individual inclinations of each. On the one hand, the rivals have a unified school, on the other hand, they show their creativity.
V. Lisitsky: We couldn't even imagine that the Japanese would make such a big leap. this unsettled us. To say the least, we only know about the Japanese from hearsay. I would like to see a film about their performances. At the USSR championship, the leaders showed themselves perfectly. And here it turned out that we were living in yesterday. Why do the Japanese intensively collect information abou their rivals and put a lot of effort into reconnaissance? They understand that in gymnastics, resting on your laurels is death, that is, defeat.
S. Diomidov: The world championship opened our eyes to the true state of things. What seemed to us the height of perfection suddenly became an anachronism. We are stewing in our own juices and don't notice anything around us. Tsukahara performed the vault that G. Uglev showed us a year ago. We don't appreciate our discoveries, but the Japanese pick them up immediately. If we want to achieve anything, we need to restructure the work...
It's good that the guys spoke out directly and frankly. This means they are seriously worried about the team's failures. The lesson learned in Ljubljana should be used for future use.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
All-around competition. Men. 1. Kenmotsu (JPN) - 115.05 (9.6, 9.75, 9.55, 9.6, 9.75, 9.8); 2. Tsukahara (JPN) - 113.85 (9.35, 9.1, 9.7, 9.75, 9.5, 9.8); 3. Nakayama (JPN) - 113.8 (9.55, 9.5, 9.8, 9.4, 9.8, 9.7); 4. Voronin (URS) - 113.75 (9.25, 9.6, 9.7, 9.35, 9.75, 9.7); 5. Klimenko (URS) - 113.6 (9.55, 9.7, 9.4, 9.6, 9.7, 9.65); 6. Honma (JPN) - 113.45 (9.3, 9.45, 9.5, 9.3, 9.65, 9.6); 10. Diomidov (URS) - 112.45 (9.5, 9.55, 9.3, 9.3, 9.65, 9.4); 12. Lisitsky (URS) - 111.65 (9.4, 9.35, 9.5, 9.25, 9.45, 9.5); 18. Bogdanov (URS) - 110.3 (9.5, 8.95, 9.4, 8.95, 9.3, 9.45); 27. Karasev (URS) - 108.5 (9.3, 9.3, 9.4, 9.2, 9.2, 9.35).
Team results. 1. JPN - 571.1; 2. URS- 564.35; 3. GDR - 553.15; 4. YUG - 549.45; 5. POL - 547.05; 6. SWE - 451.75.
V. GOLUBEV