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1972 Interviews & Profiles MAG USSR WAG

1972: Profiles of Tourischeva and Andrianov after the USSR Championships

The USSR Championships were the first major domestic challenge for the Soviet gymnasts on the road to Munich, and they were full of surprises. 

Nikolai Andrianov, who was third at the 1971 European Championships, won the all-around, defeating both Voronin and Klimenko. But on the second day of competition, which didn’t count toward his all-around total, he found himself sitting on the parallel bars.

And Ludmilla Tourischeva finally won the all-around title at the USSR Championships. Yes, she had won both the European and World all-around titles before she won the USSR Championships. (She had won the USSR Cup in 1969 and 1971.) She, too, had a major error during the competition.

Afterward, the Soviet media produced video profiles of both champions. You can find the videos, transcripts, and translations below.

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1972 MAG USSR

1972: Andrianov Wins the Men’s Competition at the USSR Championships

At the 1971 European Championships, Nikolai Andrianov finished third behind Viktor Klimenko (first) and Mikhail Voronin (second). One year later, the momentum had changed. Not only did Andrianov beat Klimenko and Voronin; he dominated the competition, winning by 1.70 points. (To be fair, Klimenko was still recovering from an Achilles tear that happened on floor during warm-ups at the European Championships.)

That said, there were still plenty of mistakes that needed to be fixed before the Munich Olympics, and Andrianov was not immune to the falling contagion that spread throughout the gym in Kyiv. As one newspaper put it, “Kolya Andrianov was sitting on parallel bars, as if on a fence, and smiling in a childish way, as if he was not a master of international class.”

So, here’s the coverage of the men’s competition at the 1972 USSR Championships.

Note: You can read a preview of the competition here.

Nikolai Andrianov, 1972, Hamburg, West Germany
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1972 MAG USSR WAG

1972: A Preview of the USSR Championships

In the lead-up to the 1972 Olympics, the first big test for Soviet gymnasts was the USSR Championships, held in Kyiv at the end of March and the beginning of April.

Tourischeva and Lazakovich were the clear favorites on the women’s side, but people were eager to see if gymnasts from the 1968 Olympics like Karaseva and Voronina could hang on. Dronova, another aspirant for the Olympic Team, was still recovering from an injury.

There were three clear frontrunners on the men’s side: Klimenko, Voronin, and Andrianov.

Here’s a short preview of the competition.

Nikolai Andrianov, 1972, Hamburg, Germany

Reminder: The USSR Championships and the USSR Cup were two separate competitions. Both competitions were held in the lead-up to the 1972 Olympics.

Note: Korbut is not mentioned in the article. In her autobiography My Story, Korbut posits that Stanislav Tokarev, the author of this article, did not appreciate her gymnastics prior to the Munich Olympics.

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1972 Compulsories MAG Olympics WAG

1972: The Compulsory Routines for the Munich Olympics

At the 1972 Olympics, the men’s compulsories followed the standard format: set routines that each gymnast had to perform exactly as the text stated. (Reminder: In 1969, the FIG decided to make compulsories valid for four years rather than having separate compulsories for the World Championships and Olympic Games.)

The women’s compulsories, on the other hand, took a different path: there were specific skills and a specific order in which those skills had to be performed, but each national team was responsible for designing its own routines.

Let’s take a look at the compulsory routines.

Games of the XXth Olympiad, Munich 1972: Gymnastics Regulations
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1972 MAG Olympics WAG

1972: The Qualification Criteria for Gymnastics at the Munich Olympics

A qualification system was put in place for the Munich Olympic Games. Countries had to achieve specific scores during a set period in order to participate in the Olympic Games.

Here were the rules guiding the process.

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1961 MAG Universiade WAG

1961: The Official Gymnastics Results for the University Games

At the 1961 University Games (also called the Universiade) in Sofia, Bulgaria, gymnastics was added to the program for the first time. It wasn’t a large competition — only 18 women and 28 men participated in the individual all-around competition.

But there were some big names, including 1960 Olympic gold medalists Mitsukuri Takahashi and Tamara Lyukhina, 1960 silver medalist Yuri Titov, as well as 1960 bronze medalists Sonia Iovan, Emilia Liță, and Elena Leușteanu. (There were other World and Olympic medalists at the competition.)

The events were split between two days: August 27 and August 28. The women competed on beam and floor on the first day and on bars and vault on the second. The men competed on floor, pommel horse, and rings on the first day and on vault, parallel bars, and high bar on the second day.

What follows are the complete results from the competition.

Sportul, September 2, 1961
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1958 Code of Points MAG

1958: The Men’s Code of Points

In 1958, before the World Championships in Moscow, the Code of Points for men’s gymnastics was updated again. By and large, this version of the Code combined the 1949 Code of Points and the 1954 supplement in one single document.

That said, there were a few changes in the 1958 Code of Points. Below, you’ll find a summary of the major changes, as well as the original French text, as printed in the magazine Le Gymnaste, May 1958. Thanks to the Bibliothèque nationale de France for the documents.

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1954 Code of Points MAG

1954: The Men’s Code of Points

In 1949, the first Code of Points for men’s gymnastics was published. Five years later, in 1954, the document was updated.

The 1954 Code of Points was a supplement to the 1949 Code, adding more detail about the evaluation of men’s optional exercises. It specified:

  • The breakdown of the 10.0
  • The number of required elements
  • The types of movements that should be included on each apparatus
  • The difficulty levels of various elements.

Assigning difficulty levels to elements was a request from the Soviet Union:

As the Russians proposed, a table of difficulties has been worked out, which can be used in Rome [at the World Championships].

Gazette de Lausanne, January 7, 1954

On a mis au point, sur proposition russe, une table des difficultés qui pourra être utilisée à Rome.

So, here’s a summary of the 1954 Code of Points, as well as the original French text, as printed in the magazine Le Gymnaste, May 1955. Thanks to the Bibliothèque nationale de France for providing the documents.

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1971 East Germany MAG North Korea

1971: The East Germans Defeat the North Koreans

North Korea was supposed to participate in the 1970 World Championships, but the team did not show. So, prior to the Munich Olympics, the gymnastics world did not know much about North Korean gymnasts. A 1971 dual meet with East Germany was one of the DPRK’s few international appearances.

What follows are the results and an article about the competition. Reportedly, Kim Song Zu performed a triple twist off rings.

Note: This competition was referenced repeatedly in East Germany’s coverage of the 1972 Olympic Games.

Li Song Sob, North Korea; Source: Neue Zeit, November 30, 1971
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1970 Interviews & Profiles MAG USSR

1970: Albert Azaryan Training His Son Eduard

Many expectations are foisted on the children of Olympic gold medalists. Albert Azaryan’s son, Eduard, was no exception. Already in 1970, there were media stories about Azaryan’s 11-year-old son.

Albert Azaryan was best known for his performances on rings, an event he won at the 1954 World Championships, the 1955 European Championships, the 1956 Olympic Games, the 1958 World Championships, and the 1960 Olympic Games.

Though Eduard did not end up winning as many major titles as his father, he was part of the Soviet team that won silver at the 1978 World Championships and gold at the 1980 Olympic Games.

Here’s an article from 1970 on the father-son duo.

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