Category: USSR

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1972 Olympics USSR WAG

1972: Sovetsky Sport’s Coverage of the Women’s All-Around Final

For the Soviet team, the 1972 all-around final was a whirlwind. There were six Soviet gymnasts in the final and only one Soviet coach on the floor. Polina Astakhova had to run from apparatus to apparatus to spot, adjust equipment, encourage, and comfort.

Sovetsky Sport captured the excitement of the competition by giving a rotation-by-rotation analysis. In the end, the newspaper of record praised the friendship between the Soviet and East German gymnasts: “They were sitting side by side — the gymnasts from the USSR and the GDR. It was their evening, their celebration.”

Copyright: imago/Colorsport Gymnastics – 1972 Munich Olympics – Women’s Individual All-Around The gold medal winner, USSR’s Ludmilla Tourischeva
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1972 MAG Olympics USSR

1972: Sovetsky Sport’s Coverage of the Soviet Men’s Fourth-Straight Silver

What did the Soviet press think about the Soviet men’s team winning silver for the fourth-straight Olympics?

Here’s what Sovetsky Sport, the primary sports newspaper of the Soviet Union, wrote.

Olympische Spiele München 1972. Turnen: Siegerehrung Mannschaftsmehrkampf: Japan Gold, UdSSR Silber und DDR Bronze
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1972 Olympics USSR WAG

1972: Sovetsky Sport on the Soviet Women’s Team Gold

In 1972, the Soviet Union won its sixth-straight team title, and Sovetsky Sport, the main sports newspaper of the Soviet Union, printed over 1,000 words about the competition. The article highlighted the star power of Korbut and Tourischeva, the gentle guidance of coach (and former Soviet star) Polina Grigoryevna Astakhova, and the team’s ability to rally after Antonina Koshel’s mistakes on floor and bars.

Here’s how the 1972 women’s optional competition was covered in the Soviet press.

Datum: 31.08.1972 Copyright: imago/Pressefoto Baumann Olympische Spiele München 1972 , Turnen Frauen Olga KORBUT (UdSSR)

Note: In this photo, you can see how the beam was just wood without padding.
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1972 MAG Olympics USSR WAG

1972: Sovetsky Sport’s Coverage of the Compulsories in Munich

After the compulsory program, Sovetsky Sport, the main sports newspaper of the USSR, printed its recap of the competition. Not surprisingly, the writer was complimentary toward the entire Soviet women’s artistic gymnastics team, adding delightful lines like, “For O. Korbut, with her unique tricks on uneven bars, performing the compulsories is as easy as shelling peas.” Of course, there were some rough spots on beam, but as the writer points out, all the teams struggled with beam. 

As for the Soviet men, that was a different story. The newspaper only had good things to say about Andrianov and pointed out that Alexander Maleeev and Vladimir Shchukin did not have enough experience to be strong contributors to the team score.

Below, you can find a translation of Sovetsky Sport’s coverage.

Copyright: imago/Werner Schulze Nikolai Andrianov (UdSSR) – Barren
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1972 Interviews & Profiles USSR WAG

1972: A Profile of Tamara Lazakovich in Soviet Life

Going into the 1972 Olympics, Tamara Lazakovich was one of the favorites. At the 1971 European Championships, she tied with Ludmilla Tourischeva for all-around gold. In addition, she won gold medals on the uneven bars and balance beam, as well as silver medals on vault and floor exercise. At the time, Berthe Villancher, President of the Women’s Technical Committee, held Lazakovich up as the ideal on beam.

The magazine Soviet Life ran a short profile of Lazakovich before the Olympics. It gives the details of her career.

Note: You can read an interview with Lazakovich here. It gives some interesting details about her career. For example, Lazakovich wanted to quit the sport.

The cover of Soviet Life, August 1972

Author: Lev Kuleshov
Photographs: Sergei Lidov
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1972 Interviews & Profiles MAG USSR

1972: A Profile of the Klimenko Brothers

In 1971, Viktor Klimenko won the all-around at the European Championships, but he tore his Achilles tendon during warmups the next day. Mikhail Klimenko, his brother, was his coach, and he knew firsthand what it was like to go through a significant injury. While Mikhail would later become known for being Elena Mukhina’s coach, he once was remembered as a junior national champion, who had to quit due to injury. 

What follows is a 1972 profile of the two brothers from Nedelia.

Viktor Klimenko, 1970
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1972 USSR WAG

1972: Was Olga Korbut Supposed to Be on the Soviet Team in Munich?

If you grew up watching U.S. gymnastics coverage, you might think that Olga Korbut was not supposed to be on the Soviet team in 1972. During an ABC replay of the 1972 Olympics, the commentators remarked:

“She was a last-minute substitute on the Soviet team, replacing Nina Dronova who had broken her wrist. Olga wasn’t even listed in the Russian team biographies.”

A similar remark was printed in Gymnast (now International Gymnast) magazine in an article about the 1972 Chunichi Cup, in which Dronova competed:

The Russians were represented by three girls, Ludmilla Tourischeva, 1st All-Around in Munich, Lyubov Burda, 5th All-Around in Munich, and 14-year-old Nina Dronova who was a member of the USSR Olympic team until she broke her wrist several weeks before the games. She was replaced by Olga Korbut.

Gymnast, February 1973

But is that what happened? The Soviet press told a different story.

November 1-4, 1972. Grodno, Byelorussian SSR, USSR. Three times Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics Olga Korbut. The exact date of the photograph is unknown. Vitaly Sozinov/TASS PUBLICATION
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1972 MAG USSR WAG

1972: Korbut and Andrianov Win the USSR Cup

Months earlier, in April, Ludmilla Tourischeva and Nikolai Andrianov won the 1972 Soviet Championships — both with errors. At the 1972 Soviet Cup, Tourischeva had another mistake, and this time, Olga Korbut was able to capitalize on it and win the competition. As for Andrianov, he further cemented his position as the top Soviet gymnast heading into the Olympics.

Below, you’ll find the results, a Soviet video montage, as well as newspaper articles about the competition. I’ve translated full articles so that you can have the experience of a gymnastics fan who was trying to piece together what happened in the pages of the newspaper Izvestiia.

November 1-4, 1972. Grodno, Byelorussian SSR, USSR. Three times Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics Olga Korbut. The exact date of the photograph is unknown. Vitaly Sozinov/TASS
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1972 Interviews & Profiles MAG USSR

1972: An Interview with Edvard Mikaelian, Armenian Gymnast and Fan of Jimi Hendrix

Edvard Mikaelian was part of the Soviet teams that finished second at the 1972 Olympics and 1974 World Championships. In the lead-up to the Munich Olympics, he finished sixth at the USSR Championships and fourth at the USSR Cup. At the Olympics, he tied for 20th in the all-around.

The following interview, printed in the Czechoslovak weekly Stadión, fleshes out the character of one of the lesser-known members of the Soviet men’s team. It portrays him as a trendy, fashionable citizen of the world, who loved both ballet and American rock and roll, including the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and, of all things, the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

Stadión, May 9, 1972

Note: This profile includes an anecdote that would no longer be socially acceptable to print today.

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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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