Sovetsky Sport. August 13, 1983. It seemed that her Spartakiad gold medal for the Russian team's victory would be her last.
In 1979, there was only talk about two students of Vladislav Rastorotsky - about Natasha Shaposhnikova, the all-around champion, and about Natasha Yurchenko, a 14-year-old schoolgirl with bangs above her blue eyes. "A wonderful girl, very promising," praised the experts, although 12th place in the all-around didn't give rise to rosy predictions. Yurchenko cannot be expressed in words. A kind of tenacity and liveliness during performances were combined with a dreamy look and childish seriousness.
And then we didn't see her on the big platform for almost two years. The coaches who came to Rostov-on-Don reported that something incomprehensible was happening to Natasha - severe headaches, frequent colds. Then, already in mid-1981, the 'information' about Natasha became more cheerful - she was training, updating her program, and things were getting better.
Last season, before the start of the international competition for the prizes of the Moscow News newspaper, I met Natalia Shaposhnikova and asked whether Yurchenko would compete.
"She will! She has grown so much, she has become prettier, she has become so mature... You know, Vladislav Rastorotsky completely changed her program. I don't know how he decided to do it..."
What Yurchenko showed at the competition can only be called a miracle. The updates were not just some combinations, pieces from 'played out' routines, but all new routines in their entirety! An 'application' was submitted for authorship for the world premiere performances of elements. On beam, on uneven bars. Her unique vault was amazing... Natasha really appeared in a new light: refreshed, prettier. The more difficult program obviously suited her. I tried to raise Rastorotsky's mood even more, pleased with himself, by saying that there is such a sign: if good luck happens in the spring, then all year it will be with you. Vladislav Stepanovich chuckled with satisfactions, and then waved me off: "Not the evil eye..."
A month later - the USSR Cup in Leningrad. Rastorotsky was very worried - is Natasha stable or not? When she easily jumped off the awards pedestal and walked along the platform, planting her feet like a ballet dancer (toes apart), then Rastorotsky sighed noisily and looked around in search of an interlocutor (try to approach him during competitions - he'll 'scald' you with his gaze - it's going to be scary). Honestly, having known Vladislav Stepanovich for many years, I always look forward to just such moments - when he becomes kinder, warmer, and needs an outlet for his emotions.
"Well, whad did I tell you (from excitement Rastorotsky switched to the formal 'you')? You understand what kind of girl this is? An amazing girl! Who do I like to work with? With gymnasts who have a big personality! And Natasha is a personality. This is a gymnast!"
Vladislav Stepanovich gestured, raised his voice, puffed out his cheeks, and looked like a big child showing off a new toy. But if we write figuratively, then we can say this: people buy toys for children, but the coach does not buy his joy; it's given to him with hellish labor. Rastorotsky doesn't boast or show off, this is his character - he likes to be proud of the work from his hands.
Having calmed down a bit, he said: "I had Lyuda Turischeva - she reached all the heights. Then Natasha Shaposhnikova appeared - an extraordinary talent, poetry in gymnastics. But she didn't have enough character... Then Natasha Yurchenko appeared, and I realized - this girl will follow in Turischeva's footsteps. Do you remember she made her debut in the spring of 1978 at the international tournament Riga-78, and won the floor exercise? Everyone sighed - oh, how capable, how unique. I was afraid that they were praising her too much. A year later she became the champion of the RSFSR Spartakiad, and then she won gold with the team at the USSR Spartakiad... Everyone was waiting for a miracle. But there was no miracle - Natasha became very seriously ill, and for a long time."
Yes, I remember Yurchenio's appearance on the adult platform well. I would add that at the 1979 USSR Cup she finished in fourth, after Shaposhnikova, Naimushina, and Agapova. Bangs, a ponytail, a bow - a girl is a girl. But where does such composure come from, such a serious gaze?
The seventh-grade student is an excellent student, she is especially fond of humanities subjects. "She has independent work skills, reads a lot, has a great memory and logical thinking. She was elected chairman of the squadron council." These are the lines from the characterization given to Natasha by the Rostov boarding school.
Natasha was born and lived in polar Norilsk. She is familiar with terrible frosts and long polar nights. She also remembers her first gymnastics classes at a sports school with coach Galina Aleksandrovna Khasanova, who after three years of training realized with her coach's instinct, what a valuable nuggest she had found!
In the summer, the sports school went to a sports camp in Adler. Khasanova heard that the gymnasts of the Rostov Rastorotsky school were somewhere nearby. She plucked up her courage and brought Natasha 'for a look.' They liked Yurchenko. Her parents - Vladimir Prokopyevich (head of the labor and wages department at the copper smelting plant) and Yuliya Aleksandrovna (senior accountant of the iron ore department) - agreed to let their daughter move to Rostov-on-Don. They knew about the famous coach Rastorotsky.
"After her illness," Vladislav Stepanovich continued the conversation, "I decided to start from scratch: completely update the program. We literally did not leave the gym, and I was amazed at Natasha's patience. She looks at me with her blue eyes - I see she's not tired, she wants to work. And we worked! Her eyes were bright, she grew and looked prettier. She became strong, she jumped, and she no longer moved mechanically but with feeling - she put her soul into it."
I want to talk a little more about Rastorotsky. The concept of "Rastorotsky's school" has long entered the gymnasium. He calls himself the educator of champions, is confident in himself, can be rude, unrestrained, irascible. But behind his outer shell lies a soft man, a caring father of two children. Could Lyudmila Turischeva, with her heightened perception of the world, with her vulnerability, listen to him for so many years, to obey the 'stale breadcrumbs'? The secret here is that Vladislav Stepanovich is unusually angry at work, especially at competitions, where his nerves are on edge.
Study Rastorotsky in moments of work, or better yet, in rest, when he reads the next book from the series The Life of Remarkable People. Tell him something nice about his students - and now you have a best friend. And you will hear discussions about the meaning of life, about the philosophy of gymnastics, about dreams - sometimes naive, but more often - fabulously lofty.
I already once tried to compare Rastorotsky with film director Eldar Ryazanov. When Ryazanov had just started hosting Kinopanorama, it seemed then that he, with his funny gestures and patter, wasn't suitable for the role of a presenter. But after a while we realized how much charm and attractiveness Ryazanov has! He's completely relaxed, he looks you in the eye, he trusts you with his exact thoughts, he conducts a smart conversation. And you can no longer tear yourself away from he television screen - you are captivated.
The country's all-around champion, winner of the 1982 World Cup, pedagogical institute student Natalia Yurchenko became the heroine of the VIII Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. She won six gold medals, and four more of the highest standard at the USSR Championship. Complete, unconditional superiority.
At the last Spartakiad, she was a mystery to many, but now she is the leader of the team. A dreamy girl with blue eyes - a Norilsk snowdrop. The eldest on the Spartakiad platform. The most courageous. Over and over again, she is discovering the wonderful world of movements.
V. GOLUBEV