Elena Shevchenko and Viktor Razumovsky

Elena Shevchenko with 1985 World Champion all around, Oksana Omelianchik.  Picture courtesy Tom Theobald

I read somewhere recently that Moscow's Viktor Razumovsky is now coaching 2012 Olympian Anastasia Grishina ... interesting.  Razumovsky was a leading Soviet personal coach during the 1980s, bringing through such talent as 1988 Olympian Elena Shevchenko, 1987 World Championships team member Elena Gurova, and Soviet international Olga Chudina.  He also had a hand in coaching 1981 World Champion Olga Bicherova.  All renowned for the elegance and spontaneity of their floor work in particular.

It reminded me of the 1988 Olympics, when the Soviet team performed in red, won by a significant margin, and were led off by the placid yet dynamic Shevchenko. I like what Larissa Petrik has to say about her in this interview from GymnForum:

"Elena Shevchenko is my favorite gymnast ... We are similar in spirit, in style and ... in the colour of our hair.  When she goes out onto the floor, Elena very quickly gets the feel of the situation and in her performance she just slightly plays and flirts with the audience.  One senses a femininity in her that is as yet unaware of itself.

"My favorite elements of Shevchenko's program are the floor exercises and the vault.  As we say, Elena uses contrast.  She begins a combination softly, flexibly and then suddenly explodes, unexpectedly transforming the rhythmic pattern.  Elena's feel for rhythm, which very rarely lets her down, helps her achieve tremendous emotional expressiveness."

 Enjoy the video from Olegushko.



And I thought it would be worth linking to this video of Larissa Petrik, on beam at the 1968 Olympics - she is a wonderfully fluid gymnast. I so miss the rhythm and line of a truly balanced and harmonious beam routine.