Sovetsky Sport. March 20, 1976. The women's part of the competition in Tbilisi aroused increased interest of both spectators and specialists. Everything was unusual: the distribution of medals, the broadest offensive "along the entire front" of almost unknown gymnasts, the amazing exercises, and even the scores were unusal. Is this good or bad?
They say that everything was mixed up on the platform due to the introduction of new rules, a few of which come down to the following: for the performance of particularly difficult and original elements, bonuses are added to the 'normal' score. Moreover, the value of all such elements or combinations were determined in advance. So it turned out that the young gymnasts S. Grozdova, E. Davydova, N. Shaposhnikova, M. Filatova, and O. Koval took the top five lines in the table of results. Of course, with the 'help' of the new rules there has been a certain reassessment of scores. But, perhaps, it's not only about them, although the ongoing experiment caused numerous complaints from the coaches. Of course, it would be more expedient to test these rules at the youth championship, and then make adjustments and additions to them. However, the experiment made some athletes and coaches think: now they clearly saw their weaknesses and shortcomings.
There are no such areas in the international rules for women where bonuses would be given for the performanace of very complex elements. But for the performance of "Ultra-C" elements, based on their cleanliness and technique, judges can deduct less for blots. Of course, a bright and spectacular exercise is valued more than a 'smooth' exercise, even if with full dificulty.
Now, many say that Romanian Nadia Comaneci won the European Championship and the Pre-Olympic week due to super-difficult elements. This is a wrong opinion. Yes, Comaneci's routines are very impressive, but everything is performed masterfully at the highest level. Her main thing is not a trick, but cleanliness.
What did we see at the national championship? Debutantes of the adult platform E. Davydova, N. Shaposhnikova, and M. Filatova prepared amazing routines on the individual apparatuses. Muscovite E. Mukhina, Rostovite L. Yudina, and E. Aleksyutina from Moscow also amazed with their tricks. Does this mean that these young gymnasts will have an advantage in the international arena? They will, but on the condition that their exercises will be 'delivered' at the same excellent level as N. Comaneci does. In the meantime, our young talents' exercises are clearly raw, not perfected, and there is no stability: there was plenty of falling.
And let's take the compulsory program. Soviet gymnasts have always peformed excellently in 'school,' and we must not lose our advantage here. E. Saadi, N. Dronova, N. Kim, and O. Koval pretty easily beat the rest of the athletes.
Don't think that I'm subtly hinting at the impossibility of including the Tbilisi platform in the team for the Games. We have many candidates for the Olympic team, and each one, I emphasize, has a chance to get a coveted ticket. I remember how before the Olympics in Munich there were heated debates about Olga Korbut. They also said: she can let the team down, break loose, the judges will not like her program. And it turned out the opposite. This is what it means to be stubborn, to work and work on improving your skills, in spite of any gossip and doubts!
It's clear to me that Svetlana Grozdova passed the first stage of the selection with honor. Her exercises on the balance beam and uneven bars are excellent. But Sveta also needs to pay attention to the compulsory program and 'pull up' the vault and acrobatics in her optional program. And then she will be able to compete with the best gymnasts in the world. I am convinced that this can be done before Montreal.
Pretenders for the team will take part in various competitions more than once, the most important of which is the tournament for the prizes of the newspaper Moscow News (Moscow, April 1-4) and the Riga-76 tournament (April 5-8). At the USSR Cup in May, which will be held in Moscow (17-23), it is necessary to look through all the Olympic candidates without exception and evaluate their skills according to international rules. And then everything will fall into place.
G. SHAMRAI, Merited Master of Sports