Sovetsky Sport. March 26, 1974. On the second day of the Moscow News gymnastics competiton, awards were given in the individual events. The women's winners were: E. Saadi on beam and floor exercises, E. Primak on uneven bars, and R. Sabau (ROM) on vault. The men's winners were: V. Klimenko on parallel bars and vault, P. Shamugiya on pommel horse, V. Shchukin on rings, J. Crosby (USA) on floor exercise, and E. Kenmotsu (JPN) on high bar.
Before I talk about the finals, I will return to the events of the first day. At the press conference, Viktor Klimenko, as always, gave a detailed and thorough analysis of his performacne in the all-around. It was fundamentally important for him, because for the first time Viktor performed his new routines, which he had been learning for a whole year. He even missed last year's national championship because of this - by November, the routines were still not polished, and he didn't want to show any imperfections.
Klimenko's routines were difficult before, but he and his brother Mikhail, the coach, decided that for the 1974 world championships they should approach the competition with exercises that, due to their extreme riskiness, would force the judges to award precious tenths of a point. Now the program of the aspirant of the postgraduate program of the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute has elements that belong to the category of super-complex 'Ultra-C. ' Did this give an advantage to our gymanst? Klimenko's convincing victory in the competition gives a positive answer to this question.
Other members of the USSR national team didn't waste time, either. They are making progress in difficulty, and the progress is huge. When, say, Paata Shamugiya and then Vladimir Shchukin performed triple twists on the floor, the always silent and withdrawn head coach of the Japanese team, champion of the Tokyo Olympics Yukio Endo, got excited and began to excitedly say something to his wards, pointing at our guys. In general, all the Soviet gymnasts performed such elements which, of course, came as a complete surprise to their main rivals - the Japanese.
For example, at the Munich Olympics Mitsuo Tsukahara won the gold medal on the high bar, not without the help of a completely fantastic 'moon salto,' which he had been practicing for several years. A year later, Nikolai Andrianov performed it at the European championships - not only on the high bar but also on the rings. In Moscow, our other gymnasts also did this exceptionally difficult dismount.
However, let's be objective. The Japanese did not hide their disappointment in Munich, when they managed to get only three of the six planned gold medals in the individual events. On floor exercise and especially on vault, they had stagnation. At this competition, it was felt that the Japanese realized it: on the floor and on vault, they clearly 'added.' The young Kazuo Horide even received a special prize for his original vault.
The breakdowns of Shchukin and Ruben Mikaelyan (the younger brother of the Olympian Eduard Mikaelyan) are quite understandable. Ruben made his debut in this major competition and was unnecessarily nervous, and Shchukin, whose preparation was not in doubt, is now going through a process of some psychological crisis caused by last year's injuries.
At the Sports Palace, I met a young coach, Valery Sinko. He broke into a smile: "I brought my boys to watch the competition. They have never seen such a holiday - they are terribly pleased. I can imagine how wonderful training will be on Monday. The boys are already dreaming of becoming champions, and they want to do it in one year."
Yes, there were a great many schoolchildren - young gymnasts from sports schools - in the stands during these two days. They enjoyed it a lot. But I think that all of the spectators, and not only the children, liked it. The organization of the competition was excellent, the press service worked quickly, journalists quickly received results in two languages, and they also attendced press conferences with the winners. All of this suggests that we can hold the largest gymnastic competitions at the highest, Olympic, level.
Now, a little about the finals. The all-around world champion Eizo Kenmotsu performed only on three events, and won one - the high bar. Neither Tsukahara nor Horide, nor the talented gymnast from the GDR, Wolfgang Thune, managed to beat our athletes. But the American, John Crosby (the same Crosby who during the Universiade underwent an operation for appendicitis in a Moscow hospital), has flashed in floor exercises. It must be said that his routine is the most interesting, and his tumbles are high.
As for the women's performance, the advantage of our girls was overwhelming. True, the Romanian R. Sabau won first place on vault, because she landed exactly after her Tsukahara.
All of the Moscow News participants went to Riga, where on March 26-28 they will compete for the awardsa at the traditional Riga-74 competition.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
International gymnastics competition for the Moscow News prize. Moscow, March 23-24.
Women. All-around. 1. S. Grozdova (URS) - 37.9; 2. E. Primak (URS) - 37.5; 3. E. Saadi (URS) - 36.85; 4. E. Abramova (URS) - 36.65; 5. M. Egervari (HUN) - 36.35; 6. D. Fike (USA) - 36.3.
Individual event finals. Vault. 1. R. Sabau (ROM) - 18.8; 2. S. Grozdova - 18.6; 3. E. Saadi - 18.55. Uneven bars. 1. E. Primak - 18.9; 2. M. Egervari - 18.7; 3. E. Abramova - 18.6. Beam. 1. E. Saadi - 19.15; 2. S. Grozdova - 18.9; 3. E. Primak - 18.5. Floor. 1. E. Saadi - 19.4; 2. S. Grozdova- 19.3; 3. E. Primak - 18.75.
Men. All-around. 1. V. Klimenko (URS) - 56.65; 2. P. Shamugiya (URS) - 55.45; 3. W. Thune (GDR) and M. Tsukahara (JPN) - 55.45; 5. R. Mikaelyan (URS) - 54.7; 6. K. Horide (JPN) - 54.7.
Individual event finals. Floor. 1. J. Crosby (USA) - 19.15; 2. V. Klimenko - 19.1; 3. K. Horide - 18.8. Pommel horse. 1. P. Shamugiya - 18.7; 2. R. Mikaelyan - 18.6; 3. W. Thune - 18.55. Rings. 1. V. Shchukin (URS) - 19.05; 2. R. Mikaelyan - 18.9; 3. M. Tsukahara - 18.65. Vault. 1. V. Klimenko - 18.625; 2. K. Horide - 18.625; 3. P. Shamugiya - 18.5. Parallel bars. 1. V. Klimenko- 18.7; 2. W. Thune - 18.55; 3. P. Shamugiya - 18.5. High bar. 1. E. Kenmotsu (JPN) - 19.05; 2. W. Thune - 18.95; 3. M. Tsukahara - 18.85.
V.GOLUBEV