Sovetsky Sport. March 27, 1967. Millions of TV viewers from different countries saw the competition on the gymnastics platform installed in "Jaahalli" in Tempere. The radio quickly spread the name of the new European champion around the world. But it is surprising, and hearing the competition with the help of even the most advanced technology is not the same at witnessing it, breathing the same air with the heroes of the competition, feeing the heated atmosphere of passions, being drawn into the whirlpool of events long before they begin. Before they stepped onto the platform, the gymnasts thought about many things, weighing their chances and those of their rivals more than once or twice. From the first day of the stay in Tampere, they were overwhelmed by a mass of new impressions.
Tampere is a city where gymnastics is loved and known. For example, Mikhail Voronin was already here at international competitions last year and won first place. He is remembered. Viktor Lisitsky also met some acquaintances. Finnish gymnast Otto Kestola came to Leningrad in 1959 and showed a double somersault in his exercises on the horizontal bar and rings.
Viktor was still a junior at the time, but he learned the lesson perfectly. Now he can do the most difficult tricks himself, and few doubt his success.
Having learned that they were to compete, Voronin and Lisitsky immediately pulled themselves together and concentrated. On the eve of the championship, they held three training sessions on the main platform. They saw the 1961 and 1963 European champion Yugoslav Miroslav Cerar and the 1964 champion Italian Franco Menichelli on the apparatus. But neither of them revealed their tricks - they just warmed up a little.
In the evening our gymnasts went to bed early. I didn't pester them with questions. I just wished them goodnight and went to visit the European Championship judge Yakov Kravets. For him and the other championship judges, the working day lost its strict boundaries. In an effort to develop the most objective point of view on determining the level of mastery of the gymnasts, they meticulously worked out each point of the rules. The main requirement: the highest possible difficulty of the exercise, but not at the expense of reducing the performance class. We wanted to believe that the athletes would not have to complain about the mistakes of the judges, that our athletes would endure a huge psychological burden. After all, they knew their route through the all-around stages in advance and had long ago developed, as the physiologists put it, a stable stereotype - a counter to a certain alternation of exercises.
However, early in the morning, a few hours before the competition, Voronin and Lisitsky knew that there had been a change in the order of the apparatus. Lisitsky seemed to be indifferent to what to start with, but Voronin, due to his leg injury, would prefer the first option - the floor exercises. But now he will start with his signature apparatus, rings, and Lisitsky with floor. Cerar starts on the pommel horse, where he won the title of world champion, Menichelli - on the horizontal bar, and Brehme (GDR) on the vault.
Now let's remember what happened on the platform after the bright, festive opening ceremony.
So, thirty-seven gymnasts from twenty-two countries entered the competition.
The first score is given to M. Kubica (POL) on the parallel bars - 9.4. Then Menichelli performs on the horizontal bar. He performed his exercise well and got 9.55 points. Lisitsky is called to perform the floor exercises. He is nervous, but then he pulls himself together, runs diagonally and spins somersaults and flips. Suddenly, at the edge of the mat, he swayed to the side but he held his ground and continued the routine. This mistake did not go unnoticed by the judges. The score was 9.15 points.
Voronin prepared to show himself on the rings. He watched the beginning of Lisitsky's performance and, sighing, got down to business. Two giant swings into a handstand followed one after another. Then a cross, a balance, the dismount, and a high score for Voronin - 9.75! Finn O. Laiho followed the Soviet gymnast (he performed with him in the same group) and finished his rings routine with a double somersault. But the final result was 9.2 points. Cerar got a score of 9.4 on the pommel horse, and Brehme got 9.25on the vault.
The groups swapped equipment. Voronin, performing on vault, flew high but took a small step forward when landing. He repeated the vault, landing more confidently. The score was 9.55. Lisitsky made up for lost time on the pommel horse. He circled it for quite a long time and received a score of 9.45. Meanwhile, Menichelli, who was following Voronin, performed his floor exercise in a very original manner and earned 9.6 points. Cerar passed the test on rings with a score of 9.55.
So, Voronin rushed forward, and Lisitsky chased after those he had let pass - Menichelli and Cerar. Lisitsky was closing the gap time after time. On the rings 9.65, on the vault 9.7, on the bars 9.6. There was one last apparatus left, and the difference between him and Menichelli was 0.1 points.
And so Menichslli makes his final approach on the parallel bars, achieving a high score of 9.6. Lisitsky responds with a routine on the horizontal bar. He performed it with such a lift, so masterfully, that the audience applauded him and the judges gave him 9.75 points. A clear second place!
Now let's go back a little and tell you how Voronin went to victory. On the parallel bars and horizontal bar, his score was 9.7 points. The fifth event was floor exercise. Here everything would be decided: would his sore leg fail him, would he have enough strength to finish his routine as beautifully and cleanly as he had started it?
"Come on, Misha," the tourists encouraged him, among whom were his friends V. Kerdemelidi, L. Arkaev, and V. Leontiev. Voronin was more than half a point ahead of his closest rival, and the 9.5 he received for his floor routine was enough. All that was left was to saddle the horse. Who was more worried at that moment - Voronin, his coach Korolkov, or Diomidov (who was constantly helping his comrades on the platform setting up the bars, wiping the high bar, helping them on the rings)? It was hard to say.
But Voronin completed his winning path perfectly and set a kind of record for the competition, earning 9.8 points in the end. His total is 58 points. He is the European champion. By the way, this is a great birthday present for him: today Voronin turns twenty-two.
Second-place winner Viktor Lisitsky scored 57.3 points, beating the previous European champion, Italian Franco Menichelli, by five hundredths.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
1. Mikhail Voronin (URS) - 58.0 (9.5, 9.8, 9.75, 9.55, 9.7, 9.7); 2. Viktor Lisitsky (URS) - 57.3 (9.15, 9.45, 9.65, 9.7, 9.6. 9.75); 3. Franco Menichelli (ITA) - 57.25 (9.6, 9.3, 9.65, 9.55, 9.6, 9.55); 4. Miroslav Cerar (YUG) - 56.9 (9.35, 9.4, 9.55, 9.4, 9.55, 9.55); 5. Mikolai Kubica (POL) - 56.4 (9.4, 9.4, 9.5, 9.35, 9.4, 9.35);6. Mathias Brehme (GDR) - 55.7 (9.5, 9.25, 9.4, 9.25, 9.55, 9.2).
YU. KARTASHOV