Loop Mukhina: A tragic page in the history of Soviet gymnastics

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She was amazingly talented and tenacious. Elena Mukhina was the absolute champion of the USSR and the world in artistic gymnastics, showed an incredibly difficult program, some elements of which are currently prohibited in competitions because of their danger. The gymnast dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion, but the injury she received in training forever deprived her of this opportunity. But even being bedridden, Elena Mukhina continued to fight for the right to live.

Striving upward

The future gymnast, who was born in 1960 in Moscow, was left without a mother at the age of two, and the baby's father, after the death of his wife, created a new family in which there was no place for his daughter. Fortunately for Lena, she had a wonderful grandmother, Anna Ivanovna, who raised and raised her granddaughter.

Elena dreamed of gymnastics since childhood. While her peers did not miss a single broadcast from the figure skating championships, Lena looked fascinated at the screen, where fragile girls performed complex gymnastic elements on the uneven bars or a balance beam.

When once Antonina Olezhko appeared at one of the lessons and invited those who wish to the gymnastics section, Elena Mukhina did not hesitate for a second. It was her dream, which took on quite real features.

Many athletes could envy the little girl's performance. She could train for hours without noticing fatigue and repeating the element over and over again, bringing it to perfection. Very soon Elena's efforts were noticed, and she reached a new level: she began to train with the famous at that time Alexander Eglit at Dynamo, then moved to CSKA with him.

Mikhail Klimenko, to whom he handed over his pupil Eglit, firmly decided to make Mukhina a world champion. How he managed to discern stamina and sports passion in a modest girl remains a mystery.

Hard work and perseverance

Mikhail Klimenko was a demanding, strict and even tough coach. In his quest to make an athlete a champion, he was ready for any sacrifice. Elena had to listen to the coach in everything, she had no right to cry, skip workouts or arguments. The coach decided that Elena Mukhina should show the most difficult program.

He put together an incredible program for the student, which hardly anyone could repeat, and developed a rigid training schedule.

Elena obeyed the coach unquestioningly, over and over again honing her skills, overcoming pain and fatigue. After only a year and a half, Mukhina became one of the strongest gymnasts and applied for membership in the USSR Olympic team. But the commission at that moment did not approve the candidacy of the gymnast, justifying its refusal by the lack of experience and stability in the athlete.

However, neither Elena Mukhina herself, nor her coach was upset by the refusal. They continued to persevere in preparing for the competition and were almost sure of imminent success. In 1977, Elena Mukhina became the second in the all-around in the USSR, and at the European championship held in Prague, she was able to win three gold medals at once.

That championship became a landmark for the athlete: in Prague, for the first time, she presented to the audience and judges the most difficult element of the program, the “Korbut loop”. True, the trainer, on the advice of his brother, especially for Elena, improved and complicated this element, as a result of which it received the name "Mukhina's loop".

It was impossible not to admire the athlete, who soared easily and seemed to hover over the uneven bars, performing the most difficult turns in the air. Subsequently, due to the danger, both loops were forbidden to be performed by gymnasts.

Ups and downs

Her path in sports was not easy, the athlete on the way to the podium was repeatedly injured and worked, trying not to notice the pain. From 1975 to 1978, the gymnast suffered several serious injuries, but she often trained, even while being treated in a hospital. She taught herself and her trainer that she can train to the edge of her ability without noticing the pain and not allowing herself to be weak.

In 1978, Elena Mukhina became the absolute champion of the USSR and the world. When the anthem of the USSR sounded at the World Championships in Strasbourg, Elena did not hold back her tears: she was proud that she was able to win and became the strongest gymnast in the world.

However, 1979 brought the athlete and her coach the first disappointments. Elena's demonstration performances in England in 1979 ended with a broken leg and the inability to take part in the World Cup. Barely recovering from her injury, the gymnast began training. She practiced, not knowing fatigue, overcoming pain. And only occasionally did she complain to her teammates about her incredible weakness. Athletes often noticed that Elena was secretly wiping away her tears.

The right to live

At the training camp in Minsk in 1980, Elena again worked in the gym, not paying attention to the strongest pain in her leg and categorically ignoring fatigue. She dreamed of the Olympics and therefore even the departure of the coach to Moscow did not force her to give up training. However, Mikhail Klimenko insisted that she go through her entire program, including the most difficult elements. During the next repetition, she literally crashed into the floor and was no longer able to move due to a broken neck.

Many coaches and gymnasts believed that the cause of Elena Mukhina's injury was the excessive loads set by the coach. She was used to obeying the coach and continued to work even when she had no strength at all.

Only a day later, Elena Mukhina underwent the first operation, but after it the athlete still could not move. During the year, the athlete underwent eight operations. And after each of the doctors it was more and more difficult to bring Elena to her senses. There was a feeling that the athlete's body simply refuses to fight for life. But Elena Mukhina herself never refused to fight.

Five years after the injury, Elena turned to Valentin Dikul for help, but two months later the gymnast was hospitalized again, this time due to kidney failure. And she forced herself to do the exercises over and over again. And she learned to rejoice, no matter what. Elena was able to first sit, then hold a spoon, even write. She graduated from the Institute of Physical Education thanks to the fact that teachers came to study at her home and take exams.

Elena and her fellow gymnasts, who constantly visited Mukhina, tried to help her, to support her, to make her happy. Elena Mukhina lived for another 26 years after the injury, constantly being in a wheelchair and diligently refusing outside help. In 2005, her grandmother died, and a year later Elena was gone.

Larisa Latynina was a winner not only in sports, but also in life. She graduated from school with a gold medal, and the institute with honors. And in the family, she strove for the ideal, but she could only achieve it on the third attempt. She had to endure severe disappointment and learn to live again after a bereavement. before Larisa Latynina became truly happy.