I always try to add a hint of humor in each blog and promise to always unapologetically be myself. Yelena Mukhina Interview - oocities.org The Soviet Union downplayed the severity of Mukhinas injury, withheld information as tohow she obtained her injuries and even went as far as to discredit her for inflicting the injury on herself. Mukhina was rushed into surgery again. Unlike Simone Biles, Mukhina is the tragic example of what happens when you're not allowed to say no. On July 3, 1980, Mukhina was practicing the part of her routine containing the Thomas salto. "She is too sensitive. Her disappointing performances continued after the Spartakiad, and her attempts to live up to the promise of 1978 were hampered by a series of injuries last year that had demoralized her. Elena Mukhina injury Video - Elena Mukhina Thomas Salto Accident Required fields are marked *. As Mukhina would later recall, her hand shot up without hesitation. Perhaps this is fate. This is the final resting place of Elena Mukhina, one of the most remarkable athletes ever to grace her sport; an artist who pushed the limits of the human body in a way few have ever done. This is another reoccurring theme throughout the Mukhina tapes. Everyone is looking at the platform, where a little girl with tousled bangs is soaring through the air. On July 3, 1980, Elena attempted the salto just two weeks before the Olympics. Hi, slightly off topic but there is a film called Something different by Vera Chytilov that features Eva Boskov, a Czech gymnast of the 1950s and early 60s. Naci con talento. She is too sensitive a girl to be a great athlete. 261 viewsNov 13, 2020. When life becomes victim to gangsters, murder, myths, legends, and more. Mukhina took a keen interest in children and young gymnasts both before and after her injury. After the incident, Mukhina told Ogoniok about how fans wrote to her asking when she would compete again. The Soviet Union downplayed the severity of Mukhina's injury, withheld information as to how she obtained her injuries and even went as far as to discredit her for inflicting the injury on herself. At the time Nadia Comaneci was Romanias top gymnast. Usually when a gymnastics documentary is being selectively edited to present a more favorable narrative, the controversial moments are excluded entirely. On Twitter, Morgan further trashed the mental health reasoning behind her departure. Her injury was a featured topic in the 1991 A&E do*entary More Than a Game; and her World Championship performance is captured in the ABC Sports video Gymnastics' Greatest Stars. 01:46 Now playing - Source: WFSB 'Give me a break': Ex-CIA official on US response to Chinese balloon . She later reappeared on the sideline to support her fellow teammates, but not to compete. Im sure you all have seen the gymnast suffer broken ankles, leg, and such live on television or in past footage. "She is too easily touched," a team coach said at the time. Elena Mukhina - Wikiwand Such a sad story :(\r\rIn 1979, while training for the 1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Mukhina suffered a broken leg, which kept her out of the World Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, a competition in which the Soviet team suffered its first defeat at the hands of their archrivals from Romania, with only Nellie Kim and Stella Zakharova able to medal in apparatus and All Around disciplines. The success of Nadia shellshocked the Soviet Union and orders came down from the top to find a gymnast who could break Nadias stranglehold on the sport. As the top Soviet gymnast following the 1976 Olympics, this burden weighed the heavier on Mukhina than any other gymnast. Elena Mukhina. I hope you enjoy my page! Elena was a former Soviet gymnast who won the All-around title at the 1978 World Championships at Strasbourg, France and was a four times European champion 1977 (Prague) and 1979 (Copenhagen). During an interview with Ogonyok magazine, Mukhina blamed the doctors at TsITO (Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics), who were tending to the Soviet Nation Team for attempting to push her back into training too soon. Instead a different gymnast is shown practicing on beam while Mukhina and Klimenko become narrations. And they dont take offense at fate.". RIP - YouTube 0:00 / 2:37 Gymnastics Angel. Other critics mocked Biles and compared her to Kerri Strug, who famously vaulted on an injured ankle for the United States at the 1996 Olympics, winning a gold medal. These gymnasts were identified at a young age not just for their athletic attributes, but their mental attributes as well. Klimenko had broken Mukhina mentally, and he had also broken her physically. Soviet gymnastic Nellie Kin was her main rival and would later receive a perfect ten, on the vault. 