No sooner had I posted yesterday's chronicle of the best women gymnasts of the Olympics than I received a request for a similar collection of the men. So here is a look at the wonderful Soviet men, focussed through the lens of the Olympics.
Remember that what you are seeing here, particularly from the early 1980s through to the early 1990s, is but a fraction of the entire body of Soviet gymnastics. The women were always outstanding, but at their best the men were absolutely phenomenal.
1952, 1956 - Viktor Chukarin
Chukarin was all around Olympic Champion at two consecutive Olympics, winning four medals at each and leading his team to gold in both. In 1952 his team mate Grant Shaginian took another two golds for the Soviet team; while in 1956 Albert Azarian went home with a gold on rings.
Videos of individual routines are thin on the ground, but here is a brief documentary of Chukarin at work, demonstrating some of the heroic personal and gymnastic qualities for which this generation of gymnasts is known.
Watch it on Youtube.
We get a glimpse here of Chukarin on vault and p-bars, and a line-up of the proud Soviet team, including a very charismatic looking Albert Azarian!
Watch it on Youtube.
I have also to include this video of Albert Azarian, whose iron cross is rarely to be seen in today's competitions. Armenia provided the Soviet Union with a number of its great gymnastics heroes (eg Shaginian, Azarian A, Azarian E, Akopian) - gymnastics is a great part of Armenian culture, and my local Armenian taxi driver speaks of them all with great pride!
Watch it on Youtube.
1960, 1964 - Boris Shakhlin
1960 saw the emergence of another great Soviet hero, Boris Shakhlin, and although the Soviet team were overtaken for the first time by the brilliant Japanese, he dominated the individual competitions, taking a total of four gold medals, and one silver, behind Albert Azarian.
See Shakhlin's pommel horse routine below - he was a strongly built man who almost seems to dwarf the apparatus - and I'm fascinated to see the mid-routine hand flourish that became a characteristic of Valentin Mogilnyi's work in the 1980s.
Youtube
Amid a resurgent Japanese team who had beaten the Soviets into second place for the first time, Shakhlin fought valiantly for the overall title but was narrowly beaten by Yukio Endo. Nevertheless, he persisted strongly till the final event, taking the Soviet Union's only gold medal, on high bar. The silver medallist was Yuri Titov, whose routine can be seen below.
Watch it on Youtube.
1968 - Mikhail Voronin
Voronin took the Soviet Union's only male gymnastics gold medal at this Olympic Games, again on high bar. His routine can be seen at the beginning of this documentary segment - note he adds a full twist to Titov's dismount from 1960! (Incidentally, this is a great documentary - watch Kuchinskaya's beam routine from about 3.40 onwards and Caslavska's reaction!)
Watch it on Youtube.
1972, 1976 - Nikolai Andrianov
From 1960 to 1979 the Soviet team came second to the Japanese. The Japanese wrote the sport as much as the Soviets did; names like Endo, Ono, Tsukuhara and Kasamatsu are today part of our gymnastics vocabulary. For a long time, they seemed unbeatable.
Nikolai Andrianov was only 19 years old at his first Olympics. Known for his stubborn and irascible character, this young man dared to defy the Japanese, taking one of only two golds for the Soviet team in 1972 (floor; the other was Viktor Klimenko's on pommel horse). By 1976, he was the leading individual in the sport, taking the all around title along with three other individual golds.
And a silver medal in the team competition that weighed heavier than the rest. Andrianov was preparing the Soviets to take back leadership of the sport. They were within 4 tenths of the gold medal here. By the time they finally, at the third time of asking, overcame the Japanese at the Fort Worth world championships in 1979, Alexander Dityatin was on the ascendant as the leading individual in the Soviet team. But Andrianov was the team's trail blazer, the icon for all Soviet and Russian teams, the one with the courage to show the way through many a battle.
See 'old one-leg' (as he was known) here on floor during the 1976 Olympics:
View it on Youtube.
1980 - Alexander Dityatin
In 1979 the Soviet team finally took the world team title away from Japan, under the leadership of young whipper snapper Dityatin. Andrianov had held the reins since 1972, topping off his Olympic achievements with the world all around title in 1978. Dityatin's accession to the throne was the beginning of the flowering of the modern era of Soviet men's gymnastics.
Remarkably, I can find hardly any dedicated coverage of Dityatin's gymnastics. However, I am indebted to the interestingly named ArmyofZenMonkeys whose montage includes a good clip of Dityatin's work from 1.34.
He was just so damned handsome and dashing ...
