Sovetsky Sport. April 18, 1981. LENINGRAD, April 17 (our special correspondent). A final is a final! It gifted us many thrilling moments, intense emotions, and the sheer beauty of competition. The victors received their prizes, fanfares rang out in their honor, and the laureates signed autographs. The Sports Palace has emptied. Yet, etched in our memories remain the unforgettable moments of this magnificent contest.
The only topic of conversation was whether our young guys - Pavel Sut and Volodya Artemiev - would be able to put up a fight against the Olympians. Everyone understood that in this long marathon, everything would come down to experience and a smart allocation of energy. Artemiev had already experienced the rigors of this Cup competition last year, whereas Sut was facing them for the very first time. It was also known that Tkachev was running a fever and suffering from tonsillitis; yet Alexander, with the European Championships in mind, stepped onto the platform nonetheless.
On the surface, everything looked simple: Tkachev - who had shared the lead with Artemiev heading into the final - pulled ahead right from the very first apparatus and saw the competition through to a victorious conclusion. Yet behind him, dramatic events were unfolding.
Tkachev made a strong statement on the floor exercise, posting a score of 9.55. His acrobatics are so fluid, his compositional patterns so rhythmic - it is was a sheer delight to watch! Meanwhile, Sut and Artemiev each received an 8.9 score - and they lost out precisely because of their weaker acrobatics.
After the pommel horse, the competition intensified once again: on this apparatus, Artemiev performs every bit as well - and perhaps even better - than the Hungarian Olympic champion, Zoltan Magyar. Vladimir executed a magnificent routine with a wide amplitude, earning a 9.8. Sut was not far behind, demonstrating elegant lines with a score of 9.65. Tkachev received a 9.5.
And what of our Olympians? Eduard Azaryan's performance was uneven. Yet it was precisely his physical power that enabled him to maintain control of his body in critical moments - situations where he teetered on the brink of a fall. He was plagued by a shoulder injury, and consequently, on his favorite apparatus, the rings, Eduard failed to score higher than 9 points. Nevertheless, he did not yield; he persevered, and ultimately received a bronze medal into his broad, toil-worn hands.
Bogdan Makuts was fully prepared to contend for a podium finish. I really like this calm, poised young man. One senses that he has not yet fully recovered from the grueling days of the Olympics and the World Cup; nevertheless, he did not water down his routines - and, in fact, even upgraded them in places. True, his triple somersault on the rings let him down (scoring an 8.5), but today, after all, is the time to look forward to the future. And that is exactly what he is doing.
The seasoned veterans - Volgograd native Valentin Turbanov and Rostov native Sergei Khizhnyakov - stubbornly "scrambled" their way up the ranks. It seemed as though, by the end, they had shaken off a certain bewilderment - triggered by the rookies' overwhelming onslaught - and strove to fend off the attacks of the younger generation.
Indeed, only one representative of the "new wave" - Artemiev - successfully transversed the entire arduous path to the finish. Yet Pavel Sut - who held third place right up to the high bar (8.9) - as well as Yuri Korolev, Andrei Popov, and Vladimir Belenkov: these gymnasts, too, boldly stormed the ranks of the renowned masters.
Artemiev on the high bar - a magnificent performance - 9.7. Tkachev's turn. It was a "space flight" - 9.9. Four years later, Alexander reclained the USSR Cup.
And now, a brief word on the women's final. Here, two debutantes - two seventh-graders who so captivated everyone at the international tournament in Moscow - Alla Misnik and Tanya Frolova, truly rose to the occasion. What is it that makes them so appealing? It is their freshness of perception, their airiness, and the sheer weightlessness of their performance.
Other gymnasts, however, disappointed with their lack of consistency. Our Olympic champion Stella Zakharova delivered a steady performance, ultimately managing to secure the bronze medal. Olympic champion Elena Naimushina, meanwhile, dropped to fifth place following mishaps on the uneven bars (8.9) and in the floor exercise (8.4). Admittedly, the high number of errors is cause for concern. That said, let us make some allowances, given that it is the start of the season. And let us take heart in the fact that the emergence of young talents will intensify competition within the national team and stimulate fresh thinking among the coaches - all of which signals the arrival of new trends in women's gymnastics.
On the last day, the USSR Championships awards will be contested in the individual events.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
USSR Cup in gymnatics. All-around final. Half the sum of the compulsory and optional programs, plus the finals.
Men. 1. A. Tkachev (Dinamo, Moscow) - 112.65; 2. V. Artemiev (Dinamo, Minsk) - 112.05; 3. E. Azaryan (Army, Yerevan) - 111.275; 4. V. Turbanov (Army, Volgograd) - 111.225; 5. B. Makuts (Army, Lvov) - 110.95; 6. S. Khizhnyakov (Army, Rostov-on-Don) - 110.725; 7. P. Sut (Red Star, Minsk) - 110.6; 8. Yu. Korolev (Spartak, Vladimir) - 110.325; 9. V. Belenkov (Burevestnik, Volgograd) - 110.0; 10. A. Popov (Dinamo, Voronezh) - 109.95; 11. A. Akopyan (Labor Reserves, Yerevan) - 109.8; 12. S. Baranov (Burevestnik, Vladimir) - 109.7.
Women. 1. A. Misnik (Labor Reserves, Kharkov) - 75.65; 2. T. Frolova (Labor Reserves, Bryansk) - 74.075; 3. S. Zakharova (Dinamo, Kiev) - 73.925; 4. N. Yurchenko (Dinamo, Rostov-on-Don) - 73.85; 5. E. Naimushina (Dinamo, Krasnoyarsk) - 73.525; 6. E. Polevaya (Dinamo, Gomel) - 73.475; 7. I. Kirpichenko (Dinamo, Vitebsk) - 73.45; 8. E. Gurina (Army, Moscow) - 73.35; 9. A. Shishova (Dinamo, Rostov-on-Don) - 73.225; 10. E. Ponomarenko (Dinamo, Rostov-on-Don) - 73.075; 11. A. Babasyan (Profsoyuz, Tbilisi) - 72.825; 12. E. Nikolaentseva (Army, Frunze) and N. Prodazhnaya (Labor Reserves, Tallinn) - 72.575.
V. GOLUBEV