Sovetsky Sport. November 13, 1966. Many gymnastics fans who followed the performances of our gymnasts at the world championships in Dortmund were dissatisfied with the results of their performance. Yes, it is very disappointing that our men lost to the Japanese team again, and it is doubly bitter that they had to concede the team victory in the women's championship with a minimal gap.
Why? Who is to blame? What to do next? Here is a list of questions in the minds of coaches, gymnasts, and all fans of this interesting sport.
Let's think together, let's recall the details of recent matches between the best teams. Millions of TV viewers, including myself, witnessed these exciting performances. Let's start our analysis with the optional floor exercise. Japanese gymnasts have clearly earned a reputation as the best performers on this event, both in terms of style, composition, and execution technique, as well as in terms of difficulty. And this time they were on top. It was hard to give preference to any of them. Almost all the Japanese gymnasts finished their difficult routines with an equally difficult ending - a somersault with a 360-degree twist. And, naturally, the average score was high - 9.64 points.
Soviet gymnasts have a no less complex arsenal of elements and combinations in floor exercise, and the execution is such that the best acrobats can envy. The full twist is in the arsenal of all our gymnasts. Some of them did it at the beginning of the routine. But, as you have noticed, none of them did a dificult ending. True, on the first day of the optional program, gymnasts have the option to do less difficult execises, but the Japanese, unlike our gymnasts, did not take advantage of this option and did routines with increased difficulty on all apparatuses, which brought them success. Those are some of our team's tactical miscalculations.
We were especially disappointed when our team performed on the pommel horse. Here, Soviet gymnasts were always at their best. Apparently, there was a great desire to make up for almost two points lost in the compulsory program.
And...the guys 'overdid' it. How can we explain the failure of our 'iron' Shakhlin? No, of course, it's not his 'old age,' as many people think. Boris Shakhlin - Olympic champion, world champion - should not have gone to the world championships as a 'tablesetter,' that is, the gymnast who is the first to perform, a gymnast on whom the judges 'zero in' on, practice, and, naturally (that's how it is), do not give high scores. Here is the second tactical mistake - a mistake in the order of the participants' appearance. 9.4 points is the average score of our gymnasts on the pommel horse.
What about the Japanese? All TV viewers were shown how the Olympic champion Yukio Endo 'crawled' on the horse. Again the Tokyo trick of the judges was repeated with the same Endo and on the same horse. As in Tokyo at the Olympic Games, so here, at the Dortmund world championship, Yukio Endo performed his exercise on the horse with a clear 'fall.' The other Japanese gymnasts also performed their pommel horse routines poorly. However, their averagte score of 9.5 points speaks volumes about the 'objectivity' of judging.
It's been a long time since Shakhlin had such a low score on the rings for his optional routine. Maybe the Olympic medalist started looking worse? Or maybe he didn't have enough difficulty? No. Boris did his routine at a high level. Moreover, he used to win medals for his rings routines, doing a simple dismount - a high straddle - and here in Dortmund he did a difficult dismount after a difficult routine. But why then the score of 9.4 points? Because Shakhlin is again the tableseetter, they put him first again. Since Shakhlin's score is so low, the judges have every reason to give the rest of the team not very high scores either. Even the world champion on the rings Yuri Titov recevied 9.6 points. And only Mikhail Voronin, having performed his exercise on the rings superbly, was awarded the highest score of the championship - 9.9 points.
The vault brought the Japanese another 0.9 points more in the team championship than the Soviet gymnasts. Both teams performed simple vaults. But the difference in execution was obvious. If the Japanese, after a rapid run and barely perceptible contact with the apparatus, flew up, having the opportunity to then perform precise piking and extension in the air, landed precisely, almost on straight legs, then our gymnasts have nothing to be praised for.
Already at the XVIII Olympic Games in Tokyo, Soviet gymmnasts beat the Japanese team in the team event on the parallel bars. And now this was the only apparatus on which our guys beat the Japanese team. But it should be noted that the routines of our gymnasts performed on the parallel bars, with the exception of the world champion on this apparatus, Sergei Diomidov, were not up to par. Why did Sergei Diomidov become world champion? Of course, it's not because he has an extra class of execution. Yugoslav Miroslav Cerar performed his routine very well and Italian Menichelli was also inimitable. However, the famous 'turntable' played its role in Diomidov's victory.
We can rejoice in the great success of Mikhail Voronin, who achieved a brilliant victory, becomng the all-around champion and world champion in the rings exercise. Sergei Diomidov, the world champion in parallel bars, was a joy to behold. But Sergei was ready to achieve a high result in the all-around championship as well. Of course, the parallel bars are Diomidov's signature event, but the pommel horse is no less lacking for him, and he has a good horizontal bar, too. Why did it happen that he 'burned out' on these events and not perform at full strength on the rings, floor exercise, and vault?
Why did Boris Shakhlin fall from the pommel horse? Why did the scores of the 'iron' Shakhlin fail to be used toward the team event on six of the twelve apparatuses? Why did Yuri Titov and Valery Kerdemelidi perform below their capabilities? Finally, why were all the gymnasts, with the exception of Mikhail Voronin, in a mentally depressed state? This is a list of questions that interest us.
Did the coaches forget one of the aspects of preparation for competitions, especially such large ones as the world championship, is namely psychological preparation? I think not. They remembered it, knew that it was necessary, that you can't do without it. But they didn't know how to approach the psychological preparation of the team as a whole. I don't think Mikhail Voronin was prepared by special psychologists. Here, apparently, the issue does not rest on the special psychological preparation (which, undoubtedly, is also necessary). Countless tryouts and selection competitions did not contribute at all to the creation of an even, calm, emotional mood in the gymnasts. Of course, this is just one of the details. Apparently, there were a number of other shortcomings in the process of preparation for Dortmund. I think others will talk about the rest. Such a conversation is necessary.
N. MILIGULO, Master of Sports