Youtube
1984 - Dmitri Bilozerchev
The 1984 Olympics were a tragedy for gymnastics fans and a disaster for gymnastics genius Bilozerchev, who probably never fully recovered from the frustration of being told he couldn't compete in Los Angeles thanks to the Soviet Union's boycott of the Games. Still Bilozerchev dominated the Alternative Olympics in Oloumoc, taking gold in the all around ahead of his colleagues Artemov and Balabanov, and a further three golds in the apparatus finals; with his team gold, a total of five gold medals. Artemov won the Soviet Union's other gold, on parallel bars.
Watch the precocious Bilozerchev on floor, here at the 1983 World Championships. He is still the youngest male world champion in the sport at 16 years of age.
Youtube.
Going slightly off piste here. I can't help but mention the spiffingly marvellous Yuri Korolev, twice world champion (1981 and 1985, silver in 1987) who was particularly unlucky in missing two Olympics and so hardly ever gains the profile he deserves in gymnastics history. If Bilozerchev was the bad boy of Soviet gymnastics, Korolev was the Gentleman Jim, daring on the gymnastics podium, gracious in behaviour.
See here his floor routine from the 1983 University Games.
Youtube.
1988 - Vladimir Artemov
So Bilozerchev was the Rebel Without a Cause, Korolev, the Gentleman Jim, Liukin the crazy circus performer. Artemov was the bank manager. Steady and reliable, you would trust him with your life savings. And he finally came up with gold in Seoul. A beautiful gymnast, he well deserved the title. I think it was shaving off the moustache that did the trick. He added to his overall and team golds with golds on p bars and high bar, and a silver on floor
See him here on floor as he completes his all around competition.
Youtube.
1992 - Vitalyi Scherbo
Scherbo was the most confident Soviet gymnast ever. His routines were always performed with great aggression and verve, and he sure could land a vault. He won a total of six gold medals at the Barcelona Olympics.
Youtube.
1996, 2000 - Alexei Nemov
As we leave the 'modern' Soviet era, there is too much left unsaid. Artemov, Scherbo were the lucky ones in teams of incredible depth. I haven't even scratched the surface. Balabanov, Akopian, Mogilnyi, Korolev, Liukin, Kharkov, Missiutin, Belenkyi, Voropaev all deserve their own mentions, alongside many others. There will be further chronicles in this series.
I will add but one further Russian gymnast to this series - Alexei Nemov, who led his team to the gold medal in 1996 and took the all around title in 2000. Nemov shares some of the dashing qualities of Alexander Dityatin, the clean execution of Artemov and the daringness of Liukin. He is the only Russian male gymnast of the last twenty years who for me qualifies to appear alongside the heroes of Soviet gymnastics. I trust there will be more in future.
Youtube
Remember that what you are seeing here, particularly from the early 1980s through to the early 1990s, is but a fraction of the entire body of Soviet gymnastics. The women were always outstanding, but at their best the men were absolutely phenomenal.
1952, 1956 - Viktor Chukarin
Chukarin was all around Olympic Champion at two consecutive Olympics, winning four medals at each and leading his team to gold in both. In 1952 his team mate Grant Shaginian took another two golds for the Soviet team; while in 1956 Albert Azarian went home with a gold on rings.
Videos of individual routines are thin on the ground, but here is a brief documentary of Chukarin at work, demonstrating some of the heroic personal and gymnastic qualities for which this generation of gymnasts is known.
Watch it on Youtube.
We get a glimpse here of Chukarin on vault and p-bars, and a line-up of the proud Soviet team, including a very charismatic looking Albert Azarian!
Watch it on Youtube.
I have also to include this video of Albert Azarian, whose iron cross is rarely to be seen in today's competitions. Armenia provided the Soviet Union with a number of its great gymnastics heroes (eg Shaginian, Azarian A, Azarian E, Akopian) - gymnastics is a great part of Armenian culture, and my local Armenian taxi driver speaks of them all with great pride!
Watch it on Youtube.
1960, 1964 - Boris Shakhlin
1960 saw the emergence of another great Soviet hero, Boris Shakhlin, and although the Soviet team were overtaken for the first time by the brilliant Japanese, he dominated the individual competitions, taking a total of four gold medals, and one silver, behind Albert Azarian.
See Shakhlin's pommel horse routine below - he was a strongly built man who almost seems to dwarf the apparatus - and I'm fascinated to see the mid-routine hand flourish that became a characteristic of Valentin Mogilnyi's work in the 1980s.
Youtube
Amid a resurgent Japanese team who had beaten the Soviets into second place for the first time, Shakhlin fought valiantly for the overall title but was narrowly beaten by Yukio Endo. Nevertheless, he persisted strongly till the final event, taking the Soviet Union's only gold medal, on high bar. The silver medallist was Yuri Titov, whose routine can be seen below.
Watch it on Youtube.