42 talking about this. Sign Up. The epitome of daring, strength and . Mukhina said she did not blame him, instead pointing to a system that drove athletes such as her relentlessly to the brink. Coming to the Olympics and being head star isn't an easy feat, so we're just trying to take it one day at a time and we'll see.". The slightest lapse - whether it be physical or mental - can be life changing, sometimes even fatal. Mukhina took a keen interest in children and young gymnasts both before and after her injury. Perhaps the most significant part of the footage comes when Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci is invoked in the discussion. "I saw how they carried me out of the hall. During her Ogonyok magazine interview, she said one of the National Team coaches showed up at her hospital room the day after her surgery and flat out told her that she wasnt conscientious, and that she could still train in a cast. Mukhina, the embodiment of elegance and strength, sacrificed her life and health in attempt to win an Olympic medal for her country. 3.50. She was 46 years old. Former gymnasts left paralyzed on Biles decision, twisties experience Yelena Mukhina (1960-2006) - Find a Grave Memorial Group #2: Elena Mukhina, Elena Naimushina, and Svetlana Agapova. Just as gymnastics was becoming more demanding following the graceful elements of the likes of the legendary Larisa Latynina and Ludmilla Tourischeva, Klimenko saw the chance to bring in more powerful and increasingly complex elements from mens gymnastics and impose them on his new protegee. However, in Tuesday's Olympic women's gymnastics team final, thousands of people watched on as Biles lost her bearings in the middle of a vault, grimacing as she shakily landed on her feet. But the more time passed, the more Klimenkos career seemed to regress, at least in international competition. It was almost exclusive to male gymnastics and required perfect execution to avoid being cripplingly dangerous. Kids need strong role models not this nonsense.. The Code of Points was later modified to ban standing on the high bar during routines. Under different circumstances the Soviets might have been less likely to give such guarantees to as many as five gymnasts. After Mukhinas paralysis and other close calls with Olympic-eligible female gymnasts, the Thomas salto was removed from the Code of Points as an allowed skill for women. https://www.youtube.com/c/RAEscape/videos, Your email address will not be published. Now I finally have! Already fixated with gymnastics when other girls were keen on figure skating, Mukhina would encounter the hand of fate when coach Atonina Olezhko visited her school and posed the question to the class: who among them would be keen on training? On July 3, 1980, two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, Mukhina was practicing the pass containing the Thomas salto when she under-rotated the salto, crash-landed on her chin, and her spine snapped. Work, work, work. She does not get enough credit for how rapid and unexpected her rise was. It would ultimately result in her premature death at the age of 46. Mukhina was reported to have fallen on first on bars (July 9th), then on the beam, (July 14th) and it wasn't until July 16th that the AP correctly reported she had been injured on floor. Such a. After the injury, the Soviet Gymnastics Federation remained secretive about the events surrounding Mukhinas injury. "This page is a tribute to the Wonderful Russian gymnast Yelena Mukhina (1960-2006), who was one of the greatest. For Mukhina, a disturbing pattern had already emerged of an athlete being forced to push through injury in a clamor to the pinnacle of her sport. By Laura Perrins. Hers was a life blessed with triumph but befallen by tragedy; a cautionary tale of a career cut brutally short by a life-changing injury. Together, they accomplished more than they could ever dream and reached levels they once considered to be impossible. Despite beating Mukhina to gold on the beam, Comaneci settled for a solitary title and two silvers at the event. The mantra appeared clear: injury was weakness or unwillingness, Mukhina had to break through the pain to achieve greatness. The move was named after US mens star Kurt Thomas and involved a 1.5 backflip-1.5 twist combination before a roll-out. "Physically, I feel good, I'm in shape," she told the US Today Show. At 2:28 the camera pans away from Mukhina and towards the wall. Klimenko, however, had other ideas, reportedly removing her from hospital and directly back to training, taking off the orthopedic brace from around her neck. ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) _ Dmitri Bilozerchev and Elena Mukhina both suffered disasterous falls after becoming world gymnastics champions. She recalled later in an interview with the Russian magazine Ogoniok, "They removed the cast and I was walking crookedly. At age 15, American. If their top Olympic prospect was injured, they had other Olympic prospects to work on. Comaneci herself would tip Mukhina for Olympic glory. A girl who had just moments earlier been capable of the most graceful, powerfully seductive movements of the human body imaginable was essentially now immobile. 5 19761976 . GYMANGELS 1M views 16 years ago World War II Every Day with Army Sizes Christopher 25M views 11 months ago Comaneci VS Mukhina: A MAIOR. Nothing exists except work and pressure, which constantly increase, and sometimes it seems thatthat's it, you haven't got any more strength. I think I mentioned before that I wanted to be a gymnast growing up but didnt have the discipline because you know when youre ten years old your priority is having fun and pretty much nothing else. The clips can be found in the above YouTube video. Yelena Davydova - Wikipedia At age 20, former Soviet Union gymnastics champion Elena Mukhina crash-lands while practicing a signature tumbling pass and is paralyzed. I know many won't watch it mainly due to the length of it, but I HAD to just explain basically everything because the point of this video, for me at least, is that maybe a coach will see it and the tragey won't repeat, normal people will see it and remember her name. They suggested this was something that Biles should have done for her team - pushed through the pain. The Soviet Union awarded her the Order of Lenin in response to her injury, and the IOC President awarded her the Silver Medal of the Olympic Order in 1983. Simone, you are an inspiration to so many people. On July 3, 1980, two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, Mukhina was practicing the pass containing the Thomas salto when she under-rotated the salto, crash-landed on her chin, and her spine snapped. I think back to that snowy day in late December of 1974 where a coach and a gymnast crossed paths for the first time. Soviet team coach Yuri Titov deflected questions about whether or not Mukhina would be trying for a comeback in the 1984 Summer Olympics, even blaming her injury on attempting a skill that she was not able to do but thought she needed to make the team. While it does feel as if there were misrepresentations being made, many of these exchanges do seem mostly genuine. That was the story of Elena Mukhina a star that had just begun to rise before her Olympic career was tragically cut short. Born In 1960. In the quiet corner of a Moscow cemetery, a black slab of marble stands surrounded by the December snow. Video of the documentary "More Than a Game", 1991, shows - Facebook Mukhina performed the move, falling on her chin and crushing her cervical vertebrae. Mukhina achieved breakout success at the 1977 European Championships. She had gone, but her legacy was far from forgotten. Poignant footage from the documentary Unfree fall shows an all-together lighter, more playful Mukhina when she was removed from the gaze of her master. She also took some of the responsibility for not being more forceful about not wanting to perform the move and shared that her first thought when she was laying on the floor with a broken neck was, Thank God, I wont be going to the Olympics.. The Thomas salto is a 1 backflip with 1 twists ending a forward roll. These events overshadow what were two other hallmarks of Mukhina's career. It was, however, from these inauspicious beginnings that a prodigious talent was born. coach Mikhail KLIMENKO dead at 65 - Gymnastics Coaching.com One of Europes top right-wing extremists: Who is the neo-Nazi behind this weeks Ukrainian attack in Russias Bryansk Region? Just look at the cautionary tale of Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina, . In the end, after a long search, I returned to my initial options and narrowed the choices down to \" g, g \u0026 \" being the two being the main songs I'd choose from while the other two due to soothing melody in the cover versions of other languages. TM. His younger brother, Viktor, had won Olympic gold in Munich in 1972, but Mukhina was to be the first female gymnast he would endeavor to forge into a world-beater. The Moscow Games have not even begun, but this must be one of their saddest stories. RIA Novosti, Mukhina's condition deteriorated and she struggled even to sit upright. The following quote