Sovetsky Sport. December 15, 1967. Lyuda Turischeva, the competition leader, is not contributing any points to the Dinamo team because she is competing in the individual competition. This is not a mistake in team selection, as Turischeva is the all-around champion of Dinamo.
The USSR Gymnastics Federation punished Dinamo athlete Turischeva for a recent transgression: she arrived late for an international match with the GDR team in Tbilisi, was unable to compete due to an injury, but was kept on to observe and learn which, however, she did not wish to do, and left for home without permission.
However, as you understand, it is impossible and incorrect to say "she arrived" or "she left" about a girl who recently turned fifteen and doesn't even have a passport yet. L. Turischeva obeyed her coach V. Rastorotsky in everything, and the wording of the accusation, it turns out, sounds like this: "he brought her" and "he took her away."
I am concerned about Turischeva's fate, both in connection with and independently of this incident. Nature has endowed her not only with purely athletic qualities, but also with a special gift of charming sincerity and warmth, which gives her gymnastic repetoire its own personal touch. But then she fell from the balance beam, asked for a second attempt, and naturally became nervous. Rastorotsky ran up to her - he spoke a lot: quickly, excitedly, angrily. I see that the girl is trembling. The fact that she regained her composure and received a high score (9.35) is to her merit, not the coach's.
"But," they will say to me, "Rastorotsky was the one who prepared the routine!"
That's right. But I asked V. Dmitriev, one of our smartest gymnastics coaches: what should the coach do in this case? "Calm them down," he said, "briefly and precisely explain the mistake and how to avoid it. But the main thing is to calm them down."
Let me remind you what happened to Turischeva at the Spartakiad. When she was performing her floor exercise, the time wasn't properly monitored, she exceeded the time limit, her score was lowered, and the coaches filed a protest, demanding that the girl be allowed to perform the exercise a second time - and it had two twists! And she did it! One can argue about the extent of Rastorotsky's guilt - whether he suggested writing the protest, wrote it himself, or simply agreed with his superiors. But he was Lyuda's coach, and he allowed this burden, which is unbearable even for an adult.
He deserves credit - Lyuda is not only gifted but also well prepared. From a humane perspective, you can understand him: what if tomorrow she becomes the national champion! What happiness that would be, and it might be so close - just within reach. That's why he's worried and in a hurry.
But couldn't he be a little calmer? After all, that hand is a child's hand.
S. TOKAREV, our special correspondent