Sovetsky Sport. July 27, 1971. Belarussian sportswoman Tamara Lazakovich became the all-around champion of the Spartakiad with 75.2 points. Olga Karaseva of Moscow won the silver medal (75.05), and Antonina Koshel of Belarus won the bronze medal (74.6). The Belarussian athletes won the team championship - 368.1, followed by Moscow - 367.0, and the RSFSR - 365.1.
There was a warm-up before the third, penultimate, apparatus. Olga Karaseva stood near the bars, clenching her fists tightly, and her face, always rosy and cheerful, was unusually pale and stern.
After the compulsory program, she was ahead of Tamara Lazakovich by 0.3. Numerous forecasters were divided into two approximlatey equal camps, agreeing on only one thing: the one who does not fall will win, and someone will certainly fall. Lazakovich had the draw on her side: the leading team finished on the floor, leaving behind all the reefs of the vault, uneven bars, and beam. The Muscovites were second, and Karaseva would have to get on the beam as her last event. It wouldn't be surprising to wobble on it after an hour and a half of competing.
Karaseva turned twenty-two that day, she had experience and somewhat less chance in the future than seventeen-year-old Lazakovich, whose name was first heard on the big platform exactly four years ago, during the last Spartakiad. Frankly speaking, in case of defeat, Olya would have more to lose than Tamara.
At the moment the story begins, the gap between them has narrowed slightly - to 0.25. Karaseva received 9.6 on floor and 9.4 on vault. Lazakovich - 9.4 for a vault that was neat but a little short in the second phase, and 9.65 for an impeccably elegant and surprisingly extensive routine on the uneven bars, with a new difficult mount and a dismount of a turn around the top pole and a twist. Recently, the weak point of her repertoire was considered to be a lack of difficulty, but now she has learned new things and is armed quite modernly.
The circle of pursuers narrows: Voronina fell from the beam, and it seemed to me a characteristic coincidence - Zina fatally staggered just at the moment when the musical bars of Karaseva's Russian Kaleidoscope fiery floor began. Voronina's coach V. Shelkovnikov spoke about another coincidence, of a purely telepathic nature: "I thought - she didn't need to do the Arabian. I looked back, and she was already on the floor doing it."
It's possible that Turischeva, with her unique routines, would be able to win back 0.85 from the leader, but after immediately making several mistakes on the balance beam she received 9.15 and eventually shared fourth place with O. Korbut.
Coach V. Rastorotsky explained the comparative failure of the all-around world champion by the fact that a difficult examination session at the institute led to some loss of his student's athletic form.
So, the third apparatus. The Belarussian coaches made the correct tactical decision: to put Lazakovich on the balance beam not at the end but in the middle of the team line-up. The long wait could have further strained Tamara's nerves. She later told me that, of course, she was thinking about winning, but she forced herself not to think and repeated: "Lazya, forget it and concentrate," out of habit using her nickname on the national team. She wobbled at the beginning of the routine, and it was a challenge - many people's knees start to shake even more at this point. She tightened up her whole body, pressed her lips together, and finished well - 9.45.
Then it was Olga's turn. It seemed that everything was going great for her, she was in shape, and the routine was going well. But suddenly in the middle, during a difficult new element, the tempo suddenly dropped, one of her hands, which had recently been clenched into fists, slipped from the top pole, and Olga hung on with one hand in despair. She continued the exercise, but it didn't help - 9.05 and 0.15 behind Lazakovich who, unable to contain her joy, danced during the team line-up on the floor.
That's how sport is: someone's victory is someone else's defeat, the joy of one is the grief of another, but grief is also a test of character, and the fact that Olya Karaseva in a difficult time managed to maintain dignity, composure, and a smile, with which she worked perfectly on the balance beam is, honestly, great.
Lazakovich flew over the floor mat, received a 9.55, and then, among a flock of girls, rushed headlong to the locker room. She honestly deserved her victory, which crowned her journey from Spartakiad to Spartakiad. The Belarussian gymnastics school brought victory to the team of its republic, the success of which is the clear organization of the work and enthusiasm of coaches V. Dmitriev, R. Knysh, V. Khomutov, and others.
The day before, at a kiosk near the Severnaya Hotel, where the delegation is staying, Vikenty Dmitrievich Dmitriev bought two cakes: "For the team, let the girls indulge in sweets, they won the compulsory." I think this time, each of the six of them - T. Lazakovich, A. Koshel, O. Korbut, L. Kosolova, V. Titorenko, and N. Levina - earned a cake. A diet is a diet, but at the hotel there is a reason for the treat: the whole delegation is happy with the girls' success.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
24 July. Women. All-around. 1. Lazakovich (BLR) - 75.2 (9.4, 9.65, 9.45, 9.55); 2. Karaseva (MOS) - 75.05 (9.4, 9.05, 9.55, 9.6); 3. Koshel (BLR) - 74.6 (9.35, 9.5, 9.35, 9.35); 4. O. Korbut (BLR) - 74.4 (9.3, 9.75, 9.65, 9.3) and Turischeva (RUS) - 74.4 (9.5, 9.55, 9.15, 9.6); 6. Sikharulidze (GEO) - 73.95 (9.5, 9.35, 9.2, 9.5); 7. Voronina (RUS) - 73.9 (9.35, 9.5, 8.65. 9.55); 8. Petrik (MOS) - 73.85 (9.35, 9.5, 9.4, 9.4).
Team results. 1. Belarus - 368.1; 2. Moscow - 367.0; 3. Russian Federation - 365.1; 4. Leningrad - 358.6; 5. Georgia - 358.2; 6. Ukraine - 358.06; 7. Kazakhstan - 355.4; 8. Latvia - 349.7.
S. TOKAREV