Sovetsky Sport. November 16, 1974. Minsk (our correspondent). The All-Union competitions for junior gymnasts, dedicated to the Lenin Komsomol, usually gather the entire elite of the generation that follows the recognized masters. Such well-known athletes as Olympians A. Koshel and N. Nedbalsky and participants of the world championships in Varna V. Marchenko and P. Shamugiya took part in this tournament.
Practically everyone with whom the hopes of our gymnasts for Montreal-76 and, even more, for Moscow-80, are connected, gathered on the platform of the Minsk Sports Palace. Only S. Grozdova is missing.
The formula of the competition is as follows: masters of sports perform their optional program twice. Otherwise, it's impossible now - the former compulsory was 'archived' after Varna, and no one has yet had time to even get close to the new one. This does not apply to candidates for masters and first-category athletes (they are here, too). They have their own compulsory program. And there's one more innovation: the competitions dedicated to the Lenin Komsomol have a team championship. For what? Firstly, a new generation of gymnasts must get accustomed from an early age to the special degree of responsibility that performance for the team imposes on the athlete. Secondly, the team principle helps to see more clearly how things are going with the training of young gymnasts in societies and departments.
The girls opened the tournament. The leader after the first day was I. Tsarik from Lvov. Here are her scores on the individual apparatuses: 9.4 for a high and bold Tsukaara vault; 9.5 for her original routine on the uneven bars, the highlight of which was a somersault between the poles; 9.45 on the balance beam, where Irina performed an infrequently-occurring element - a straddle jump; and 9.4 for her emotional floor exercise, seasoned with good acrobatics. Other gymnasts had more difficult exercises, others surpassed Tsarik in the cleanliness of performance, but the leader remained the leader in all respects, first of all in the excitement of her performance, and her special strong-willed mood.
S. Kudinova remained in second position. Here, the characteristic features of the famous Vitebsk gymnastics school are clearly visible. The school's head, V. Dmitriev, does not pursue 'super-difficulty,' although he pays tribute to the times. But on the other hand, every element, every gesture by the gymnast is perfected to the utmost, the toes are always pulled back so that the legs do not bend out of place - a no-no. So it was with L. Petrik and T. Lazakovich who, by the way, is Kudinova's main coach.
L. Gorbik was not in the top ten. On the uneven bars, coach V. Khomutov was forced to catch the gymnast after a series of twists, otherwise she would have ended up on the mats. And in the floor exercise, Lida sat on the carpet at the end of her first diagonal. Do not see this as a catastrophe. Khomutov explained: "After Varna, where Lida was an alternate, she needed rest, mainly psychological. The break in training affected her, of course. Moreover, Lida gained two extra kilograms of weight. This explains everything."
True, looking at Gorbik, as thin as a small blini, you will not notice this unfortunate two kilograms. And she still had the highest score of the day - 9.6 for her beam exercise.
Little Masha Filatova from Leninsk-Kuznetsk stunned - you can't say otherwise - with her beam routine. It contained a back handspring in conjunction with the Korbut somersault, and a dizzying dismount, crowned with a somersault with a twist. True, the girl still lacks purity of execution, but her difficulty is downright incredible.
Leading after the first day was the Avangard team. How I would like to see this as a sign of the revival of the old traditions of Ukrainian women's gymnastics!
About the young men so far, in a nutshell: Minsker N. Fedorenko is in the lead - he is perhaps the most experienced of all the participants. Of course, the density of results in the group of leaders is high. They didn't have any special losses that caused a 'girlish commotion' at the beginning of the competition.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
All-Union Youth Competition dedicated to the Lenin Komsomol. 14 November. Minsk Sports Palace.
Girls. Optional program, master of sports. 1. I. Tsarik (Avangard) - 37.75; 2. S. Kudinova (Dinamo) - 37.3; 4. A. Glebova (Burevestnik) - 37.25; 4. G. Kolpakova (Spartak) - 36.6; 5. S. Pozigun (Trud) and T. Kazanina (Spartak) - 36.5.
Boys. Optional program, master of sports. 1. N. Fedorenko (Labor Reserves) - 56.2; 2. A. Dityatin (Dinamo) - 55.95; 3. V. Volkov (Red Star) - 55.1; 4. A. Saifullin (Labor Reserves) - 55.05; 5. F. Latypov (Soviet Army) - 54.95; 6. V. Lozhkin (Zenit)- 54.8.
M. SUPONEV