Sovetsky Sport. August 29, 1972. The Olympic Village, located in the center of the Olympic facilities. The Olympic Stadium. The arena, and the swimming pool, every driveway, every road, and square are named after heroes of past Olympics: El-Toni Street, Coubertin Square. The street bearing the name of the outstanding Polish athlete-patriot Janusz Kosucinski leads us to the Sporthalle, where the gymnasts now rule. It was empty in the morning. But already in the middle of the day in the stands, accommodating more than 11,000 spectators, there is not a single empty seat, not even in the aisles on the steps. But the decisive events are still far away. The compulsory program is being carried out, which few people consider spectacular. If they were here, in the Sporthalle, they would probably change their opinion.
The first stream. Of course, we are following the Hungarian and American gymnasts. By the way, they were separated by only 0.05 points in the team standings, with the Hungarians leading. At 3:00pm, an experienced and evenly composed team of Czechoslovakia entered the platform. Team leader M. Nemethova has 36.75, and Vachova has 35.75 (the worst result in the team). Scores are generally lower than one might expect. The total of the Czechoslovakian athletes turned out to be the same as that of the Hungarians - 182.15 points.
But all this is just an overture before the first act of the big gymnastic performance - a duel between the teams of the GDR and the Soviet Union.
Our team starts with the bars. And the first to perform on them is E. Saadi. It would seem that what originality can be found in the compulsory exercise? But our team is strong and attractive because it united representatives of different styles, distinctive and interesting. This is primarily the achievement of the coaches who prepared their girls for the Olympic team.
Saadi is a gymnast with a strong personality. But such is the unwritten law of team competitions that the 'table setter,' who is the first, is doomed to a low score. The judges did not dare to put up more than 9.2. A. Koshel, who followed Saadi, has a much better score - 9.5. But after all, Tonya is one of the best performers in the world in the compulsory program on the uneven bars, and she performed later, so the score was definitely higher. For O. Korbut with her unique tricks on the uneven bars, performing the compulsory routine is like snapping twigs. She gets a 9.6. L. Turischeva gets the same score. T. Lazakovich excelled, as always, with cleanlinessand clarity of lines, and got 9.55. The team's total score is excellent - 47.7 (five out of six scores count). But, as it turned out later, this result is not the hightest.
In the GDR team, there were masters who mastered the compulsory program on the uneven bars very well. Young A. Hellmann receives as much as Turischeva and Korbut. E. Zuchold, who completed the exercise with large amplitude, earned 9.7. And finally, K. Janz showed a performance that received the best score of the day, 9.8. As a result, the GDR team has 48 points.
However, the bars turned out to be the only apparatus where the Soviet gymnasts lost to their rivals. Athletes from the GDR vaulted well. The lowest score they received was 9.3. But on the landings, our side stood rooted to the spot. L. Burda beat the leader of the GDR team, getting 9.5, while Turischeva and Korbut scored 0.1 better.
Even on such a bright holiday as the Olympics, the beam did not forsake treacherous 'footsteps.' It almost shook Koshel off, and she had to settle for 8.95 points (by the way, this is the only one of our gymnasts' 24 scores which was below 9 points). Turischeva swayed, and Burda made it through with difficulty. Only Lazkovich managed not to lose her usual elegance. She has the best score on our team - 9.4.
The GDR athletes finished the compulsory program with beam performances. By that time, they were already noticeably inferior to ours and, apparently, they finally decided to try to close the gap. But after all, this is a beam that does not forgive either timidity, or self-confidence, or overly dashing attacks! Young I. Abel and K. Schmitt made noticeable mistakes and did not score above 8.9. The performance of highly experienced Zuchold was not quite clean. And even Janz, usually calm and confident, seemed stiff and too cautious. It is not easy for her, apparently, to forget the drama that happened to her on this apparatus after the last world championship in Ljubljana. Her score is only 9.35.
The Soviet team ended their performance on its signature event, floor exercises. Obviously, no comments are required on the scores we got: Koshel 9.35, Saadi 9.4, Burda 9.5, Korbut, 9.6, Lazakovich 9.7, Turischeva 9.8.
The team score for the compulsory program - 189.15.
The six GDR gymnasts lost to us by 1.85 points. The gap is noticeable, giving us good chances for a team victory. But we must not forget that our rivals are very strong in the optional program and the battle is going to be serious.
Lazakovich is leading in the individual classification with 38.25 points. Janz is 0.1 points behind and she, in turn, has the same score as Turischeva. Then comes Korbut (37.9) and Zuchold (37.8). They are perhaps the main contenders for medals in the all-around.
Unfortunately, the Soviet men's team cannot boast of such success. Only N. Andrianov competed exactly, again confirming the solidity of his claims to the role of leader. On pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars, he received 9.5, and on floor exercise, vault, and high bar he received 9.6. With a total of 57.3, he is in second place in the individual competition, behind the Japanese S. Kato by only 0.05 points. V. Klimenko fell off the high bar (9.15). His brother and coach Mikhail later explained that Viktor's finger buckled during a hand change, and he had to perform an extra turn. A half point was deducted. M. Voronin didn't complete one of the elements in floor exercise, and got 9.0. E. Mikaelyan didn't make any serious mistakes, but there wasn't must brilliance in his peformance either. A. Maleev's and V. Schukin's lack of experience didn't allow them to significantly help the team leaders.
Our main rivals, the Japanese didn't have any noticeable outsiders. Even the table setter T. Okamura contributed three scores that went into the team standings. Tsukahara performed excellently on the high bar (9.75) and floor exercise (9.45), but against expectations he was weak on his signature event: 9.1 on vault.
S. Kasamatsu who, with his tall stature, was long considered an exception to the Japanese school of gymnastics, is no longer considered a floor exercise specialist, but a true all-arounder. On the pommel horseheis on a par with E. Kenmostu with the best score on the team - 9.5. And on the high bar, Kasamatsu was not afraid to challenge the recognized leaders, and his 9.75 put him ahead of Kenmotsu and A. Nakayama. As for Kato, Kenmotsu and Nakayama, it has long been known that they are gymnasts without weaknesses. Thus, all six Japanese athletes made a significant contribution to the team total - 285.05.
The Soviet gymnasts were behind the Japanese by almost 3 points after the compulsory program. It's a lot. However, Andrianov has good chances for a medal in the individual competition. In addition, he has the best score on the vault and floor exercises, so he can cound on success here.
The main result of the performance of the Soviet and Japanese gymnasts in the compulsory program is not comforting for us. The gap in skill, apparently, remains the same.
AUTHOR