Elena Mukhina: Profiles in Olympic Courage

you at the height of the Cold War in the mid 1970s it was a 14-year old Romanian gymnast who threatened to throw a monkey wrench in one of the Soviet Union's most expensive most meticulously planned propaganda efforts in its history the Soviet Union had not only dominated women's gymnastics for most of the previous decade but they had actually revolutionized the sport and there was no reason to believe they wouldn't continue their dominance heading into the much-anticipated Moscow Olympics of 1980 until the unthinkable happened at the European Championships of 1975 then 13-year old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci burst onto the scene to take three of four of the gymnastic events on her way to winning the European all-around gymnastics title and she did it against a team of Russian gymnasts that included 1972 Olympic superstar Olga Korbut and two-time defending world champion Ludmila tortoise shaiva a year later on the world's biggest stage the now 14 year old Nadia did something no one had ever done before at the Montreal Olympics in 1976 Nadia Comaneci scored the first perfect ten in Olympic gymnastics history but she was just getting started Nadia would go on to score six perfect tens in route to becoming the youngest all-around Olympic gymnastics champion in history coached by a former Olympic boxer and his wife Bella and Marta Karolyi Nadia's back-to-back European and Olympic performances shook the gymnastics world to its knees and the world fell in love with Nadia her face adorned not just the cover of Sports Illustrated but Time Newsweek and literally thousands of magazines and newspapers worldwide it was the kind of worldwide impact the Soviet Union had enjoyed just four years earlier when Olga Korbut debuted at the 1972 Munich Olympics and whose performances transformed the sport from one primarily judged on Grace and artistry to one that combined those elements with incredibly difficult athleticism for the Soviet gymnastics Federation and the movers and shakers who controlled it Nadia's back-to-back performances in 1975 and 1976 couldn't possibly have come at a worse time the next Olympic Games were scheduled for Moscow an unprecedented opportunity to showcase to the world the superiority of the Soviet ideological system hence the demand for victory at any cost and so it was imperative that the Soviets regain dominance in women's gymnastics and they had just four years to do it the highest authorities in the Soviet sports Federation made it clear that no stone would be left unturned no personal cost to great and no excuse accepted desperate to turn things around the Soviets replaced their longtime had women's gymnastics and scoured the countryside for a young and athletic replacement for the retiring Olga Korbut they already had one exceptional young gymnast Nelly Kim who they figured would be Nadia's chief rival at the Moscow games for the all-around title and of course they still had the aging but still impressive two-time world champion tour shaiva but among the young gymnasts they brought up it was the oldest and seemingly least likely to succeed who would prove to be the jewel in the gym Yelena Mook ena was nearly 17 years old when she first was brought on to the national team largely ignored by the top Soviet coaches she had never competed at the senior level in any international competition while some of her teammates much younger than her had years of international experience rather than to waste their energies working with her they assigned a men's junior coach McHale Clemente Coe to be her personal coach for Clemente ko this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance at redemption forced to give up his own dream for Olympic glory due to injuries he watched as his brother Victor went on to win a gold medal three silvers and a bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 70 to Munich Games if he couldn't stand on the podium as an Olympic champion Mikael would make his mark on the sport by coaching one he introduced Jelena to parallel bar routines tumbling passes vaults and balance beam dismounts that no other woman in the world was performing some only by some of the world's top male gymnasts who's stronger arms and stronger legs enable them to get the airtime necessary in which to complete them and he experimented inventing new moves no one man or woman had done before the result of this intensive training set the world of gymnastics on its ear in one of the most stunning all-around performances in gymnastics history Yelena shocked both judges and the worldwide community of coaches alike as she went on to defeat both Nadia and her esteemed colleagues Kim and Tora shaiva on way to winning the all-around world gymnastics title of 1978 suddenly this complete unknown even among some of the top Soviet coaches was the talk of the gymnastics world she was 18 years old but with the looks charm and innocence of someone five years younger who was she where did she come from the coaches around the world we're asking how could she possibly fly under the radar for all these years instantly Yelena vaulted to the top of everyone's list as the favorite to take home Olympic gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics now it was Jelena Makena who everyone expected to be the next Nadia only better for Clemente Oh his dream of coaching an Olympic champion was only two years away from being fulfilled despite the complexity