Leningradskaya Pravda. December 9, 1984. The rapid pace at which women's gymnastics is becoming younger is immediately evident as soon as you step through the doors of the Leningrad Army sports club, one of the main centers for training top-class athletes.
The athletes using the equipment are very young. Those in their teens are already considered veterans. They repeatedly perform exercises on the parallel bars, the balance beam, and the floor... They work diligently, focused, persistently, even perhaps routinely, as if they were copying school homework into a notebook, striving for perfection without a single mistake. Only upon closer inspection do you gasp in amazement: this is true 'ultra-difficulty'! The most difficult elements in modern gymnastics. Even at the Olympic Games, such performances would elicit gasps of surprise and admiration.
Nearby, there are tiny children: second-graders. An acrobatic track. Dazzling somersaults. They perform them easily, enthusiastically, as if playing, seemingly for their own enjoyment. Some of these elements were, until recently, only within the capabilities of renowned gymnasts.
"I think that by the end of the year," notes Viktor Nikolaevich Gavrichenkov, head of the coaching team, "our newcomers will be able to perform at approximately the same level as the Olympians of previous years."
The search for gymnastics talent now begins in...kindergarten. SKA coaches often visit kindergartens, observing the children, taking note of promising youngsters, talking to parents, and giving advice on how best to prepare a child for their first visit to the gym. No, real training doesn't begin until the age of seven, but this preliminary work yields good results. During the years of its existence, the team led by V. N. Gavrichenkov (which also includes coach T. N. Yatchenko and choreographer E. A. Rasina) has trained three international-class masters - Lena Shushunova, Lyuda Kovalenko, and Lena Belkina - and several other masters. And there are more promising young gymnasts on the way - for now, just Olga, Nadya, Vika, and another Vika. But the time will come when their names will appear in judges' protocols and newspaper reports among the winners.
How do people become champions?
"Lena Shushunova," Viktor Nikolaevich recounts, "came to us almost nine years ago. Even back then, the girl showed tremendous agility, perseverance, energy, and emotionality."
In gymnastics, natural talent is especially important. If our coaches developed a 'global' system for identifying potential talents among preschoolers, how far would our artistic gymnastics advance? After all, the work of the SKA coaches, which has already yielded many results, takes place mainly in the area close to the gym in Klenovaya Alley - in kindergartens in the Luibyshevsky and Dzerzhinsky districts. But what if we significantly expanded the search radius? What if we stirred up a new wave of interest in artistic gymnastics? What if we seriously revived it in schools? What if, finally, we combined the search with the upbringing of young people using the most advanced methods? And with Lena Shushunova, of course, the coaches had to start with the simplest things: general development exercises, walking, running. Exercises that tested her reaction and courage. Some newcomers get lost on the balance beam, or when jumping into the pit, and even cry. Lena, however, was decisive, like a boy, and very competitive. She could do something on a dare that no one else could. Her natural strength gave her great confidence. Of course, even physically weaker newcomers sometimes - as a result of persistent training - become world-class masters (this has happened at CSKA). However, as practice shows, in this case, the limit reached is sooner, beyond which results cease to improve.
Viktor Nikolaevich, Lena's coach, learned from his own experience how important it is to start on time. He came to gymnastics late by today's standards, at the age of 14. After finishing school in Rzhevka, where he was born and raised, he entered the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Culture. He served in the army, competed in competitions, and became a medal-winner in the Armed Forces and Leningrad. However, he soon realized that younger athletes, those who started earlier than him, were beginning to overtake him. Eleven years ago, he first tried his hand at coaching. And for the past nine years, he has been working with a group of girls.
The timing was favorable for the search. These 'ultra-difficult' elements of men's gymnastics were persistently making their way into women's gymnastics, and for Gavrichenkov, himself a recently retired gymnast, this proved to be more convenient and closer to his own experience than it was for other experienced coaches who were accustomed to different training methods.
Elena Shushunova received the title of Master of Sports International class at the age of eleven, significantly earlier than the title of Master of Sports, which is usually awarded only at the age of thirteen. She won her first gold medal on the international stage at the European Junior Championships, winning the floor exercise.
But what about school? Lena and her friends from the gymnastics group attend a regular secondary school - School No. 193 in the Dzerzhinsk district, in a special class. In the morning, they have training. From 11am on, they have general education classes. In the evening, there's a second training session. The workload is heavy. But can something that fosters perseverance, determination, and strong work habits, and teaches you to never relax, really hinder your studies? Coaches claim that achievements in sports and falling behind in school are incompatible. Thoughtlessness and laziness will immediately show their effects.
At her first All-Union competition, Lena only took 8th place. The conclusion was clear - she needed to train and train. At the junior championship in Taganrog in 1980, she came in third. Then luck smiled on her: one of the members of the main junior national team couldn't go to the international tournament in Riga. Replacing her, Lena finished fourth in the all-around competition among representatives from 26 countries, winning a gold medal for her floor exercises. The path to the senior stage opened up for her at the age of eleven. Then came an accidental injury, followed by many months without competitions. But Lena and her coach didn't give up. At the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, competing against very strong rivals, she took third place. However, Lena did not go to the world championship, the right to participate in which she earned with her results: she was only 14, one year too young.
But at the USSR Cup, a sensation occurs: a schoolgirl from Leningrad, in a tough competition, defeats Olya Mostepanova, the recognized leader. Then comes a gold medal brought back from international competitions in Turkey. And in Japan, Lena loses by only one tenth of a point to the American Retton, who soon became the Olympic champion in Los Angeles. However, she surpassed everyone in the balance beam and floor exercises.
At Friendship-84, Lena had an extremely difficult program. She competed without a break, took risks, and proved her character. Besides, isn't being third among the strongest competitors a success?
Today, her name is well known in the world of gymnastics. She recently competed in England, and just now, she's back in Japan. And once again, medals, more medals...
O. KHANEEV