comes directly from Elena Mukhina: Im not condemning anyone or blaming anyone for what happened to me. Cest un vritable travail de mmoire. The injury would eventually lead to her premature death at the age of 46. Biles would pull out under the glare of the spotlight; Mukhina ultimately paid the price for not being able to do the same. Montage of Elena Mukhina. The Soviets weren't only denying that Mukhina had suffered a catastrophic injury, but were downplaying it to such an extent they were heavily implying it wasn't even bad enough to qualify as a career ending injury. Flanked by two small pots of flowers, its gleaming face bears the image of girl, a perfect picture of poise and concentration. Elena Mukhina | Gymnastics Wiki | Fandom Elena Mukhina died of apparent complications from quadriplegia on December 22, 2006 (aged 46). Internacional. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When an athletic scout visited her school, she volunteered to try out for the gymnastics team. Ekaterina Gordeeva - Updated Feb 2023 - Biography Mask The tiny, 20-year-old gymnast, whose erratic performances were blamed by coaches on her poetic and romantic nature, reportedly landed on her neck while practicing difficult acrobatic routines by herself. Biles would later say she had suffered from the twisties, a form of gymnastics yips that leaves its sufferers feeling lost in the air. Note: It is for the reader to decide whether Klimenkos conduct in the Mukhina tapes constitutes emotional/mental abuse, it is not my intention to imply that it is. First, she was discovered by an athletic scout in her school, and then she later joined the CSKA Moscow . The coaching relationship between Mukhina and Klimenko was marked by a power imbalance. Her stupid coach should have listened to her. And it certainly didnt help that before Nadia, the title for the most famous gymnast in the world was a Soviet athlete and they wanted that title back. The exchange is roughly 3.5 minutes in length and is broken up into four clips throughout the half hour documentary. 1 week ago But inside the training hall of a high-level sport where elite-level athletes are children, it can become a weaponized tool. You Are in Gymnastics is an example of how these coaching behaviors were widely celebrated and actively promoted within the Soviet gymnastics program. Up until 1975, Mukhina was an unremarkable gymnast, and Soviet coaches largely ignored her. Todava no entiendo por que no han hecho una pelcula de esta extraordinaria atleta. Mikhail Klimenko was in a different city when Elena Mukhina was injured. Youre part of the problem," one person wrote. Simone Biles Stepping Away from the Olympics Is Exactly What - Shape Nadia is a crucial part of Elena Mukhinas story. This is one of the other important things to understand about Soviet athletics. Gymnastics Angel. Two years ago, at 17, she captured the world spotlight by defeating Romanian Nadia Comaneci, the heroine of the 1976 Olympics, for the world title in Strasburg. The Biggest Tragedy in Gymnastics History (Story of Elena Mukhina Ex-Stratfor Chief George Friedman: Neither Russia nor Ukraine can win, war can only end via negotiation! Added to this perfect storm of pressure was the complex element Klimenko had placed in her floor routine: the Thomas salto. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Likewise, there was desperation from Klimenko to get Mukhina back on her feet and into training to ensure she made the team. Mukhina was permanently paralyzed, and died at only 46: Claims made in the post were reflected in a GymWikia entry about Mukhina's life, career, and death, indicating she died in 2006 of "apparent complications from quadriplegia." The TsITO doctors X-rayed the leg and discovered that the fracture had not healed properly and would not be able to sustain the pounding of gymnastics in its present condition. I also hope 2022 is a lot better than the past two years have been. The four words engraved just to the right of the image are stark: Great gymnast, world champion. In the context of larger geopolitical events, Soviet leadership wanted results and were willing to push the limits. She was discovered by Bela Karolyi in 1973, was featured in an American television program in 1976, and had been sent to the Olympics as an observer in 1980, all before making her 1984 Olympic debut at the age of 16. Klimenko had delivered a broken gymnast to the Soviet team, and it was he who deserves the blame for breaking her. Her progress was modest and largely ignored. She also expressed a . Vous lui rendez hommage. But that didn't stop her from handwriting a letter 18 months later. She soon realized