Sovetsky Sport. February 15, 1995. As you may recall, the great Tolstoy opens Anna Karenina with the words: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The family of Lyubov and Nikolai Andrianov belongs to that first category - the families that are alike. What, then, constitutes this likeness - the quality that has allowed this family to remain happy for over two decades now, with their silver wedding anniversary just around the corner?
Q: Lyubov Viktorovna, why did you take such a famous name in the world of gymnastixs, instead of keeping your own? Did you want to bask in the glory?
A: First and foremost, it is because that is simply the custom among us Russians. My great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother all took their husbands' surnames. Secondly, Nikolai did not yet possess any particular fame at that time - even though, by the time of our wedding in 1973, he had already become the USSR all-around champion, the European champion, and an Olympic champion. True fame came to him in 1976, when he became the all-around Olympic champion in Montreal, and again in 1978, in Strasbourg, when he became the all-around world champion - thereby reclaiming both of these most prestigious titles for Soviet gymnastics. By that time, I myself had twice won the title of USSR all-around champion, twice become an Olympic champion, and once a world champion. An original and rather difficult element on the uneven bars bore my name - the "Burda Twirl," a swing from a support position with a 540-degree rotation.
Q: By the way, why isn't this element used in gymnasts' routines anymore?
A: This is because nowadays, due to gymnasts constructing their routines around large-amplitude swings, the distance between the uneven bars have been significantly increased. My "spin" - typically performed on the high bar while facing the low bar - was designed to flow naturally into a backward swing on the low bar, a transition that is imposible to execute given the current spacing between the bars. Of course, a place for the "Burda Twirl" could still be round in routines today - something that would undoubtedly add a touch of elegance to the routine.
Q: In early publications, the young Nikolai Andrianov was portrayed as an unbalanced, prickly, and unruly character - a hooligan, the terror of the cherry orchards of Vladimir. How on earth did you dare to marry such a man? And how did your parents ever allow it?
A: I would hardly be breaking new ground if I said that a young girl's love - and especially her first love - is blind! Moreover, Kolya was nothing like the person some journalists had portrayed him to be. To me, he seemed shy, very kind, and honest - yet capable of standing up for himself. And my heart did not deceive me. That is exactly the kind of man he turned out to be, becoming - at the age of twenty-one (I was twenty) - a good husband, and later, the father of our children. As for my parents, when they learned of my desire to start a family, they took the news calmly and with understanding.
Apparently, this was because they themselves had joined their lives early on - and out of their first love.
Q: It has been quite a while since we last heard anything about Andrianov. It is well known that for over ten years he served as the head coach of the national youth team - but what became of him after the collapse of the USSR?
A: While the CIS team was preparing for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, he continued working with young gymnasts - the national team's reserve - but after the Games, his position - along with the USSR Gymnastics Federation itself - was abolished, leaving him out of work. It was a situation eerily similar to 1980, when he had stepped off the competition floor for good. Dima Bilozerchev took him under his wing, having gathered all the Soviet Olympians from Barcelona with the assistance of a Swedish firm. However, when that firm ceased funding Dmitry, Nikolai Yefimovich once again found himself unemployed. However, this was only for a short while. Mitsuo Tsukahara - the renowned Japanese gymnast, world and Olympic champion - invited him to join his gymnastics school. Consequently, he now lives far from his native land. Naturally, one feels a sense of injustice on Nikolai's behalf. After so many years of successful work with the national youth team, no place could be found for him within the domestic gymnastics establishment! Despite being an international-level judge, he was not even invited to officiate at competitions! What had he done to deserve this? Was his offense simply that he had voluntarily stepped down from his post as Chairman of the Presidium of the Russian Gymnastics Federation?
Q:So you're a "grass widow" right now? Won't that take a toll on the strength of your marriage?
