When an athletic scout visited her school, she volunteered to try out for the gymnastics team. Just a month prior to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, 20-year-old Elena Mukhina under-rotated the Thomas salto, landing on her chin. Elena Mukhina-41977 1978 1979 UPUP 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. One further detail that is critical to understanding the Mukhina-Klimenko coaching relationship is that they had risen up the Soviet ranks together. They took an X-ray, and it turned out that the bones had separated. The following quote comes directly from Elena Mukhina: Im not condemning anyone or blaming anyone for what happened to me. Shortly After Her Paralysis Elena Mukhina Wrote a Letter The move was named after US mens star Kurt Thomas and involved a 1.5 backflip-1.5 twist combination before a roll-out. This article isnt an attempt at rehabilitating Mikhail Klimenko or trying to paint him in a more sympathetic light. The moment she fell to the floor, Mukhina described her first thought as, "Thank God, I won't be going to the Olympics.". While it does feel as if there were misrepresentations being made, many of these exchanges do seem mostly genuine. This is another reoccurring theme throughout the Mukhina tapes. RIP AshleyakaFlipper 3.98K subscribers 114K views 11 years ago Montage of Elena Mukhina. At 3:00 Mukhina and Klimenko have a conversation regarding personal goals. Perhaps the most significant part of the footage comes when Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci is invoked in the discussion. Mukhina died in 2006, at the age of46, from complications of quadriplegia. As the current star of the Soviet program at the time, Mukhina received top billing and a majority of the camera time. Gymnastic Champions Take Different Paths Following Accidents Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina was a Soviet gymnast who won the all-around title at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France. Required fields are marked *. Are mental health issues now the go-to excuse for any poor performance in elite sport? (LogOut/ Aug 4, 2021 - A catastrophic injury cost Mukhina the use of her limbs. As Mukhina would later recall, her hand shot up without hesitation. View all posts by Nikki Young, Your email address will not be published. Mukhina took a keen interest in children and young gymnasts both before and after her injury. Her throw of 70.08 meters eclipsed by 12 centimeters the world record set by East German Ruth Fuchs at Split, Ugoslavia, this spring. All rights reserved. Im sure you all have seen the gymnast suffer broken ankles, leg, and such live on television or in past footage. Elena MUKHINA (*born: 1960, June 06 - +died: 2006, . "I saw how they carried me out of the hall. The Biggest Tragedy in Gymnastics History (Story of Elena Mukhina) Best Gymnastics 32.4K subscribers Subscribe 17K 1.6M views 2 years ago Leave a LIKE if you enjoyed the Story of "Elena. Elena Mukhina Gymnastics Championships Sad Stories Olympics Montage Tribute Ripped Gymnastics Angel. Mikhail Klimenko was in a different city when Elena Mukhina was injured. Her response was, its not my fault that Nadia Comaneci was born in Romania. The other was when Elena Mukhina transitioned to working with Soviet mens coach Mike Kilmekno, who helped turn her into a show-stopping gymnast. It had to be rectified, and Mukhina emerged as one of the answers. Alberto Capra. Her stupid coach should have listened to her. Gymnastics Angel. Elena Mukhina. RIP - YouTube Eglit, however, gradually came to understand that the gaunt-looking child in his charge possessed a talent which warranted more professional attention. Gymnastics Tragedy - The Story Of Elena Mukhina - YouTube Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. One person who wasn't impressed by the headlines was controversial TV personality Piers Morgan, who called Biles' decision to withdraw a joke". Now his WAG coaching career was experiencing a rut as Mukhina entered a decline in 1979. 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? Log In. Likewise, there was desperation from Klimenko to get Mukhina back on her feet and into training to ensure she made the team. Mukhinas usage of the term has as much to do with this mindset coming naturally to her as it does with Klimenko instilling that mindset on her. Later that year the Soviet Union awarded her the Order of the Badge of Honor in response to her injury. She remained with her grandmother in a Moscow apartment, reclusive and rarely giving interviews. "She is too easily touched," a team coach said at the time. there is a wonderful new youtube site with many vids of mukhina i had not seen before including 1976 france https://youtu.be/D_zlw0AZsoc very young- looking mukhinaElena Mukhina She was instantly rendered a quadriplegic.