Sovetsky Sport. March 30, 1974. The Riga-74 international gymnastics competition has ended. Medals were awarded on the individual events. For the readers' convenience, I will first give the results of the winners (finals score in brackets), and then comment on them briefly.
Women. Vault. 1. R. Sabau (ROM) - 18.85 (9.45), 2. L. Gorbik (URS) - 18.7 (9.3), 3. N. Kim (URS) - 18.6 (9.3). The Romanian gymnast again (as in Moscow) flashed the Tsukahara vault, which she performs amazingly consistently.
Uneven bars. 1. Kim - 19.1 (9.6), 2. Gorbik - 19.0 (9.6), 3. M. Egervari (HUN) - 18.75 (9.5). The final was a kind of USSR-Hungary match (3 against 3). It turned out that our girls won, but the success of the Hungarian girls on this apparatus inspires respect.
Balance beam. 1. Kim - 19.15 (9.6), 2. Gayner (USA) - 19.0 (9.55), 3. L. Savina (URS) - 18.95 (9.45). Gorbik fell here. The American girl wraps her body around the end of the beam very beautifully - this element looks great.
Floor exercise. 1. Gorbik - 19.1 (9.55), 2. Kim - 18.9 (9.5), 3. Savina - 18.85 (9.45). Three different styles, but equally lovely routines. Gorbik was capitivatingly tender, fragile and spontaneous, Kim showed clearly refined brush accents and was stormy and temperamental, and Savina was modern and eccentric. In the latter case, however, it seems that the girl's natural jumping ability could have been better used: she has too many elements, so to speak, 'on the first level.'
Men. Floor exercise. 1. V. Marchenko (URS) - 19.15 (9.6), 2. J. Crosby (USA) - 19.05 (9.55), 3. K. Horide (JPN) - 18.95 (9.5). Marchenko again performed the 'moon somersault' splendidly. Crosby, outwardly similar to our famous skater Yuri Ovchinnikov, soared in the air just as easily and freely. It seems to have benefitted him that last year in Moscow, during the Universiade, his appendix was removed at the Botkin Hospital. However, jokes aside, at the world championships this guy will have to be reckoned with in the floor exercise.
Pommel horse. 1. Marchenko and E. Kenmotsu (JPN) - both 19.0 (9.5 and 9.55), 3. W. Thune (GDR) - 18.5 (9.3). The all-around world champion Kenmotsu did not perform on all events in the all-around, but this time he flashed. He squeezed everything out of his routine, and finished every circle and every swing.
Rings. 1. V. Boiko (URS) - 19.1 (9.6), 2. M. Tsukahara (JPN) - 18.9 (9.15), 3. Marchenko - 18.8 (9.35). The winner, showing a good class in Voronin's giant swings with straight arms, finished with a high 'moon' - he almost flew to the moon.
Vault. 1. J. Cuervo (CUB) - 18.75 (9.45), 2. Horide - 18.65 (9.15), 3. V. Safronov (URS) - 18.5 (9.2). This event was the highlight of the competition, a real circus attraction. The finalists rotated in the air in all conceivable planes, somersault followed somersault - tucked, piked, twisting, forward, backward. The powerful Cuervo, with the torso of a weightlifter, won, as at the Universiade, with a vault which in gymnastics terms is 'a flip with a turn of 180 degrees and a one and a half back somersault,' and it looks just as intricate. You can't even make out what he's doing.
Parallel bars. 1. Kenmotsu - 18.9 (9.45), 2. Tsukahara and Thune - both 18.8 (both 9.45). The top three won for their purity of performance and tightness - like white strings. The bottom three (Boiko, Marchenko, and Safronov) lost not because of the weak content of their exercises, but because of the negligence in execution.
High bar. 1. Kenmotsu and Tsukahara - both 19.15 (9.55 and 9.7), 3. Thune - 18.95 (9.5). None of our guys were in this final at all. So, as you can see, if the aces take the matter seriously (I'm talking about these two Japanese masters), it's hard to fight with them. You just need to fight. It's necessary. It's time.
We have opportunities. In general, the Riga tournament showed this.
S. TOKAREV