and difficulty of many of her routines Clemente Coe insisted that Yelena learn new elements one of those new elements was the Thomas salto an incredibly dangerous tumbling pass named for the American gymnast Kurt Thomas who first performed it in competition it involved a tumbling pass finished with a 1 and 3/4 flip with one and a half twists ending in a forward roll the amount of airtime required in order to complete it makes it especially risky for women under rotated the gymnasts lands awkwardly on her chin overrated on the back of the head as soon as it was introduced to her Yelena recognized the danger and warned her coach even begged her coach that she didn't want to perform this particular element despite her protests Clemente Co convinced her that each of her competitors would also be adding new elements and that she needed to stay one step ahead for any hope of Olympic glory then just before the 1979 World Championships Yelena suffered a severely broken leg in her absence the Soviets worst fears were realized as the Romanians led by Nadia Comaneci took the world gymnastics team title soon after Yelena said team doctors forced her to return to training much sooner than was appropriate despite begging them not remove her cast she said they literally dragged her from her home to return to the National Training Center within weeks of a return it became clear that Yelena had been right not only was he badly limping during training but it became notice well that one leg was crooked finally team doctors x-rayed her leg and discovered that it had not healed properly it needed to be reset she was rushed into surgery that day one national team coach she said came to her bedside one day after surgery and told her that she would begin training with the cast once more against her wishes team doctors on orders from above removed her cast prematurely and ordered her back into training and this time her training would include a specialized diet and rigorous workout regimen to shed the extra pounds she had gained during her brief recovery with a leg not fully healed and suffering near exhaustion from her weight loss workouts Clemente Co continued his desperate push to get Yelena ready for her big Olympic moment Soviet Federation officials had already demoted Yelena to national team's second squad status uncle Mecca knew that her chances and his for Olympic glory were fast slipping away just weeks before the Olympics were to begin Clemente gone ooh then nothing short of an absolutely incredible routine would convince authorities to bump Yelena back on to the Olympic team on July 3rd 1980 just two weeks before opening day of the Moscow Olympics Yelena was practicing the Thomas salto when she under rotated the element crash-landed on her chin and her spine snapped the very first thought that entered her mind as she lay on the floor with her neck severely broken was thank God now I won't have to go to the Olympics instantly she was rendered quadriplegic permanently losing all movement below her neck for years Soviet coaches doctors and trainers attempted to cover up both the nature and the circumstances surrounding Alana's injuries finally Yelena came out of her seclusion and revealed the truth my injury could have been expected she said it was inevitable I had said more than once that I would break my neck doing that element I had hurt myself badly several times we've always placed a high value on risk she said and a human life is worth little in comparison to the prestige of the nation we've been taught to believe this since childhood she said there are such concepts as the honour of the club the honour of the team the honour of the national squad the honor of the flag the person isn't perceived to exist Makena never blamed anyone but herself I feel sorry for Clemente oh she said he's a victim of the system a member of the clan of grown ups who are doing their job instead she blames herself for not saying no in order to protect herself the number of deaths in serious accidents in women's gymnastics crescendo right around the time of Elena's accident between 1977 and 1981 Millicent's seven female gymnast suffered catastrophic or fatal injuries due to performance related mishaps the Thomas Salter was eventually banned from women's gymnastics altogether in a decision that Kurt Thomas himself applied Yelena never let her devastating injury to feed her spirit or ambition she went on to serve as a guest columnist for the Moscow News and continued a strong interest in children and in young gymnasts until her death in 2006 cause they say by a heart attack brought on by complications of her injuries her nation honored her with the Order of Lenin the highest decoration awarded in the former Soviet Union and in 1983 three years after her accident and just shortly after she'd come forward with her story the International Olympic Committee bestowed on her the silver medal of the Olympic Order despite the fact that she never got an opportunity to perform at the Olympic Games I'm Huck thanks a lot for watching

Channel: huckfinn22

Views: 294,255

Rating: 4.822391 out of 5

Keywords: Olympics, Moscow, 1980, Montreal, 1976, World, Championships, of, Gymnastics, 1978, USSR, Yelena, Muhkina, Nadia, Comaneci, Ludmilla, Tourescheva, Nellie, Kim, Olga, Korbut, gymnastics, uneven, bars, vault, floor, exercise, beam, Mikhail, Klimenko, tragedy, huckfinn22, Huck

Id: ErTP5-1K9x4

Length: 20min 23sec (1223 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2012