Why?, "Even though athletes get to travel and see so much, they are terribly deprived spiritually. ", I blame Twitters virtue-signallers for fuelling this culture of celebrating weakness. Unlike Simone Biles, Mukhina is the tragic example of what happens when you're not allowed to say no. Klimenko had broken Mukhina mentally, and he had also broken her physically. I didn't want to use a stupid song in the background, it HAD to be meaningful. This is one of the other important things to understand about Soviet athletics. The following year Mukhina achieved the trademark win of her career by winning the All-Around title at the 1978 World Championships. On my wanderings through YouTube one night I came across the story of Elena Mukhina (1960-2006), a gymnast unlucky enough to be born under the Soviet regime. Shortly After Her Paralysis Elena Mukhina Wrote a Letter Elena Mukhina - Interesting stories about famous people, biographies She had set numerous records, including getting the first perfect score in gymnastics Olympic history. The story of Elena Mukhina, the gymnast who became a quadriplegic at The Elena Mukhina Tapes - An Old School Gymnastics Blog It didnt seem like Mukhina was very cooperative with the film crew which is why they went with such unusual pans, cuts, and pivots. Worst of all, it showed their institution was flawed. Are mental health issues now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? Klimenko may have been one of the most extreme examples of a Soviet coach utilizing psychology, but he was far from the only one. RIA Novosti, Mukhina's condition deteriorated and she struggled even to sit upright. She had gone, but her legacy was far from forgotten. Otherwise, you can go crazy. Main:Elena Mukhina | Gymnastics Wiki | Fandom Klimeko asked this knowing full well what Mukhinas answer would be, but he asked anyway to remind Mukhina that leaving him was an unrealistic option. She was raised by her grandmother, Anna Ivanovna. Orphaned at the age of five and brought up by her grandmother, Mukhina joined a sports club and took up gymnastics. or. Mukhina crash-landed, snapping her spine. Psychology has positive values when deployed on children, especially in the realm of education. Elena Mukhina -1977 Paris Grand Prix Floor She likes music, poetry and to sit and think. Ella debe estar en el saln de la fama Nevertheless, Kilmenko had desperately wanted Mukhina to make the Olympic team roster so he could become the Olympic champions trainer. Soon after Mukhinas paralytic injury, Kilmenko emigrated to Italy, where he lived with his children until he died from cancer on November 14, 2007. Mukhina was training at the Minski Palace of Sport when the injury occurred, her coach was not present. But Shaposhnikova, Davydova, Nellie Kim, and Filatova are all members of the Hall of Fame. I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardise my health and well-being," she said. Up until 1975, Mukhina flew under the radar and Soviet coaches largely ignored her and her abilities. coach Mikhail KLIMENKO dead at 65 - Gymnastics Coaching.com The clips themselves are harrowing as they show a mostly downtrodden Mukhina and provide insights about the coaching environment she was subjected to. La historia de Elena Mukhina, la gimnasta que qued - Clarn The Unlikely Gymnast and the Unlikely Coach (Part II), The Unlikely Gymnast and the Unlikely Coach (Part I), USAG Is Only Pretending to Follow Child Protection Recommendations (Literally). The wonderful athlete, who pushed Nadia and popularized full-in on Floor and double back off beam, was paralysed in a training disaster before the 1980 Olympics. She is too sensitive a girl to be a great athlete. Not Klimenko or especially the national team coach at that time, Shaniyazov. 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. You can share this story on social media: Subscribe to RT newsletter to get news highlights of the day right in your mailbox, Elena Mukhina soared to incredible heights before her tragic accident. Her throw of 70.08 meters eclipsed by 12 centimeters the world record set by East German Ruth Fuchs at Split, Ugoslavia, this spring. Her condition was unclear. Stick-thin, Mukhina was initially viewed as being behind her contemporaries at her new CSKA training home. - Wikipedia Mukhinas apotheosis arrived in 1978 with a breathtaking performance at the World Championships in Strasbourg, France. "Several times I saw my fall in a dream, Mukhina would later say. 3.50. Once again against Mukhinas wishes, the doctors removed her cast prematurely. These are real clips of a real person who in the end, really did get hurt, and the damage couldnt be undone. https://www.youtube.com/c/RAEscape/videos, Your email address will not be published. She won three gold medals and two silver medals at the 1978 World . One of the common themes in Soviet sports media is coaches frequently boasted about their ability to invoke psychology as a training tool. This year marks the 15th anniversary since Mukhinas death on December 22, 2006. But that didn't stop her from handwriting a letter 18 months later. 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. My coach came the next day and said that I wasn't conscientious and that I could train in a cast.". 