Elena Mukhina

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Elena Mukhina

Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina (Russian:Елена Вячеславовна Мухина) (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.

1 Biography
2 Career
3 Injury
4 Aftermath
5 Achievements
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Elena (also spelled "Yelena") lost both of her parents by the time she was five years old. She was raised by her grandmother, Anna Ivanova. As a youngster she took an interest in gymnastics and figure skating. When an athletic scout visited her school, she eagerly volunteered to try out for gymnastics. She later joined the CSKA Moscow ("Central Red Army") sports club. In recognition of her accomplishments, Mukhina was inducted into the CSKA Hall of Fame [1].

[edit] Career

Up until 1975, Elena Mukhina was an unremarkable gymnast. She was not a serious competitor and Soviet coaches largely ignored her. Then, she teamed up with men's coach Mikhail Klimenko and transformed into one of the most show stopping gymnasts of her time. She burst onto the scene at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France. In one of the most stunning all-around performances in history, she won the gold medal, beating out Olympic Champions Nadia Comaneci and Nellie Kim among others. She also tied for the gold medal in the floor exercise event final, as well as winning the silver in balance beam and uneven bars. She made history in this competition by unveiling her signature moves: a full-twisting layout Korbut Flip on bars; a tucked double back salto dismount on beam (a move that is still being used three decades later); and a full-twisting double back somersault on floor (still an E-rated move in the Code of Points). Yet, in spite of these innovations, Mukhina maintained the classic Soviet style, inspired by ballet movements and expressive lines. She quickly established herself as an athlete to watch for at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

A documentary film of the Soviet national team (1978) features Mukhina talking with her coach, Mikhail Klimenko, and footage of her rigorous training regimen [2].

[edit] Injury

In late 1979 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. After surgery Mukhina's training continued despite her leg having not completely healed. When it was discovered that the fracture had not healed properly, Mukhina was rushed into surgery again. Because of her injury, she had great difficulty re-mastering a signature tumbling run, a Thomas salto (a 1 and 3/4 flip with 1 1/2 twists). Two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, while practicing this exact move, she under-rotated the salto, crash-landed on her chin, and her spine snapped. She was rendered a quadriplegic. Mukhina was training at the Minsk Palace of Sport when the injury occurred; her coach Klimenko was not present at the time of the accident. The Soviet Union awarded her Order of Lenin in response to her injury and in 1983, Juan Samaranch, the IOC President, awarded her the Silver Medal of the Olympic Order.

Following the injury, the Soviet Gymnastics Federation remained secretive about the events surrounding Mukhina's cataclysmic injury. Elena herself was reclusive following the incident, seldom publicly discussing the accident. In a rare interview with Ogonyok magazine, Elena spoke about the Soviet gymnastics program, criticizing it for deceiving the public about her injury, and for the system's insatiable desire for gold medals and championships:

Mukhina in action

"...for our country, athletic successes and victories have always meant somewhat more than even simply the prestige of the nation. They embodied (and embody) the correctness of the political path we have chosen, the advantages of the system, and they are becoming a symbol of superiority. Hence the demand for victory - at any price. As for risk, well... We've always placed a high value on risk, and a human life was worth little in comparison with the prestige of the nation; we've been taught to believe this since childhood.

"There are such concepts as the honor of the club, the honor of the team, the honor of the national squad, the honor of the flag. They are words behind which the person isn't perceived. I'm not condemning anyone or blaming anyone for what happened to me. Not Klimenko or especially the national team coach at that time, Shaniyazov. I feel sorry for Klimenko - he's a victim of the system, a member of the clan of grownups who are 'doing their job.' Shaniyazov I simply don't respect. And the others? I was injured because everyone around me was observing neutrality and keeping silent. After all, they saw that I wasn't ready to perform that element. But they kept quiet. Nobody stopped a person who, forgetting everything, was tearing forward - go, go, go!"[3]

Despite this, Mukhina took some of the responsibility for not saying no to protect herself from further harm.

[edit] Aftermath

According to Larissa Latynina's 2004 interview, Mukhina's trainer Mikhail Klimenko was affected by her injury. Mukhina was not expected to be added to the Soviet Olympic team roster. There was little doubt that the Soviet Olympic women's gymnastics team would get the gold medal in the team competition at the 1980 Summer Olympics, as it did at all previous Olympics. Nevertheless, Klimenko wanted Mukhina to train because he wanted to become the "Olympic champion's trainer." Soon afterwards Klimenko emigrated to Italy, where he now lives with his children.^[4]

Her condition notwithstanding, Mukhina was a guest columnist for Moscow News [5] in the late 1980s. 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. Mukhina took a keen interest in children and young gymnasts both before and after her injury. She also expressed a deep religious faith [6], and was fond of horses and animated cartoons.

Elena Mukhina died of apparent complications from quadriplegia on December 22, 2006. A memorial service was held in her honor on December 27, and she was laid to rest at the Troekourov Cemetery in Moscow.

[edit] Achievements

Year	Event	AA	Team	VT	UB	BB	FX
1977	World Cup				1st	1st
	European Championships	2nd		3rd	1st	1st	1st
	USSR Championships	2nd			3rd		1st
	USSR Cup	2nd
1978	World Championships	1st	1st		2nd	2nd	1st
1978	USSR Championships	1st			1st		3rd
1979	European Championships				1st		2nd
1979	USSR Championships				1st