Sovetsky Sport. December 17, 1967. The USSR Cup in gymnastics was won by L. Turischeva (Dinamo) - 75.0, followed by L. Burda (Spartak) - 74.0. In the national championship among girls, Burda is ahead, then N. Duplyakova (Spartak) - 73.65 and T. Lazakovich (Dinamo) - 72.4.
The fight for the Cup was, to a certain extent, in absentia. Having performed excellently in the optional program in the morning, Burda, who was in fifth place after the compulsory program, sat in the stands in the evening, allowing the leaders - L. Turischeva and L. Kitlyarova - to attack her results.
Burda vaulted to a 9.2 average. She is still lagging behind on this apparatus. She got 9.55 on bars. The trendsetter's movements on the bars could have looked cleaner and more polished. I was pleasantly surprised by T. Nazarova, also a student of Yu. Shtukman, who repeated, only in a different sequence, almost all of Burda's elements, including the famous 'spinner' of 540-degrees - 9.7. On the beam, Burda was precise, even academic, having decorated her routine with a back handspring. She received 9.6. On the floor she was a bit dry, but almost without mistakes. The beginning was very beautiful: a back handspring, a somersault, a rebound with a turn and a quick transition from a front salto in tempo. It looked as if in the middle of an acrobatic sequence the engine suddenly started to run at a high r.p.m. - 9.7.
In the evening, Turischeva demonstrated an exceptionally difficult routine on the balance beam: a back handspring, two consecutive front rolls without hand support, and a backflip dismount with a full twist. But she wobbled a few times, and the judges were strict - 9.6. At this time, Kitlyarova fell behind on the vault - 9.35. Turischeva showed coordination on the floor, framed by two twists - 9.6.
Meanwhile, other gymnasts also attracted attention with unusual details in their exercises. The prolonged somersault is considered a purely male element. Army gymnast S. Buzina did it, and at such a height that it took one's breath away. T. Belyaeva (Burevestnik) did a double spin on her toe on the balance beam. It doesn't seem that difficult, but it looks original and graceful. A. Demyanenko worked hard and passionately on the uneven bars. Again, a gymnast from Voronezh!
Let us note that we have excellent specialists in every apparatus, whose experience unfortunately is not yet being adequately disseminated. We can recall the 'vaulting master' R. Knysh from Brest [sic]. Yu. Shtukman is today at the very forefront of modern trends in uneven bars, and these are the events that we are lagging in.
But let's get back to the arena. In a slightly slower pace, performing on the uneven bars, Kitlyarova showed, however, a little something - a forward somersault with a twist from the lower to the upper bar - and received 9.45 against Turischeva's 9.3 on the vault.
A few minutes later the audience gasps: Kitlyarova falls off the beam, and the Cup becomes an illusion. She is a good gymnast, graceful, feminine, but you still have to grit your teeth...
And here in absolute silence, Turischeva bewitches us on the bars. It was so captivating that the audience froze when she hesitated in the middle of the routine. But she smiled sweetly, caught her breath, and dismounted - already the winner of the 1967 USSR Cup.
V. GOLUBEV, Master of Sports