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Lioudmilla Tourischeva, 1972 Olympic All Around champion in artistic gymnastics, was held up as an example of the ideal Soviet citizen. Here she coaches one of the Soviet Union's leading gymnasts from the 1980 Olympics, Natalia Shaposhnikova The Soviet Union had a genius for lifting sport beyond the textbook, injecting the aesthetic where previously only goals had been in plain view. This was not only manifest in gymnastics. Do you remember the ‘Russian Five’, the players who elevated ice hockey to a creative sporting display, mesmerising their opponents and spectators with intricate patterns of play, so rhythmic and entertaining that they could have been set to music? In gymnastics, a sport where the aesthetic counted as much as the outcome, it was this ability to create spectacle out of competition that resulted in the most extraordinary athletic performances. The ‘Golden Era’, most commonly understood to cover the years from 1952-1...
This is a digital photo album based on a set of 1979 Soviet produced postcards celebrating the achievements of their gymnasts. If any of you know the whereabouts of Alexander Tkachev, Gennady Krissin, Vladimir Markelov, or can update any of the information here, I would be most grateful if you could comment.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, enjoy!
I think Tkachev is coaching somewhere in the northwest USA.
ReplyDeleteI think he did spend some time at Peninsular Gymnastics and West Valley Gymnastics School - seems however to have moved on ... ?
ReplyDeleteTkachev and gorbik bought one of Rita Browns gyms and are now in Florida. Bilozerchev is in peninsula though. Markelov lives in Moscow and is basically retired. He's still in touch with the gym world, always goes to the Moscow world cup and apparently always knows what's going on. Dont know about krissin but I can always ask my friend who can ask Markelov.
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