Skip to main content

Remembering Alla Misnik - a Soviet star of 1981

Alla Misnik collecting her prize as 1981 Moscow News all around champion.  Courtesy RIA Novosti

I was yesterday reminded of the genius of Alla Misnik, who won three medals at the Madrid European Championships in 1981 (bronze all around, silver uneven bars, silver floor exercise, qualifying to all four event finals).  Misnik had travelled to Madrid with team mate Natalia Ilienko, who here managed a meagre silver medal on beam, but went on to win gold in team and floor exercise at the Moscow World Championships that autumn.  The same year Misnik had won the Moscow News tournament and, later, the USSR Cup, but sadly never competed at a World Championships.

Misnik was born in Kharkov, Ukraine on the 27th August 1967.  She was coached by Valentin Shumovsky, (whose team of young gymnasts also included 1978 Junior European beam and floor exercise champion, Natalia Karamushka).    Zaglada (2010) writes of Shumovsky's care in training Misnik to the peak of her abilities, despite a weakness in the young girl's spine which made her talent on bars, and one -armed balances on beam, all the more extraordinary.

Alla Misnik died of a stroke on July 11th 2006 at the age of 38.  But we can still marvel at these excellent videos of her innovative gymnastics at the 1981 European Championships (with thanks to GymnasticsHVMeets on Youtube).

Uneven Bars




Balance Beam



Floor




Read more on Alla at the Gymnastics Greats website and at Gymn Forum's excellent database.





Comments

  1. Interesting, never knew her, of course, before my time :)

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...

Mustafina Interview 2 of 2 : 'I will only perform under the Russian flag'

Argumentyi i Fakti interview with Aliya Mustafina Translated by Marina Vulis ‘I have no fear’, says Aliya Mustafina.   ‘My father [Farhat Mustafin, the bronze medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1976 Olympics] took me to my first gymnastics class.   In his opinion children need to do sports, and he saw gymnastics as useful for my general development.   He had no goals – just to let us practice.’ It did not end with ‘just practice’ – she became the World Champion at 16, but then had an ACL injury the next year (2011) at the Europeans.   Even just returning to gymnastics is a feat; then she came back to win four medals at the 2012 Olympics. Aliya Mustafina – That injury.   I do not know why I was ashamed – so many people were watching me and I could not even walk.   My parents!   They saw everything on TV (the coach had to carry her from the podium).   Of course I was aware that anything could happen in gymnastics, but I di...

Marinov planning a partial comeback at the Russian champs

 ðŸŽ¤ "Plans for August: work, work, and work some more!" — Daniil Marinov on the training camp in Sirius, summer, and preparation for the Russian Championship ❓ How productive was your time at the training camp in Sirius? "Personally, I viewed this training camp not only as a recovery camp, but also as a preparatory one. My teammates had just recently returned from competitions, and yes, they needed a rest. But I, on the contrary, needed to start working hard, because there wasn't much time left before the Russian Championship. At the training camp in Sirius, I was able to work hard, and at the same time swim in the sea, change the scenery. I'm glad I went with the whole team!" ❓ Did you manage to regain your physical fitness after shoulder surgery? "More or less, yes. I remembered many elements from my routine. But I still continue to treat and pump up my shoulder, in parallel with getting into shape." ❓ Are you already working on all the apparatus...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more