410 Elena Mukhina ideas | gymnastics pictures, nadia - Pinterest Sputnik, Mukhina was paralyzed by the accident. Change). The duo fit each other like a hand entering a glove and had success that would have been impossible under any other circumstance. I hope you enjoy my page! As a result, abusive coaches pivoted even more towards mental/emotional abuse. Of what happens when you push someone to compete through injury. 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. 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? RIP - YouTube 0:00 / 2:37 Gymnastics Angel. The weight was becoming intolerable, all the while Mukhina missing out on the carefree life of a regular teenage girl. (Whitney Bjerken Edits)https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5nX9OPpfQhT0TdF7nCkq6gOn this channel I will be showcasing some of the best gymnastics, edits and gymnast compilations! Among the negativity, Strug tweeted a message of support for Biles' decision - her own story proving just how important it was for Biles to step back. They hadnt just tolerated Klimenkos practices, but had become so satisfied with his results that other high profile Soviet gymnasts had been encouraged to switch gyms and join his training group. . Comaneci would help the Romanians to team gold at the World Championships, despite her own struggles with blood poisoning resulting from a cut. On July 3, 1980, two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, Elena Mukhina was practicing the pass containing the Thomas salto when she under-rotated, and crash-landed on her chin, snapping her spine and leaving her quadriplegic. One incident was the Romanian domination of the Soviet gymnastics machine at the 1976 Olympics. The four words engraved just to the right of the image are stark: Great gymnast, world champion. and her World Championship performance is captured in the ABC Sports video Gymnastics' Greatest Stars. The Romanian endured her own brutal training routine, and later revealed she had even attempted suicide prior to the 1978 World Championships. Likewise, her full name is Ekaterina Alexandrovna Gordeeva. Elena Mukhina-__bilibili Mukhina was a guest columnist for Moscow News in the late 1980s. At the time Nadia Comaneci was Romanias top gymnast. Less than a month before the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Mukhina under-rotated the Thomas salto and landed on her chin. As a memorial to one of the greatest Soviet-era gymnasts ever, the biggest sports newspaper in Russia, Sovietskij SPORT, dedicated the cover of their Christmas 2006 issue to her. Whether lingering guilt and depression were contributing factors to his death is an answer we will never know. Mukhina said she did not blame him, instead pointing to a system that drove athletes such as her relentlessly to the brink. Action Images, Mukhina had emerged as a world-beating force but faced increasing pressure. Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina - 1960-2006 | Belem do Par PA - Facebook She stunned the crowd at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France when she gave one of the most amazing all-around performances in history. As a result, the gymnast broke her neck and, sadly, became. As an athlete, his Olympic dream was stolen from him and he was living that dream though his own pupil. The first was beating Nadia Comaneci to win the 1978 All-Around title which marked her rise to the very top of the gymnastics world, but also her unfortunate demise. Unlike the fluke accident suffered by Drew Donnellan, the paralysis of Mukhina was the subject of much conjecture. She does not get enough credit for how rapid and unexpected her rise was. Back in 1975, she had suffered a spinal injury which required hospital treatment and rest. "We have to protect our body and our mind It just sucks when you're fighting with your own head.". Elena Mukhina, The Tagic Gymnast Who Could Not Say 'No' - EVOKE The other was twice her age who had professional training that could be used as a tool for manipulation. Elena Mukhina. The 10 Most Satisfying Performances in Gymnastics Klimenko's hopes, bound up in the stifling demands of the Soviet sports system, would continue to bear down on her slender shoulders. Elena Mukhina Popularity . According to the reports Mukhina was practicing the difficult maneuvers in disregard of orders from her coach and virtual foster father, Victor Klimenko, who had left Minsk for Moscow. These tactics have an even deeper meaning when two critical details are understood about the gymnast and coach who are engaging in conversation. She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam, and uneven bars. Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina ( Russian: ; first name sometimes rendered "Yelena", last name sometimes rendered "Muchina"; 1 June 1960 - 22 December 2006) was a Soviet gymnast who won the all-around title at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France. Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina was born on June 1, 1960, in Moscow, Russian SFSR (now Moscow, Russia). Miguel Saiz Garcia. . She lost her mother at an early age, in a tragedy apparently caused when her alcoholic father set fire to their apartment. She remained with her grandmother in a Moscow apartment, reclusive and rarely giving interviews. The Old Man and the Sea.". "Formally Elena is not an Olympic Champion. Mukhina was rushed into surgery that afternoon, but the damage had already been done to her reputation; one of the National Team coaches, she said in the Ogonyok interview, showed up at her bed the day after surgery and outright stated that she \"wasn't conscientious\" and that she could still \"train in a cast.