Elena Mukhina Olympic Champion E-Book

Alberto Capra

• Herausgeber: Alberto Capra
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

"Elena Mukhina Olympic Champion" is the story of Elena Mukhina, Soviet gymnast, World Champion 1978, who had an injury just few days before the 1980 Moscow Olympics. "Formally Elena is not an Olympic Champion. But do not break down and go on living in spite of everything, understanding all her tragedy, only a real Olympic Champion can do it. " Nellie Kim.

Leseprobe

ELENA MUKHINA OLYMPIC CHAMPION

ALBERTO CAPRA

ELENA MUKHINA OLYMPIC CHAMPION Copyright © 2016 da ALBERTO CAPRA.

Contenuti

IntroductionIndex 1. On the Way to Prague 1977 2. On the Way to Strasbourg 1978 3. On the Way to Moscow 1980 4. Attempts of Rehabilitation 5. About Mikhail Klimenko 6. Stella Zakharova interview 7. Nelly Kim’s InterviewBibliography

1

Introduction

Between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Due to such sportsmen as Elena Mukhina, the extraordinary seems simple to such extent that it turns into something ordinary and compels to raise the bar higher and higher… until the fall becomes inevitable. Incidentally, the number of injured athletes is much higher than spectators would like to know. Because for spectators, a sportsman is important only until he or she is in play, on the pages of newspapers and magazines.

It is like in a circus where one admires lions and never asks him or herself what happens with them before and after the performance; spectators applaud and praise virtuosos and then… they switch to someone else. Who is guilty? All we are responsible: from politicians to coaches, from sponsors to spectators and mass media; mob is eager and demands for results. At what price? Any… because it has been already paid up by somebody. A human being may be easily tempted with extremes and ostentation. There are enough of them here. Nothing natural remains. It is only glory that remains, until the flow of time or a pen of an enthusiastic person allows.

Massimo Frulla, Psychologist

2

Index

Index

On the Way to Prague 1977

On the Way to Strasbourg 1978

On the Way to Moscow 1980

Attempts of Rehabilitation

About Mihail Klimenko

Stella Zakharova Interview

Nelli Kim Interview

Sources

1

On the Way to Prague 1977

This On the Way to Prague 1977

Elena Mukhina was born on 1st June 1960 in Moscow. Her father abandoned the family when she was a little girl, and her mother died soon. He was raised by her grandmother. Elena hardly ever smiled; she was modest; she desired to become a gymnast. She told in the interview: ‘Once, an unknown woman came to our school. She introduced herself ‘Antonina Pavlovna Olezhko, Master of Sports’. And she said: ‘Raise your hands those who want to attend the gymnastics group. I nearly shouted with joy.’

Due to her capacity for work, talent and persistence, Mukhina soon became a ward of Alexandr Eglit who took her to the Dynamo Club which was the nearest one from the school where she studied. Later, Eglit was moved to CSKA where he also took his wards. In 1974, Eglit proposed Mikhail Klimenko to admit his ward, Mukhina, to his group, and Klimenko, who then trained only men, agreed. ‘A nice and modest girl, Elena Mukhina, is in training in my group. She is 14 years old. I think you’ll succeed in raising her into an excellent gymnast’.

And then, on 28th December 1974, they met, Mikhail Klimenko and Elena Mukhina. It was morning; the winter haze enveloped the street; it was snowing. Mikhail asked Lena to perform some elements in order to see the girl’s persistence with his own eyes. Her level of complexity and training, in contrast to the leading gymnasts of her age, were noticeably lower. Klimenko decided to work with Elena, especially as his brother left sports after the World Championship 1974.

The Elena Mukhina’s entire further career would be associated with this coach. The journalist Vladimir Golubev told about the Master of Sports who specialized in gymnastics: ‘I met the brothers Mikhail and Viktor Klimenko in 1967. They attended the CSKA gym often. At that time, Misha trained Viktor and was a fanatic maximalist. Several years later, he showed me Elena Mukhina, a very modest, very nice girl. Then, he said: ‘She will be a world champion.’ I didn’t believe in it in the depths of my soul: such shy girls as she was are unable to be angry, and one cannot become a champion without anger. I was wrong. Right away, Klimenko strongly decided that the Mukhina’s trump would be incredible complexity. He prepared a fantastic program for Lena. Mukhina was an exception to the rules. She began studying such basic element as double somersault only when she was 14 years old: at this age, all gymnasts are already able to perform this element. When I looked at Lena I compared her with Lyudmila Turischeva: the same figure, the same gentle but natural inner style, the same concentration and seriousness. They called her a goody-goody. They said she lacked for sport anger, but her coach denied it insisting on her wonderful ability to master extremely complex elements.’