that the Thomas salto was an extremely dangerous move because it depended on being able to get enough height and speed to make all the flips and mid-air twists and still land in-bounds with enough room to do the forward roll. Remember Kerri Strug? The Afghan athletes here talked to Western reporters, but sidestepped all political questions. None of this is to say I completely absolve Klimenko of blame, as I do consider his coaching tactics to be a significant factor leading to Mukhinas paralysis and even agree with Soviet officials on that particular point. She was interested in psychology and philosophy, and graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physical Education. Action Images, Mukhina had emerged as a world-beating force but faced increasing pressure. I feel sorry for Klimenko hes a victim of the system, a member of the clan of grownups who are doing their job.. The people responsible for following those guidelines were the ones in the room at the time of the accident, not the coach 440 miles away. It is hard to say if the memory of Elena Mukhina stifled Mikhail Klimenkos career, but it did appear to be more of a limitation for him than other coaches who had associations with infamous injuries such as Al Fong. The fans had been trained to believe in athletes heroism athletes with fractures return to the soccer field and those with concussions return to the ice rink, she said. . . She was going to say yes to anything and wasnt willing to question the limits. Klimenko had so much success invoking psychological tactics with Mukhina because Mukhina herself bought into this mindset. In between the 1977 European Championships and the 1978 World Championships, the Soviets released a documentary by the name of You Are in Gymnastics. Mukhina went as far as to say she felt sorry for Klimenko and classified him as a victim of the system.. For Mikhail Klimenko, Elena Mukhina was his best shot at becoming an Olympic coach and in 1979 there didnt appear to be anyone else with similar potential in his training group. But I dont think we really take a moment to think about just how severe and life-altering the injuries can end up being. You always learn how to be safe, but then you start thinking: Will you be able to prevent an accident if you do something badly? In 1977, Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina modified the flip by adding a full twist. Elena Mukhinas floor routine tumbling passes were considered revolutionary at the time because they included the never-before-seen combination salto (the Muchina). What makes these clips so powerful is that they were an actual prelude and a real-life example of a foreshadowing omen. Soon after Mukhina's paralytic injury, Klimenko emigrated to Italy, where he lived with his children until his death from cancer on November 14, 2007, his 65th birthday. He refused to listen to her. In general it's just historical video of one of the greatest gymnasts to ever be born. Klimenko was trying to establish himself as one of their equals and I cite that as a factor as to why he pushed Mukhina beyond the limits. She died at 46 in 2006 en.wikipedia.org 33K 1.3K 1.3K comments Elena Mukhina, The Tagic Gymnast Who Could Not Say 'No' - EVOKE Hace apenas unos das, el 22 de diciembre, falleci Yelena Mjina (tambin transcrito como Elena Mukhina), campeona del mundo en 1978. MS ALL DE SUS LMITES porque eso fue lo que Klimenco con Mukhina. What are your thoughts on Simone Biles withdrawing from the Olympics? Her career came to an end when two weeks before the 1980 Olympics were to start, Mukhina broke her neck in a training accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down. In trying to complete the salto, the gymnast landed on her chin and effectively snapped her spine. Both Mukhina and Klimenko used the term psychological when they were interviewed in news articles. I almost screamed with joy, she said. What a f moron. How Elena Mukhina's Thomas salto resembles Simone Biles - HITC Just admit you did badly, made mistakes, and will strive to do better next time. The exchange is roughly 3.5 minutes in length and is broken up into four clips throughout the half hour documentary. But we also see the type of response that exists in a culture where athletes dont feel comfortable speaking what is on their mind. It should be questioned how much Klimenko was being motived by his own personal goal of overcoming career failure. As the current star of the Soviet program at the time, Mukhina received top billing and a majority of the camera time. