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1972 East Germany USSR WAG

1972: The East German Women’s Team Defeats the Soviet Team before Munich

In October of 1971, just days after the European Championships, the Soviet Union and the East German gymnasts faced off. The Soviet Union won, and Olga Korbut won the all-around. 

A few months later, in March of 1972, the two teams held another dual meet. This time, the East German team won, and Karin Janz won the all-around.

Ludmilla Tourischeva was absent, and reportedly, Olga Korbut had to withdraw due to injury. Nevertheless, the East German press was excited about this victory during an Olympic year, especially the team’s progress on floor exercise.

Let’s take a look at what happened…

Janz, 1972 Summer Olympics, Date: 31.08.1972 Copyright: imago/Sven Simon
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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 East Germany Interviews & Profiles WAG

1970: A Conflicted Portrait of Karin Janz

From 1956 until 1962, Larisa Latynina dominated the all-around at the major international gymnastics competitions. Then, it was Věra Čáslavská’s turn, and she won the major all-around titles from 1964 until 1968.

Once Čáslavská retired from the sport, there was a power vacuum. The title of the world’s best female gymnast was up for grabs. Who would win the all-around title in 1970? Would it be Karin Janz, who won the all-around at the European Championships in 1969?

The gymnastics world had its reservations about Karin Janz. Sure, she had tremendous difficulty, but she lacked “femininity and softness.” Words like “machine” and “mechanical” were often used to describe her gymnastics.

The following profile of Janz, printed in the Czechoslovak magazine Stadión before the 1970 World Championships, summarizes many conflicted sentiments about the East German teenager.

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1970 Czechoslovakia WAG

1970: An Interview with the Czechoslovak WAG Coaches before the World Championships

Between the Mexico City Olympics and the Ljubljana World Championships, the Czechoslovak coaching staff had changed. Luděk Martschini was coaching the Swiss women’s team, and long-time head coach Jaroslava Matlochová was coaching in Italy.

Alena Tintěrová was in charge of the women’s program in 1970, and at the training camp before the World Championships, each coach was responsible for a different event. Jaroslav Šťastný, for example, was responsible for floor, while Petr Kouba was responsible for bars.

Here’s what Tintěrová and the other coaches were thinking as they prepared the team for the World Championships in Ljubljana.

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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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