Three Gold Medals for Mukhina of the USSR
Rude Pravo, 16 May 1977
The European gymnastics championships ended on Saturday with the competition in the individual events. After the absolute victory of the Romanian Comaneci, this time the USSR gymnasts shone brightly, especially in the dynamic routines of Mukhina, who won three gold and one bronze medals. The competition had a universally high level and confirmed the strong advent of young gymnasts who brought new progressive elements and diversity and variety to the line up. The Soviet and Romanian gymnasts were not the only ones who contributed to the successful course of the European championships. Comaneci, however, has to accept the fact that she is currently not the best on all of the apparatus. The leaders of the Romanian team, who, as we write in another section, withdrew their gymnasts from the competition, also have to accept this. This event did not stop the competition, which was a big step forward. Soviet gymnasts recorded the greatest performance rise. Alena Prorokova said, "Mukhina, in particular, enriched the competition with a moon salto and a double tuck. It was a fantastic routine. She also showed a new element on bars, a Korbut salto with a full twist." In the make up of their team, the Soviet gymnasts managed to blend the three basic demands of contemporary gymnastics, namely originality, difficulty, and purity of execution.
Balanced Duel
Three gymnasts with the same preliminary score (9.75) started their battle on vault: Kim, Comaneci, and Mukhina. Each of theam, as well as the other five finalists, had to show two different vaults. Kim began with Tsukahara vaults, the first one with a twist and the second one straight. Comaneci's Tsukahara vaults were tucked and piked, but only after protests and video reviews were the marks changed. Results: Kim 19.525, Comaneci 19.50. Mukhina swayed on her first attempt and was eliminated from the fight for the gold, but Filatova and especially Kraker and Egervari did well.
Two Golds on Uneven Bars
While Comaneci showed her Olympic routine with machine precision, but with not too much rebound, Mukhina's routine featured a unique Korbut salto with a full twist that is the first in the world. She finished her routine with a double turn [sic] and perfect landing. The judges gave them both 9.85 for their finals performances. Since they entered the competition with 9.8, they were both awarded a gold medal. Kraker of the GDR also attracted the spectators' attention with an excellent performance. She was also awarded a 9.85 to overtake Kim and win the bronze medal. In this event our Holkovicova also shined, especially with her Korbut salto, and deservedly took the 5th place. She beat Filatova, Ungureanu, and Kunhardt.
Unexpected Departure from the Scene
Comaneci dominated in beam finals and received the highest score of 10 from the judges. During the applause, the Romanian gymnasts left the competition at the direction of their leader. This cleared the field and opened the way for the Soviet gymnasts. Mukhina had the most difficult routine of all the finalists and perfectly mastered the most difficult elements - front and back saltos on the beam, and a double tuck dismount. Kim's and Filatova's lively routines were also performed well, and their routines were extremely difficult. Holkovicova fought with all her strength but it was not enough. European gymnastics is moving very fast. In Prague, it was clearly demonstrated by the Soviet gymnasts that they had made the most progress. Since Comaneci withdrew from the competition, she was not declared the winner.
Temperament and Acrobatics
This apparatus was again dominated by the Soviet trio, in which the 16-year-old schoolgirl Mukhina captured the spectators with her temperament and acrobatics. Her routine is currently considered to be the hardest in the world. Filatova was a surprise and made contact with the spectators after the first bars of her music. She received 9.9, the same score as Mukhina. Our Holkovicova, after a successful first tumbling pass, stepped off the carpet, which meant a loss of points, so she finished in 7th place.
To close, the judges, with a few exceptions, were able to distinguish between ordinary gymnasts and progressive creators during the course of the competition.
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