\" Once more against her wishes, the doctors removed her cast prematurely, and Mukhina returned to training for the Olympics while beginning a strenuous workout program at CSKA Moscow to lose the weight she had gained while laid up from surgery.\r\rWith lingering weakness in her leg and mounting exhaustion from the grueling weight loss workouts, Mukhina had great difficulty coming back up to speed on what was to be the new end element of one of her floor exercise tumbling passes, the Thomas salto, Despite Mukhina's warnings that the element was constantly causing minor injuries and was dangerous enough to potentially cause major injuries, she was pushed to keep the element in her floor routine, and she continued to practice it even knowing it was a dangerous element. 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 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. RT / Liam Tyler, Mukhina threw herself into gymnastics. For a wide variety of reasons, he had become overly invested in a single gymnast. 1 week ago It was the worst possible combination, a gymnast willing to tolerate anything her coach threw at her, and a coach willing to push a gymnast as far as he could. Strug never competed again. Thats just how long it takes for returning Olympic gymnasts. Elena Mukhina: The Thomas Salto Tragedy - The Dark Side Of Life JUSTICIA!!! Korbut flip - Wikipedia Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I almost screamed with joy, she said. Former gymnasts left paralyzed on Biles decision, twisties experience Even though Mukhina herself would later state her injury was not the byproduct of a lone individual, but the flawed Soviet system as a whole. He sensed that his legacy as a trainer was bound up in Mukhina's fate. 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. We are only left to assume that there were controversial exchanges that never made it into the published version. 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. Mikhail Klimenko was in a different city when Elena Mukhina was injured. At the 1978 Worlds in Strasbourg, she won the all-around gold medal, beating out Olympic champions Nadia Comaneci and Nellie Kim, and earning a total of 5 medals, including 3 gold in the Team, All-Around, and Floor Exercise. We often dont consider that a gymnast can suffer paralysis if they land on their neck, head, or back funny. She made history when she unveiled her signature moves: a full-twisting layout Korbut Flip on the bars, a tucked double back salto dismount on the beam (a dismount thats still being used today); and a full-twisting double back somersault in her floor routine, a move that was dubbed the Muchina. Under Klimenko, Mukhinas injury history had been so atrocious that her paralysis was the inevitable result of what happens when a gymnast is taught over and over again that reckless behavior is the only way forward. Mukhina Badly Hurt In Gym Fall - The Washington Post She returned to train for the Olympics while starting a strenuous workout program at CSKA Moscow to lose the weight she had put on while being laid up from surgery. 261 viewsNov 13, 2020. Aug 4, 2021 - A catastrophic injury cost Mukhina the use of her limbs. Mukhina took an interest in gymnastics and figure skating at an early age. For the Soviet team, coached by former champion Latynina, Comaneci's dominance was a galling experience against a supposedly lesser sporting nation in the empires sphere of influence. Mikhall KLIMENKO was once National juniors' champion of the USSR, but turned to the profession of coach quite early due to an injury and once took care of the gravely injured wheelchair-bound Elena Mukhina.The brother of the sixfold European Champion Victor Klimenko, who lives in Germany now, was known as one of the most . Share with us. By Laura Perrins. A memorial service was held in her honor five days later, and she was buried at the Troekourov Cemetery on the southwestern outskirts of Moscow. A . After the incident, Mukhina told Ogoniok about how fans wrote to her asking when she would compete again. Yelena Mukhina Interview Ogonyok magazine Conducted by Oksana Polonskaya Translated by Beth Squires Behind me is an enormous gym bathed in white light, as in an operating room. 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. "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. Before their partnership, both had witnessed unsuccessful careers, but found instant success as soon as they joined forces. It didnt help that a tense political rival existed between Romania and the USSR. In a post-finals press conference alongside her teammates, she said: "Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In the context of larger geopolitical events, Soviet leadership wanted results and were willing to push the limits. Later, she joined CSKA Moscow (Central Red Army) sports club. Chinese peace plan: Can Beijing find a way to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite open hostility from the US and NATO. Despite Mukhinas never-ending warnings that the element was causing minor injuries and was dangerous enough to cause a major injury, she was pushed to keep it in her routine and continued to practice it, even knowing about the risks.