<<Komsomolskaya Pravda. September 27, 1983. Lyudmila Turischeva, Natalia Shaposhnikova, Albina Shishova, Natalia Yurchenko - these stars of big-time gymnastics were trained by Merited Coach of the USSR Vladislav Stepanovich Rastorotsky. Our conversation is about gymnastics: its past, future, and present.
You recently turned 50. How did you start your career?
I started work at 15 as a locomotive fireman. My father was a machinist. In Liski, a large railway junction near Voronezh. I remember the war, the bombings. In 1949, I entered vocational school, worked two years, and then went to college in Voronezh. And now I've been in Rostov for ten years.
>In your opinion, what do your best students have in common - Lyudmila, the two Natashas, and Albina?
What they all have in common is a genuine love of gymnastics. Turischeva was enrolled in ballet school from the age of five. Shaposhnikova was involved in rhythmic gymnastics at six, and Yurchenko learned about artistic gymnastics at five. At the same age, Shishova wouldn't listen to anything execpt being enrolled in a gymnastics class. From a very early age, these girls learned about, loved, and were devoted to movement.
Wasn't Natasha Shaposhnikova's retirement from professional sport premature? She was only nineteen when she stopped competing in official competitions.
It was too early. But I already had some great athletes growing up at that time. They surpassed Shaposhnikova. That's why I decided to have my Natasha retire from the sport. Otherwise, there would have been no Yurchenko or Shishova. She would have taken up all my attention.
How do you explain Yurchenko's failure at the European Championships? After all, last year she shared first place with Bicherova at the World Cup.
For the first time, I couldn't be with Natasha. According to international rules, male coaches are weren't allowed on the platform during women's competitions. But now they were allowed, and senior national coach Andrei Radionenko came out with the team. We were sent to the spectators. I showed Natasha where I would sit so she knew where to look...
Do you believe in such a psychological connection?
Yes, I do. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I teach the girls to look at me. If you looked at me, it means you remembered my ideas, my elements, the entire teaching process. Natasha didn't see me that day. She asked later, "Why weren't you there?" And I couldn't take it anymore. I left the competition. It's unforgivable. But I think I can understand. After thirty years of working, any injustice gets on my nerves. And Natasha was getting low scores. I wanted to file a protest, but they told me the scores wouldn't be changed anyway. Then I left. I taught my best student to look at me. But I didn't teach Shishova this. My absence didn't affect her at all.
And yet, which of the students is the most precious to Rastorotsky?
Probably Lyuda. Of course, Turischeva. Why? That was my heyday. Between thirty and forty, I worked with redoubled energy, fourteen hours a day. And she was the first to embrace my ideas.
You can imagine, of course, what a beautiful girl is. Especially on the national team, in full view. For example, everyone is buzzing around Yurchenko. And there are guys on the national team, great guys, handsome men. I said, "Natasha, our goal is the Olympics. And if we win them, I'll give you four more years, until the next one. If not, choose what you like best; I won't hold you back. And you'll only stay on the national team if you win the championship." I helped her put together a library: books are the most important thing. But the years go by, the years go by.
Vladislav Stepanovich, let's continue our conversation about rejuvenating gymnastics. But let's talk not about coaches, but about students. This is a complex issue, much discussed and written about. What is your attitude toward this problem?
I can say: everything is right, there absolutely must be a rejuvenation program. At least so that children from first grade onwards don't hang around in the streets, but play sports. There's one issue here, though: to raise the next generation for big-time sports, talented teachers are needed for young children. For example, I teach older children. A major gap in teaching is that children are taught tricks almost from the very beginning of classes. Because in gymnastics, every coach immediately strives to create a champion. They take a six- or seven-year-old girl or boy and immediately break them psychologically with difficult elements, rejecting basic gymnastics training, rejecting choreography, rejecting children's games. A twelve-year-old child is already finished with the sport. They suffered such trauma from a poor coach that they sometimes cannot heal for the rest of their lives.
The process of training children to master complexities by incompetent coaches, in my opinion, is reaching alarming proportions. That's why I believe the most urgent need now is talented coaches for the youngest children. Gymnastics should be taught starting in kindergarten. But it should be taught as a game, with some ballet elements incorporated. First grade isn't a game anymore, but choreography plus ballet and entertainment, with just a little gymnastics. And third grade - for ten years - is choreography and gymnastics, but play still shouldn't be excluded.
How many students are there in your school and from what age do you accept children?
There are 260 girls. The youngest are five and six years old - the older group of the kindergarten. I try to keep an eye on their activities. I know that in a group of 20 girls, only three or four have any hope of achieving anything in sports, but I don't turn the rest away. Let them develop athletic skills. I think we're all too preoccupied with records these days. World champion, European champion, World Cup winner. But when do we get to spend time with ordinary kids? That's why my school has a very high percentage of 'unpromising' girls.
The 'championship lifespan' of today's gymnasts is very short. Do you consider this a problem, or do you think it's the way it should be?
Latynina's lifetime has been shortened by a third. Turischeva's by half. But she will always be the leader in gymnastics. Four years, from Olympics to Olympics, or even five. Let's count: what's Bicherova's record? 1981 - all-around world champion, 1982 - World Cup victory with Natasha Yurchenko, 1983 - all-around European champion. That's three years already. The reign of female champions is shortening, but I don't see a tragedy in that. While some are winning, others are preparing even more difficult programs. Competition has intensified. This is the law of life; it can't be changed.
So, what is the training of coach Rastorotsky?
Probably ahead of everyone else in difficulty. But in May, at the European championships in Sweden, I was beaten. And they beat me only because I put my own gymnastics development on hold for a year. I thought I'd get by on my old way and would seriously prepare for the Olympics. And also, perhaps because I'm a little, how can I put it, more pedagogical than others. When I see someone yelling at a girl, I can't stand it. Sometimes I yell myself, but I don't allow words that a coach has no right to say. I've read many books on pedagogy. I discovered Sukhomlinsky. He's like a gold nugget for me. I'll turn to him again and again. Words can kill a person, they can motivate them to do anything. I can't say hello to a guy who might tell a girl, "You've become as fat as a piglet." Yes, it was a week off, yes, the girl has fallen out of shape, weight is everything. I say, "If you can't control your weight, quit gymnastics." Weight is the most important thing. No pills, under any circumstances. The most important thing is a natural factor. Watch it, figure out what you eat and how much you eat.
Have you ever written textbooks for gymnasts?
No, I haven't gotten around to it. But I want to write. I've been debating with gymnastics for a long time. But I don't have time to sit down at the table. There are a lot of children at school, and little time.
Do you have any indisputable, original elements that you personally invented?
I'll answer that question this way. When my girls lost at the European Championships, FIG President Yuri Titov came into my room. He was probaby trying to console me, saying, "Stepanych, the GDR Gymnastics Federation studied and calculated who in the world introduced the most new elements." I asked, "Who's the great guy?" "Rastorotsky. You won first place..."
Where and how do you come up with new elements? Right in the gym, during training?
No. At night. Sometimes I dream about them. I think about it all the time - I fell asleep and dreamed about the whole bunch. But nore often than not, I toss and turn, unable to fall asleep. But how can I sleep? There's no time to sleep; gymnastics is going ahead!
Interview conducted by V. MELIK-KARAMOV