Liubov Burda-Andrianova interview - translation by Lupita

Liubov Burda competed for the Soviet Union at the Olympics in both 1968 (age 15) and 1972.  Born on the 4th November 1953 in Voronezh, Burda was coached by Yuri Shtukmann and obtained gold medals (in the team event) at both these Olympics, as well as at the 1970 World Championships.  She was USSR national champion in 1969 and 1970 and won multiple event medals at the USSR national championships and the USSR cup between 1968 and 1971.  A unique element - the Burda underspin (1.5 twists) on bars, was named after Liubov, who remains in the sport till today as a senior member of the FIG women's technical committee.


The latest edition of the Russian Gymnastics Federation's magazine Gymnastika includes an interview with Liubov which Lupita has translated, below.   It is a wonderful read, touching on many important subjects, and most moving in her affectionate discussion of her late husband, 1976 Olympic champion Nikolai Andrianov. 

Liubov Burda : 'I don't know where my heart beats'

You are one of the most famous judges in international gymnastics. Did the career as a judge always attract you?

I didn’t choose it on purpose. When I quit gymnastics, I devoted myself to my family, my sons, and I went back to the gym because it was my life. I began coaching  quite successfully. My girls made the national team. Yet it was difficult to work alone. You go to a competition with a gymnast, and the group stays behind. It’s better to work in a team. Even if there are two of you, one can be a coach and the other a judge. Why not? It’s still more efficient. I began to study to become a judge. Lidia Ivanova helped me a lot. There are a lot of nuances in judging. Later I was elected to the technical committee.

Often sportspeople and coaches in sport criticize the technical committees of their international federations. Can you explain the main issues in current women’s gymnastics?

We’re criticized because gymnastics has become more athletic, less artistic, I totally agree with that. But it’s impossible to stop progress. People used to run 100 m in 10 seconds, later in 9.9, later in 9.8… It’s the same with us. Selection for gymnastics is very specific.  We select small, thin kids who can perform some beautiful and complex gymnastics. What is artistry? It’s so individual! Somebody enters the gym and in their face, in their movements you can tell that they are an artist. And others lack this.  And they can do difficult routines. And we cannot say that currently gymnastics is bad, we cannot criticize girls who perform complex elements and those who dance. And this middle ground is very difficult to find. Take the example of Rebecca Bross, self-confident, nice, but I can’t say she is that artistic. Yet she doesn’t suffer due to that because she has speed and powerful elements. I could single out Nastia Liukin who was perfection. Lilia Podkopayeva, our Svetlana Khorkina, who was attractive to the audience and won at the same time. Aliya Mustafina is a gymnast born to conquer the world. Yet, you can’t avoid the fact that our sport is subjective.

Is it difficult for judges not to be passionate?

It’s impossible. Today I am not giving scores anymore. I supervise other judges. But still, when our team goes on to perform at an event; you can’t imagine what happens inside me. My heart… I don’t know where it beats. Because they are our gymnasts. We’re told “You’re judges of the FIG, and not judges from one country”. Neutral judging doesn’t exist. It simply can’t exist. Emotions take over.

Do you remember your emotions when you competed?

One forgets, of course. We were so young. When I was 15 I took part in my first Olympics with Ludmilla Tourischeva. They gave us special permission to participate. Later I followed the Olympics where my husband took part. And then as a judge. I remember that in Mexico I was annoyed by my surname. The translation into Spanish sounds pejorative and I was often mocked. Sasha Medved, the fighter, calmed me down: “Don’t worry, everything will be OK”. He was so big, I was so small.

The first thing one would notice is that we were a very close team. A team. We supported each other, were happy, sad if something went wrong. In Munich after the competition I had to spend a whole night waiting for the dope test. On the following day everyone kept asking how it had gone. I’m convinced one of my best memories of that time is our closeness as a team.

Even if people say that our sport is very individual, I think that the most important medal is the team one. When you win the team competition, everyone respects you.

Do you still dream about the Burda underswing?

Seldom, in my dreams I am competing on the beam. And the underswing … I remember how we presented it at the USSR Spartakiade. During the warm-up people said that Shtukmann had brought a new miracle. It was like a bomb, like a new gymnastics. I don’t remember how we invented the underswing. It all started like a game. My coach told me to spin more.

Were you ever afraid?

I never considered myself a coward. But I liked risk, courage, and I could not stand monotonous  work. Shtukmann was always looking for a compromise: “Don’t do it ten times, do four perfectly, and that’s it”.

If we compare this to what gymnasts perform today, our gymnastics was not complex, but don’t forget that the equipment is different, everything is different. We performed on such old junk made of wood!  Today gymnasts go to the podium. Such beauty, leotards, uniform, coiffure… We considered ourselves happy when we were given our blue tracksuit. Or a leotard that was very uncomfortable when it was hot. But for us it was everything. To make the national team was the highest honour. I often talk to the girls, to beginners and they tell me: “we are tired, I don’t want to, we don’t need that”.  I don’t understand: why is it not prestigious for them to make the national team? They are indifferent to everything, going to the European Championships, going to the World Championships? I find it outrageous. Sports people are different today. Not bad, only different. But this patriotism, the will to win at any price, all those things have been lost.

Liuba, do your sons have strong ties to gymnastics?

Sergei and Vladimir were gymnasts. It was not by chance. Their parents were always in the gym. They didn’t ask themselves if they wanted to start gymnastics. It’s like walking, learning to read. It’s something natural and it was natural. They were energetic  … and coordinated. Both of them. They went to the junior national team and got good scores, but then they exhausted their potential in some way.

For yourself and Nikolai was their success important?