1968 - Mikhail Voronin
Voronin took the Soviet Union's only male gymnastics gold medal at this Olympic Games, again on high bar. His routine can be seen at the beginning of this documentary segment - note he adds a full twist to Titov's dismount from 1960! (Incidentally, this is a great documentary - watch Kuchinskaya's beam routine from about 3.40 onwards and Caslavska's reaction!)
Watch it on Youtube.
1972, 1976 - Nikolai Andrianov
From 1960 to 1979 the Soviet team came second to the Japanese. The Japanese wrote the sport as much as the Soviets did; names like Endo, Ono, Tsukuhara and Kasamatsu are today part of our gymnastics vocabulary. For a long time, they seemed unbeatable.
Nikolai Andrianov was only 19 years old at his first Olympics. Known for his stubborn and irascible character, this young man dared to defy the Japanese, taking one of only two golds for the Soviet team in 1972 (floor; the other was Viktor Klimenko's on pommel horse). By 1976, he was the leading individual in the sport, taking the all around title along with three other individual golds.
And a silver medal in the team competition that weighed heavier than the rest. Andrianov was preparing the Soviets to take back leadership of the sport. They were within 4 tenths of the gold medal here. By the time they finally, at the third time of asking, overcame the Japanese at the Fort Worth world championships in 1979, Alexander Dityatin was on the ascendant as the leading individual in the Soviet team. But Andrianov was the team's trail blazer, the icon for all Soviet and Russian teams, the one with the courage to show the way through many a battle.
See 'old one-leg' (as he was known) here on floor during the 1976 Olympics:
View it on Youtube.
1980 - Alexander Dityatin
In 1979 the Soviet team finally took the world team title away from Japan, under the leadership of young whipper snapper Dityatin. Andrianov had held the reins since 1972, topping off his Olympic achievements with the world all around title in 1978. Dityatin's accession to the throne was the beginning of the flowering of the modern era of Soviet men's gymnastics.
Remarkably, I can find hardly any dedicated coverage of Dityatin's gymnastics. However, I am indebted to the interestingly named ArmyofZenMonkeys whose montage includes a good clip of Dityatin's work from 1.34.
He was just so damned handsome and dashing ...
Youtube
1984 - Dmitri Bilozerchev
The 1984 Olympics were a tragedy for gymnastics fans and a disaster for gymnastics genius Bilozerchev, who probably never fully recovered from the frustration of being told he couldn't compete in Los Angeles thanks to the Soviet Union's boycott of the Games. Still Bilozerchev dominated the Alternative Olympics in Oloumoc, taking gold in the all around ahead of his colleagues Artemov and Balabanov, and a further three golds in the apparatus finals; with his team gold, a total of five gold medals. Artemov won the Soviet Union's other gold, on parallel bars.
Watch the precocious Bilozerchev on floor, here at the 1983 World Championships. He is still the youngest male world champion in the sport at 16 years of age.
Youtube.
Going slightly off piste here. I can't help but mention the spiffingly marvellous Yuri Korolev, twice world champion (1981 and 1985, silver in 1987) who was particularly unlucky in missing two Olympics and so hardly ever gains the profile he deserves in gymnastics history. If Bilozerchev was the bad boy of Soviet gymnastics, Korolev was the Gentleman Jim, daring on the gymnastics podium, gracious in behaviour.
See here his floor routine from the 1983 University Games.
Youtube.
1988 - Vladimir Artemov
So Bilozerchev was the Rebel Without a Cause, Korolev, the Gentleman Jim, Liukin the crazy circus performer. Artemov was the bank manager. Steady and reliable, you would trust him with your life savings. And he finally came up with gold in Seoul. A beautiful gymnast, he well deserved the title. I think it was shaving off the moustache that did the trick. He added to his overall and team golds with golds on p bars and high bar, and a silver on floor
See him here on floor as he completes his all around competition.
Youtube.
1992 - Vitalyi Scherbo
Scherbo was the most confident Soviet gymnast ever. His routines were always performed with great aggression and verve, and he sure could land a vault. He won a total of six gold medals at the Barcelona Olympics.
Youtube.
1996, 2000 - Alexei Nemov
As we leave the 'modern' Soviet era, there is too much left unsaid. Artemov, Scherbo were the lucky ones in teams of incredible depth. I haven't even scratched the surface. Balabanov, Akopian, Mogilnyi, Korolev, Liukin, Kharkov, Missiutin, Belenkyi, Voropaev all deserve their own mentions, alongside many others. There will be further chronicles in this series.
I will add but one further Russian gymnast to this series - Alexei Nemov, who led his team to the gold medal in 1996 and took the all around title in 2000. Nemov shares some of the dashing qualities of Alexander Dityatin, the clean execution of Artemov and the daringness of Liukin. He is the only Russian male gymnast of the last twenty years who for me qualifies to appear alongside the heroes of Soviet gymnastics. I trust there will be more in future.
Youtube
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