Gymn Forum: Ludmila Turischeva Interview

Interview With Ludmila Turischeva

Neue Zeit, 8 August 1977

Ludmila Turischeva, the most successful gymnast of the last decade, has recently officially retired from active competitive sport. The 24-year-old member of the Komsomol Central Committee, bearer of the Order of Lenin and other high honors, was twice all-around world champion, won the Olympic all-around victory five years ago and was twice European all-around champion. Sovetsky Sport interviewed her.

Sovetsky Sport: How did you feel when you finished the final combination of your career?

Ludmila Turischeva: I felt relieved. I could say of myself that I had done everything, and when I failed at something it was because the goal was set too high and simply beyond my strength. Overall, I felt carefree, because nine years of gymnastics on the national team means nine years of great responsibility. I didn’t feel any sadness.

SS: But didn’t you shed a tear in Montreal?

LT: Not just one. It was my coach’s birthday, on the last day of the Olympics, and I wanted to give him a gold medal for floor exercise. But I didn’t make it, and when I realized that I could never give him a medal for his birthday again, I lost my composure.

SS: What has sport given you in particular?

LT: The foundation for the rest of my life. Sport taught me not to despair. The years before my last Olympic Games were the toughest years of upheaval. I couldn’t train as much as before, but I practiced in a group with very young gymnasts like Natalia Shaposhnikova and Lyubov Yudina. I was, like them, training from morning until night. Keeping up with them in this regard was beyond my strength. Together with Rastorotsky, I mastered this upheaval. I mentioned this example to illustrate what sport has taught me: don’t give up, no matter how hard it is.

SS: What would you tell a girl who wants to go that same way as you?

LT: Learn to be patient, and always believe in the coach. I was advised to seek and find joy in training.

SS: You talk a lot about your coach. What’s the most important thing about a coach?

LT: Humanity. The sports educator must not stand above the children, but rather feel with them, with all of the peculiarities of their age.