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Mukhina Badly Hurt In Gym Fall - The Washington Post Mukhina crash-landed, snapping her spine. Mukhina took an interest in figure skating and gymnastics at a very early age. I dont exactly sympathize with Klimenko, but I do see him as a tragic villain. What a f moron. For all we know the Mukhinas response to a different comment could have been used instead. It was perfected by American gymnast Kurt Thomas, hence the name the Thomas salto. Siempre me ha fascinado su historia: perdi a sus padres cuando era muy pequea y se fue a vivir con su abuela y, muy pronto, empez a dedicarle su vida a la gimnasia. But rather, it is about celebrating Elena Mukhina. Just a month prior to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, 20-year-old Elena Mukhina under-rotated the Thomas salto, landing on her chin. That there is a direct connection between them and how a person feels. In a 2004 interview, Larisa Latynina claimed that Mukhinas coach, Mikhail Klimenko, was affected by her injury. On their own, neither seemed capable of accomplishing the goals they so desperately wanted to achieve. Of what happens when you push someone to compete through injury. She matched that achievement at the European Championships in Copenhagen, where she also added a silver medal in the floor exercise. 6 ratings3 reviews. Elena MUKHINA (*born: 1960, June 06 - +died: 2006, . . "I was stupid. From the debate over what constitutes emotional/mental abuse, to the sport trying to break its culture of silence. Elena Mukhina - Popular Bio Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina ( first name sometimes rendered "Yelena", last name sometimes rendered "Muchina"; June 1, 1960December 22, 2006), born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, was a former Soviet gymnast who won the All-Around title at the 1978 World Championships at Strasbourg, France. Later that year while training for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Elena Mukhina suffered a broken leg, which meant she had to miss the World Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, a competition in which the Soviet team had its first defeat at the hands of their archrivals from Romania. Tatyana Biryulina, 24, a Tashkent student who had not expected to qualify for the Soviet team, set a world record in the javelin in the final trials at Podoysk, about 50 miles from Moscow. She was instantly rendered a quadriplegic.\r\rElena Mukhina died of apparent complications from quadriplegia on December 22, 2006 There was little doubt that the Soviet Olympic womens gymnastics team would get the gold medal in the team competition, as it had in previous Olympics. Required fields are marked *. Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina (Russian: ; name sometimes rendered "Yelena Muchina"; June 1, 1960 - December 22, 2006), born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, was a former Soviet gymnast who won the All-Around title at the 1978 World Championships at Strasbourg, France. I realized that I needed to radically change my attitude to life, Mukhina said. Gymnasts . Elena Mukhina-41977 1978 1979 UPUP Her stupid coach should have listened to her. 5 Gymnasts' Catastrophic Crashes - US News & World Report Explore. As a result, the gymnast broke her neck and, sadly, became. Whereas everyone was thinking that the next great breakout star was going to be a junior between the ages of 10-12, it ended up being a 17 year old Elena Mukhina. Korbut flip - Wikipedia Fever. So why did Simone Biles quit? Eleven years ago, former gymnastics star Elena Mukhina, whose life and sports career were ruined by a tragic training accident, passed away in Moscow at the age of 46. The Elena Mukhina tapes are only 3.5 minutes in length, and in that short time we get a wide range of historic symbolism. After her accident, Mukhina became a recluse and rarely discussed it publicly. The sad reality is that Mukhina's fate isn't unlike many others - women's gymnastics is scattered with strikingly similar stories. All at the 1976 Olympics, where she also scored the perfect ten. However, until now, it has almost been unheard of for any high-level gymnast to withdraw from competition for health reasons. Elena Mukhina. Gymnastics - GaryneVillegasm Mikhail Klimenko deserves significant blame for Mukhinas injury, but there is one particular detail that is frequently overlooked. Pinterest. Worst of all, it showed their institution was flawed. They were selected for high-level sports because talent scouts noticed they reveled in pushing their body to the limits, strived for the highest goals imaginable, and wanted the thrill of performing the most dangerous acrobatic skills in the world.

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