They used to say “We will always be compared to you”. Of course, they didn’t want to be worse than their parents. But for some reason they didn’t go further.

Later Sergei entered the Moscow circus, there were a few gymnasts there and for a long time he put on a show on the high bar. Now he’s working in Japan as a coach. In the same club, Tsukahara’s club, where Nikolay worked. When he was alive he left his place to his son. My younger son, Volodya, studied physical education but then he switched to business. He’s still involved in gymnastics and attends all the competitions. It’s our life and it’s impossible to remain indifferent.

Do you have grandchildren?

Yes, Maksim, my younger son’s son. He’ll start school this year. He is doing gymnastics in the initial stage. For the moment he enjoys it. I can’t say that he has a burning desire to do gymnastics. For us it was different. Now the kids are different and they have many things to choose from. And now he’s in gymnastics.

You were born and grew up in Voronezh. You spent a large part of your life in Vladimir, you often go to Moscow. Where’s your home now?

Probably my home is where my sons, my grandson live…

In Voronezh I have my mother, my brother; my coach’s wife is still alive. Coaches are needed in the gym. Our main problem today is the lack of coaches. They leave, they were the pillars of our sport.

People say you still keep your and Nikolay’s medals in a sports bag. Is it true?

It’s true. Until now they are in a sports bag. We never worshipped them. I don’t like it. And Nikolay didn’t like it either. At the funeral many people said: “He was someone who never asked for anything in his life”. And I think for this he deserves more respect.

In Vladimir the relationship of the city authorities was excellent. We weren’t married in the Registry Office, but in a restaurant. The mayor of the city married us and gave us the keys to the apartment. We were perhaps stars, that’s clear. But we never acted like it.

Was your wedding beautiful?

Very. I can’t say that my dress was special, but I wore a very long veil that I sewed with my friends. Kolya was not tall, he was bothered about it all the time. He told me: “don’t you ever dare think about wearing high heels”.

What did you find attractive about Nikolay?

He was not very handsome, but he was so charming … and he was a small devil. I like one photo very much: this malicious smile, these eyes with malice … this picture is the essence of him. He was very good. In all his life he never said no to me. I never asked for anything superfluous. At home we never hid money, it was on view, take it if you need some.

Goodness, modesty, lightness … like in gymnastics. Lightness, beautiful lines, complexity. He was the first to perform a triple salto from the high bar. Risk was part of him. Casualness and lightness: he was gifted at many things. And he had natural talent.

People say that Andrianov was not very stable in his performances, but when he fell in love with you, he transformed on the podium.

I can’t draw any conclusions but I still want to say he loved me until his last breath. And he was a good father.

The most difficult period in our lives began with the financial reform. We had saved some money but we were left with nothing. Did we have to sell our medals? Nikolai had to go and work in Japan.

Had the Japanese already invited him a few times?

Yes, Tsukahara organized a kind of symposium titled “Gymnastics of the Future”. He invited us and Bela Karolyi, we travelled through Japan, giving lectures. And at the end, Mitsuo made a proposal to both of us: “don’t you want to work here for a while…? I didn’t envisage that because I had girls and I was already working as a judge. Nikolai also said no. He was the President of the Russian Federation of Gymnastics, and when the USSR was dismantled, he went to see Leonid Arkayev and told him honestly:  “To be the president is not for me. You better be president and I’ll be the coach.” But he was not invited to be the coach of the national team. What could he do? We decided he would go and I would stay in Vladimir. Although I think that Kolya would have been more useful here. The results of his boys prove this - Korobchinsky, Belenki, Bilozerchev, Artemov, Scherbo … They were later members of the national team, and went to the Olympics. But his idea of coaching the national idea didn’t come through.

Did you ever think about the rarity of this combination? Such a good gymnast and such a good coach?

You know, when he was a sportsman, he almost didn’t learn elements. He caught them instantly. He used to get up in the morning and tell me: “I dreamt it and I’ll do it”. And he did it. He helped me a lot.  After his training, he came to see me and worked with the girls.

You know, Tsukahara couldn’t attend the funeral. He came after nine days, bringing with him a big box with recorded songs that Kolya liked to sing at Karaoke. He cried. He apologized for not having visited Kolya when he was ill.

Would it have been possible to prevent his disease?

When he came back from Japan, he began walking hunched up.  Later, we learned that in Japan he had often lost consciousness. He had tests done. At the beginning the doctors said that I could prevent the effects of the disease with physical therapy. Then it was discovered that Nikolay suffered from a hereditary disease. He always asked: “Why me?”.  And he struggled. We sports people don’t like to go to the doctor. He stopped drinking and smoking. In Germany the doctors told him that the process was unstoppable. He got worse and worse. People wrote to Putin’s website, saying that he was dying; “We have to do something!”.  They sent a delegation of specialists in this disease and the prognosis was terminal. At the beginning Kolya tried to stand up from his chair.  In the end he lay in bed, immobile. He understood every word we said to him, but he couldn’t speak. He suffered for a long time, for too long.  He never complained. And suddenly, “Perhaps I will overcome this”, he said. “We will build a swimming pool”.  He struggled, he struggled until the end.

Which one of his victories was most important to him?

Montreal, it was his Olympics. He was king.

His most difficult Olympics were the Moscow Olympics. He’d had injuries, he was in pain… and this medal was the dearest to him.

I would like our son to enter our gymnastics school. I want the Andrianov family to continue in Vladimir, as a surname linked to gymnastics. I don’t know how, but I would like it.

Pictures used by permission of the Russian Gymnastics Federation.

A Video tribute to Liubov Burda created by bbhouk1 and available on Youtube.





Liubov was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2001. A video celebrating her induction can be found at this link.