Sovetsky Sport. July 11, 1980. VISITING CARD. Bogdan Makuts. Born 4 April 1960. Height 171cm, weight 62kg. Army Club. Second-year student at the Lvov Institute of Physical Culture. 1978 Jr. European all-around champion. European champion on vault and parallel bars. World champion in the team competition. Coach - E. Paitra.
Last May, at the European Championships in Essen (FRG), along with two famous Alexanders - Dityatin and Tkachev - debutant Bogdan Makuts took to the platform. His name meant little to gymnastics fans. A month and a half before the European Championsihps, Bogdan had a television appearance: he became the winner of the popular international competition, the Moscow News, which was watched by millions of viewers.
In Essen, everyone was enchanted by the debutant's modern routines on every event, the stability and confidence of his performance, and the elegance and softness of his work. It became clear that a talented athlete had burst into the ranks of the national team. He managed to capture exactly half of the medals won by the entire trio: gold for the vault and parallel bars, silver for the all-around and rings, and bronze for the pommel horse.
The turning point in Makuts' sports biography was in 1978. In February, competing for the first time with adults, Bogdan became the all-around champion of the Armed Forces. He celebrated his birthday in Ulyanovsk at the Olympic Reserves Specialized Sports Schools championship with a victory on the vault and a silver medal in the all-around. Two months later in Kuibyshev he won the Junior USSR Cup. In August, in distant Havana, he became the winner in the all-around, the floor and the horizontal bar at the international competition for young gymnasts of socialist countries, Druzhba, and in September in Milan he became the all-around champion of the first Junior European Championship.
"Bogdan," says coach Evgeny Paitra, "came to gymnastics late by today's standards, at 11 years old. He began training in one of the comprehensive children's and youth sports schools of the Ministry of Education with coach V. A. Frantskevich. A year later he was accepted to the children's and youth specialized sports school No. 5 and ended up in my group. He attracted me with his serious approach to training and his curiosity. At the very first competitions, another important quality of the little guy showed itself - the ability to show himself in competition, to do everything better on the platform than he can do in training."
"Evgeny Andrevich, I've seen Bogdan at competitions more than once and I got the impression that he is a withdrawn guy, rather serious."
"Yes, at competitions, as well as at training, he has no shortage of seriousness. In life, he is a very sociable, outgoing and communicative person. He gets along with people easily. He's the life of the party - he can tell funny stories, sing and dance. And he is a great conversationalist. He knows a lot because he reads a lot, and he can hold a conversation on any topic. He loves children very much - he's ready to mess around with them even at the expense of his own training. So, he will be a good teacher. Talk to him yourself..."
And here's my dialogue with him:
Tell me, Bogdan, is it true that you keep a diary in which you write down in detail not only your sports results but also your impressions of the country, city, and people you meet?
Yes, I do. And as for impressions about everything surrounding the competitions - that's a great idea! Perhaps I should adopt it.
Why do you love gymnastics?
If I say that there are endless opportunities to learn something new, I won't be original - any gymnast will say the same. I especially love competitions. I feel some special lift and inspiration. They say that I become a different person. I don't really notice it.
What else to you like?
Here my affections are completely dependent on my dad's job (laughs Bogdan). When he worked as a projectionist, I fell passionatly in love with the cinema. I watched hundreds of films. Now he is a salesman, and I have a new hobby - good candies. They know how to make them in Lvov. And when I get serious, I like to read.
Bogdan, you must be a very brave person if you dare to include the most difficult tricks in your routines?
My courage is relative. After all, mastering a difficult element is preceded by preparatory exercises and a strict sequence. So, we gymnasts do not need courage but rather determination, "to rush" to perform the first routine. But the most courageous in our family is my mom. She works as a nurse in a hospital. Many people are scared by the sight of white coats.
How did you feel when you won the gold medal at the World Championshps? What are your dreams?
I took the medal for granted because I had great confidence in myself and especially in my teammates.
E. AVSENEV, Master of Sports