A: Being a "grass widow" is nothing new to me. I've been one since the very first days of my marriage. Just consider this: every year, Nikolai spent 200 days in centralized training camps - specifically at Round Lake near Moscow - both during the years he was competing himself and later, when he served as the head coach of the national youth team. On top of that, there were competitions and travel. Consequently, we didn't see each other all that often. Perhaps that is precisely why [she laughs] our love remains so strong. As the song goes: 'And every reunion feels like the very first time...' and 'without partings, there would be no reunions.'
Q: How did your athletic career unfold - you, a protege of the renowned Yuri Shtukman?
A: It was indeed Yuri Eduardovich who guided me into the world of elite gymnastics, but it was Vera Zakharovna Penkina who truly shaped me into a gymnast. I first came to her as a ten-year-old girl in 1963, and in 1966 Shtukman took me under his wing. In the summer of 1967, at the IV Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, I made my debut on the national stage and immediately took third place in the all-around competition. This was, of course, a major success - one that paved my way to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, arguably the most joyful moment in my entire athletic career. By 1969, I had already become the all-around champion of the USSR, finishing ahead of such outstanding gymnasts as Larisa Petrik, Lyudmila Turischeva, Olga Karaseva, and Olga Korbut.
In 1970, I pulled off a "double" - becoming both the national all-around champion and the winner of the USSR Cup. I was slated to travel to Ljubljana for the world championships as the team's top-ranked gymnast. Shtukman was convinced that I would become the world all-around champion. However, neither his openly expressed hopes nor my own secret aspirations were destined to come true. Moreover, the team leadership had placed their bets not on me, but on Lyuda Turischeva (a decision that proved justified, as she went on to become the all-around champion). I had to settle for fifth place. My only consolation was that the gymnasts who finished ahead of me were such stars as the Germans Erika Zuchold and Karin Janz, and our own Zina Voronina. I consider that day to be the saddest in my entire sporting career. Then came the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and once again I took fifth place in the all-around competition - finishing behind Turischeva, Janz, Tamara Lazakovich, and Zuchold, but ahead of Korbut. It seems I wasn't particularly lucky with the timing of my birth; there were simply too many exceptional gymnasts competing during my era.
Well, in 1973, I got married and moved to Vladimir. Exactly a year later, I gave birth to Seryozha. In 1976, I attempted to return to the competition floor, but I soon realized that gymnastics had advanced too far during those two years, and my time in the sport had come to an end. While studying at the Vladimir Pedagogical Institute, I began working as a coach. At that time, women's gymnastics in Vladimir was virtually non-existent; I had to start almost from scratch. Before long, my students began making the RSFSR youth national team roster. In 1979, I gave birth to my second son, Volodya. Currently, I serve as the Deputy Director of the Vladimir Specialized Children's and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve. Sergei became a skilled gymnast, earning the title of Master of Sports. He completed two years of study at the Pedagogical Institute and is currently serving in the army. Volodya is also involved in gymnastics - and, arguably, with even greater success than Sergei. He has already caught the eye of the youth national team's leadership, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he will carry on his parents' legacy. While I was raising my children, I took little part in gymnastics-related affairs beyond my coaching duties; however, I now frequently serve as a judge at competitions, both at home and abroad. At the Goodwill Games, I headed the panel of judges.
Q: Who is the head of your family?
A: There is no such "position" in our family. Everyone fulfills their own duties, as defined by our established norms and traditions. Each person - children included - resolves their own issues within the limits of their capabilities and on their own initiative, naturally, while still exercising common sense and respecting the opinions of others. Generally speaking, howevr, when Nikolai Yefimovich is at home, he is the leader. But in his absence - which accounts for the greater part of our lives - that role falls to me.
Q: What lies at the foundation of your family's well-being?
Love! Love for one another, for our children - and their love for us - and a shared love for our common idol: gymnastics. And as a result of this love comes mutual respect, sensitivity, and both the desire and the ability to truly listen to one another - to understand, to forgive, and to rectify any potential mistakes. And, of course, the hope that all hardships will eventually be left behind, that everything will work out in the end, and a sincere belief in the possibility of making our dreams come true.
E. AVSENEV