Sovetsky Sport. July 25, 1971. Boris Shakhlin: "I believed in Mikhail in my heart, although no one could say who would come out on top until the last apparatus. He won this victory in a tough fight. This may be his most difficult gold medal. Voronin deserved it."
The words of our famous gymnast are not an epigraph to this report. An athlete of great will and endurance, Shakhlin appreciated the skill and self-control of the winner. And this, at first glance, stingy praise is an additional reward for Voronin. For his work. For courage!
Voronin had to fight a duel in absentia with Alexander Maleev, because the Belarussian team, after the compulsory program, did not make it into the top six and competed in the day shift. Maleev performed excellently, didn't falter anywhere, showed interesting routines (especially on parallel bars), had good class, and thereby proved his right to compete for the all-around title. Alexander isn't a newcomer, he's twenty-four, and he was already the third-place winner at the 1969 national championship. The season went by unsuccessfully for Maleev - he failed at all competitions. And there is an explanation for this decline.
Evgeny Galperin, Maleev's coach: "When Sasha was included as a candidate for the team for the world championships in Ljubljana, it was a bit of a surprise for both of us. Encouraged by the broad prospects, we began to review everything that had been done before. As a coach who was faced with the task of preparing a student for the world championships for the first time, it seemed realistic to me to create new, unusual routines in a short period of time. We urgently learned elements and rearranged exercises. But we miscalculated and did not fit into the strict framework ahead of time. Stability was not achieved - this led to failures. Miscalculations - they were also beneficial to us. The year wasn't wasted. And now everything has fallen into place."
There was a landmark in front of Voronin - 111.15 points. This was Maleev's score. Mikhail has much higher scores in his track record, and one could hope that alreaedy in the first events he would be able to win back five hundredths. But Voronin thought differently; he understood that the unusually tough judging and nervous situtaions made it difficult to accomplish his plan. Even during the warm-up, Mikhail and his coach Evgeny Korolkov foresaw this option and therefore decided: not to pay attention to the scoreboard, but to work as if Voronin was in the usual role of a leader.
But the psychological subtext of this conversation is much more complex than its apparent logical simplicity. Voronin did not lose to anyone in the country for four years, but lost at the European Championship to Viktor Klimenko, and in order to once again win the sympathy of the audience, assert himself, and overcome the underlying caution of the judges in assessing his performance, the Muscovite needed to give his all. That's why Korolkov repeated so persistently: "Misha, as before, calm and confident...as before."
However, the tension was great, and on the vault (the first event) Voronin doesn't land very accurately after the twist - 9.2. On the parallel bars, Mikhail loses pace at the end of the routine and almost missed his hand on the pole on the dismount - 9.4. And on the high bar his score is even lower - 9.25. The gap from Maleev not only didn't decrease, but increased to two tenths. Will Voronin be able to control his nerves?
Maleev is closely monitoring the events on the platform. I sat down next to him. I wonder what he feels at these moments that are so important to him?
"I can't imagine that Voronin won't catch up. I'm rooting for him terribly - Misha is my idol in gymnastics. I don't appreciate the Japanese or anyone as much as I appreciate Voronin. I would really like to be like him. Of course, I was pleased with my entry, I fulfilled the plan, but it was easier for me during the day, when the arena was calm. And now what's going on!"
Indeed, there had been silence in the arena, and then because of the noise it was impossible to make out the announcer's words. E. Mikaelyan (Armenia) and V. Fogel (RSFSR) were at Voronin's heels. These two young gymnasts were going all out, saturating their routines with complex elements. S. Diomidov, having noticed before the start of the shift that he "had nowhere to retreat, I need to help the team and get into the top ten - there's no other way for me," and he fought, I would say, with inspired despair. They applauded N. Andrianov incessantly - he had learned his optional program perfectly. And to this add the frantic calculations of the team results - and you have a vivid picture of a gigantic carousel.
But Voronin remained impenetrable. Only his face was noticeably haggard and his eyebrows, damp from sweat, covering his deeply sunken eyes like a visor, betrayed his inner agitation. And there was something to worry about! Voronin didn't perform floor exercise in his usual style - only 9.2. He tried, but the invisible pressure of fatigue pressed him towards the carpet, and his tumbles turned out to be low. The gap is already 0.3! Will the world champion really lay down his arms?
No, Mikhail finds the strength to accurately perform his pommel horse routine - 9.45. Maleev and Voronin are tied! The last apparatus remained - the rings. To surpass the result of the Belarussian gymnast, the Muscovite needed to get a score higher than 9.4.
Voronin sighed, ran the back of his hand over his dry lips, tightly wrapped his strong fingers around the rough rings, and flew into a handstand. Then he does an "L" sit. At this moment Edik Mikaelyan, who was in third place, fell from the pommel horse, and Voronin of course sees it...
"I didn't see or hear anything. I was thinking about only one thing - the landing."
A clean dismount - 9.55! The most difficult fight is over. Maleev became the silver medalist for the first time, and Fogel (coach V. Brezhnev) became the bronze medalist. In the team championshnip, the Muscovites finished ahead of the teams of Russia and Belarus.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
Moscow. 23 July. Men. All-around. 1. Voronin (MOS) - 111.3 (9.2, 9.45, 9.55, 9.2, 9.4, 9.25); 2. Maleev (BLR) - 111.15 (9.2, 9.45, 9.3, 9.15, 9.4, 9.35); 3. Fogel (RUS) - 110.15 (9.2, 9.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4, 8.9); 4. Bogus (GEO) - 109.7 (9.05, 9.25, 9.15, 9.1, 9.4, 9.45) and Kozeev (MOS) - 109.7 (9.1, 9.3, 9.1, 9.15, 9.4, 9.3); 6. Andrianov (RUS) - 109.55 (9.3, 9.55, 9.2, 9.4, 9.3, 9.1); 7. Komissarov (LAT) - 109.0 (9.3, 9.3, 9.2, 9.2, 9.3, 8.9); 8. Trifonov (RUS) - 108.7 (8.9, 9.4, 9.2, 9.0, 9.15, 9.25).
Team results. 1. Moscow - 547.55; 2. RSFSR - 534.0; 3. Ukraine - 535.1; 4. Armenia - 529.0; 5. Leningrad - 527.6; 6. Georgia - 526.15; 7. Belarus - 521.4; 8. Uzbekistan - 518.3.
V. GOLUBEV