Sovetsky Sport. March 30, 1977. Tomorrow, the world's largest gymnastics competition will start at the Central Sports Palace of the Lenin Stadium, according to the Moscow News newspaper. Of particular interest are the upcoming performances of young gymnasts who have prepared difficult and spectacular programs.
Our correspondent interviewed the new head coach of the USSR women's team, Master of Sports and candidate of pedagogical sciences, Aman Muradovich Shaniyazov.
Q: Aman Muradovich, you took over the USSR national team at a rather difficult time. As is known, our Olympic champions L. Turischeva, O. Korbut, and E. Saadi left the big arena. A change of generations in any team is often a painful and lengthy process.
Shaniyazov: Indeed, but the departures should not affect the quality of the team's performance. The change of generation did not take us by surpsise. Already in Moscow we knew that these gymnasts were competing for the last time, but on the eve of the Olympic Games they rightfully took their places in the team and made a worthy contribution to the victory. Now gymnasts from the country's youth teamn have just joined the adult team. They have good prospects to continue the wonderful traditions of Soviet sportswomen.
Q: Every coach has his own personal creative credo, sometimes it's called a coaching "secret." Do you have one?
Shaniyazov: It's very difficult to hide secrets in modern sports: at all competitions many athletes are armed with movie cameras, video recorders, etc. For me, the main commandment in coaching work are the words of Viktor Ivanovich Chukarin, which he repeatedly said to his students: "The most important thing in human activity is hard work, supported by selfless devotion to the cause you serve."
At present, the national team includes girls from various corners of the Soviet Union, and therefore I see my task as improving planning, and perfecting control and management of the training process.
You probably know that our team was the most experienced at the Olympics (average age - 20 years). Our closest competitors are as follows: Romania (16.5), the GDR (18.3), Hungary (17.5), Czechoslovakia (17.0) and the USA (18.0). Now the average age of the first USSR team is 16 years, and the second is 15.5. If we look at the positions of the 1980 Olympics, our girls will be in the prime of their skills by that time. Therefore, the urgent task today is to accumulate experience among experienced gymnasts, consistently perform the planned programs and gain authority in the international arena.
Q: What are the practical steps in solving these problems?
Shaniyazov: The gymnastics spring begins with the Moscow News prize competition and the Riga-77 tournament, the popularity of which is growing in the world every year. As a rule, they are given the role of "showing" before the largest regional championships. European federations consider these competitions a stage in preparation for the European Championship, which will be held on May 13-14 in Czechoslovakia.
Since we need to review as many candidates as possible for the main USSR national team, we are planning for a large group of girls to take part in these competitions. In Moscow, spectators will see: M. Filatova (Leninsk-Kuznetsk), E. Mukhina (Moscow), N. Shaposhnikova (Rostov-on-Don), S. Zakharova (Kishinev), N. Tereschenko (Ust-Omchug, Magadan region), N. Mitrofanova (Minsk), and E. Naimushina (Krasnoyarsk). At the Riga tournament: E. Aleksyutina (Moscow), O. Koval (Leningrad), E. Safonova (Leninsk-Kuznetsk), T. Arzhannikova (Vitebsk), G. Ionas (Tallinn), and N. Karamushka (Kharkov).
Q: Women's gymnastics is becoming more difficult by the say. Doesn't this pursuit of difficulty come at the expense of the beauty of movement?
Shaniyazov: Gymnastics, and especially women's gymnastics, is a spectacle, and the composition of exercises must comply with the laws accepted in art. Complex elements, or so-called "tricks," should not be an end to themselves, but a logical culmination in the construction of routines. By the way, the "impact element" may not be very difficult from a technical point of view, but the main thing is that this element is spectacular.
Now, they say that Nadia Comaneci started a revolution in difficulty. I think that this is not true. Our Olga Korbut was the first to show new paths in women's gymnastics. N. Comaneci successfully continued this trend and brought the level of performance to virtuosity.
Q: What can you say about the Romanian gymnastics team as a whole?
Shaniyazov: Recently, Romanian gymnasts have become our main rivals. Their success is due primarily to the correct organization of work with reserves, which began in 1968. It should be noted that the coach of the Romanian gymnasts, Bela Karolyi, together with his wife, selected 26 girls while they were still in kindergarten, and now four gymnasts from this group are part of the Romanian national team.