\r\rElena Mukhina died of apparent complications from quadriplegia on December 22, 2006 The Thomas salto, the move that had proved so costly, would later be banned in womens and then mens gymnastics. Elena Mukhina - Interesting stories about famous people, biographies Ex-Stratfor Chief George Friedman: Neither Russia nor Ukraine can win, war can only end via negotiation! The real world doesnt think like that.. Biles would later say she had suffered from the twisties, a form of gymnastics yips that leaves its sufferers feeling lost in the air. 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. Mikhail Klimenkos treatment of Mukhina was atrocious, and there is so much to say on that topic that it deserves its own separate article. The Afghan athletes here talked to Western reporters, but sidestepped all political questions. Action Images, Mukhina had emerged as a world-beating force but faced increasing pressure. Elena Mukhina had been an orphan since she was six years old. Pinterest. The initial response from Soviet sports officials was of hushed secrecy surrounding Mukhinas health, but it soon became evident she would never walk again, let alone grace gymnastics competition. 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. Mukhina was training at the Minski Palace of Sport when the injury occurred, her coach was not present. The following year Mukhina achieved the trademark win of her career by winning the All-Around title at the 1978 World Championships. 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. For a series of clips that featured so much eeriness in regards to the rhetoric and the words being spoken, so is the cinematography. The tragic tale of Soviet gymnastics star Elena Mukhina Gemini Gymnast #5. The Soviet Union saw Mukhina's injury as creating a poor image of the Soviet program, reflecting just how little consideration they gave to the wellbeing of their athletes. 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. 1 week ago The TsITO doctors X-rayed her leg and realized that the fracture had not healed properly. He never reconciled with Mukhina and his death from cancer came on November 14, 2007 his 65th birthday. She matched that achievement at the European Championships in Copenhagen, where she also added a silver medal in the floor exercise. The tapes provide one of the most harrowing examples of foreshadowing in a a real-world scenario and the capturing of the Soviet program telling its gymnasts to catch Nadia. How Fan Mail Bothered Elena Mukhina - An Old School Gymnastics Blog The Romanian endured her own brutal training routine, and later revealed she had even attempted suicide prior to the 1978 World Championships. At age 15, American. We love, we remember. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . These tactics have an even deeper meaning when two critical details are understood about the gymnast and coach who are engaging in conversation. 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. The epitome of daring, strength and . She later reappeared on the sideline to support her fellow teammates, but not to compete. Klimenko had so much success invoking psychological tactics with Mukhina because Mukhina herself bought into this mindset. In a painful twist of irony, when tragedy did strike it was not under the gaze of Klimenko. 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. Her injury was a featured topic in an A&E documentary More Than a Game; and her World Championship performance is captured in the ABC Sports video Gymnastic's Greatest Stars. 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 usual, Im not saying karma but. Despite purported advice from Klimenko that she should only perform it into the foam pit, she was training on the platform. When life becomes victim to gangsters, murder, myths, legends, and more. Simone Biles, Kerri Strug, and 'the Twisties' - Truth or Fiction? Every single factor dictated that a gymnast needed time to rise that fast. TM. I realized that the commandments do not think badly, do not act badly, do not envy are not just words. 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. College gymnast dies after sustaining injury. Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina - 1960-2006 | Belem do Par PA - Facebook Mukhina did survive after surgery, and despite being wedded to a wheelchair, she is said to have found a new perspective in the wake of tragedy. Gradually, though, Klimenko would become convinced that this was a gem who could be polished gently or otherwise into a champion. It was, however, from these inauspicious beginnings that a prodigious talent was born. Nadia is a crucial part of Elena Mukhinas story. Elena Mukhina, the sensitive Soviet gymnast who won the women's all-around world championship in 1978 and dreamed of regaining her lost form at the Moscow Olympics, crushed several vertebrae in her neck in a training accident and is hospitalized in Minsk following surgery, Soviet officials reported today. . We can actually see the specific moments where it is possible for misrepresentation to be inserted into the documentary. She does not get enough credit for how rapid and unexpected her rise was. Her career was on the rise, and she was widely touted as the next great gymnastics star until 1979, when she broke a leg and missed several competitions. Elena Mukhina: You Are In Gymnastics (1978) Share Watch on The documentary features a "pep talk" between Mukhina and her coach Mikhail Klimenko. In the event, the Games would be remembered for the iconic performance from Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who picked up a haul of three golds including the all-around title and five medals in total. It would take two separate incidents to bring her to the forefront of the Soviet team. Mukhinas reactions are not always being shown. Not to envy others, but to learn to enjoy what is available to me. Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below. It would ultimately result in her premature death at the age of 46. She likes music, poetry and to sit and think. 1988. It should be questioned how much Klimenko was being motived by his own personal goal of overcoming career failure. Elena Mukhina. It remains one of the greatest individual showings gymnastics have ever seen. Some reports said doctors feared she was paralyzed, while others said she has use of her arms and legs and is able to speak. The tragedy of Mikhail Klimenko is that it was he who carried most of the blame. We often dont consider that a gymnast can suffer paralysis if they land on their neck, head, or back funny. You Are in Gymnastics is different because the four Mukhina clips provide very questionable moments where it is possible the producers made edits to misrepresent the actual conversation at hand. 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. "Emotionally, that kind of varies on the time and moment. It was all laid out for public viewing 40 years prior. Klimenko knew to do this because his educational background was in psychology. 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. He sensed that his legacy as a trainer was bound up in Mukhina's fate. A true champion! Of what happens when you push someone to compete through injury. Gymnastics. Bilozerchev is champion again, smelling the roses and dancing until dawn. 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. RIA Novosti, Mukhina was taken under the tutelege of Klimenko. Klimenko was deeply affected by the events and emigrated to Italy with his family, continuing his work as a gymnastics trainer. Yelena Mukhina (U.S.S.R.) - Class of 2021 - International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. It is such a sad story so not recommended for the weak of hearts. 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. Under the ever-demanding eye of Klimenko, Mukhina became all-round silver medalist at the Soviet championships in 1977, the same year she won three titles at the European championships in Prague along with one silver and one bronze, as well two World Cup titles. . Mukhina Badly Hurt In Gym Fall Washington Post, I have always wanted to take my favorite subjects; true crime, sports, and anything macabre and take time to write about them. It would ultimately be Mukhinas downfall. Finally, word got out that she had fallen horribly during a floor exercise. The movement was later modified in the 1980s when it was performed towards the low bar; that is, the gymnast's flip takes place above the low bar. Elena Mukhina injury Video - Elena Mukhina Thomas Salto Accident You will see YouTube gymnasts such as Whitney Bjerken, and other famous gymnasts such as Simone Biles, Katelyn Ohashi, Gabby Douglas, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and many more! All while she is chided for her constant crying throughout the footage. Usually when a gymnastics documentary is being selectively edited to present a more favorable narrative, the controversial moments are excluded entirely. One incident was the Romanian domination of the Soviet gymnastics machine at the 1976 Olympics. Elena Mukhina, Russia Gymnast. Information began to emerge slowly. She was 46 years old. She has been placed in a neck cast and will be immobilized for several weeks. So, they decided to focus on a strategy to help suppress the fallout, one that would help them find a way toseparate themselves from the blame of Mukhina's crippling injuries. The weight was becoming intolerable, all the while Mukhina missing out on the carefree life of a regular teenage girl. "Several times I saw my fall in a dream, Mukhina would later say. (LogOut/ On July 3, 1980, Elena attempted the salto just two weeks before the Olympics. 4 Elena Mukhina, Uneven Bars . Added to this perfect storm of pressure was the complex element Klimenko had placed in her floor routine: the Thomas salto. No era una gimnasta brillante hasta . The win effectively made her the top ranked gymnast of the world. Life isn't always butterflies and rainbows, so, its time to explore the dark side of things. It culminated in achieving the top ranking in the sport and having one of the most dominant All-Around performances in WAG history. She was permanently paralyzed and died in 2006, at the age of 46, from.
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