But I dont think we really take a moment to think about just how severe and life-altering the injuries can end up being. 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 hails from Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, and her zodiac sign is Gemini. 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. 4 Elena Mukhina, Uneven Bars . 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. However, until now, it has almost been unheard of for any high-level gymnast to withdraw from competition for health reasons. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. The epitome of daring, strength and . Most Popular #24272. She would eventually get inducted into the CSKA Hall of Fame. Mukhina would always remember him with fondness, and together she rose to become Moscow champion. The documentary features a pep talk between Mukhina and her coach Mikhail Klimenko. She was 20 years old. She won gold medals for the individual all-around, the balance beam, and uneven bars. Elena Mukhina is largely remembered for two things. Her coach rushed her recovery from an injury and pressured her to perform a dangerous move (the Thomas salto), which caused her to break her neck, leaving her a lifelong quadriplegic. 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. Video: El ejercicio que quiso imitar Elena Mukhina y la dej tetrapljica 0 seconds of 12 secondsVolume 0% 00:25 00:12 ltimos Videos 13/09/2020 12:05 Clarn.com Deportes Actualizado al. 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. In 1982, Juan Samaranch, president of the IOC, awarded her the Silver Medal of Olympic Order. Of what happens when you push someone to compete through injury. It should be questioned how much Klimenko was being motived by his own personal goal of overcoming career failure. Elena Mukhina. It didnt seem like Mukhina was very cooperative with the film crew which is why they went with such unusual pans, cuts, and pivots. was also an option at one point, but I finally decided on the song you hear in the video, and I'd say the lyrics and tune do the justice. The similarities end there for the two athletes from the Soviet Union. You Are in Gymnastics is an example of how these coaching behaviors were widely celebrated and actively promoted within the Soviet gymnastics program. In a post-finals press conference alongside her teammates, she said: "Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out. It was, however, from these inauspicious beginnings that a prodigious talent was born. or. Sign Up. Your email address will not be published. The duo fit each other like a hand entering a glove and had success that would have been impossible under any other circumstance. "We have to protect our body and our mind It just sucks when you're fighting with your own head.". 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. Would Elena Mukhina Have Made the Olympic Team if Not For Her Paralyzing Injury. Mukhina said she did not blame him, instead pointing to a system that drove athletes such as her relentlessly to the brink. She was instantly rendered a quadriplegic.\r\rElena Mukhina died of apparent complications from quadriplegia on December 22, 2006 Chinese peace plan: Can Beijing find a way to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite open hostility from the US and NATO. As the current star of the Soviet program at the time, Mukhina received top billing and a majority of the camera time. A new version of the Korbut loop named after Soviet four-time Olympic gold medalist Olga Korbut was devised for Mukhina to perform. Elena Mukhina passed away in 2006, 11 months later Mikhail Klimenko passed away at the age of 65. That there is a direct connection between them and how a person feels. Mukhina died in 2006, at the age of46, from complications of quadriplegia. In an interview with Ogonyok magazine, Mukhina blamed the doctors at TsITO (Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics) who were serving the National Team for attempting to rush her back into training too soon, saying she begged them not to remove her cast and discharge her because \"they're dragging me from home to workouts\" and she knew she was not yet healed. Together, they accomplished more than they could ever dream and reached levels they once considered to be impossible. 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. Explore. The Soviets and other communist nations were very public with these tactics, which validated there usage elsewhere. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be . With under a year left until the 1980 Summer Olympics, the pressure mounted on the Soviet team coaches and doctors to get the previous all-around champion back on her feet. What a f moron. Where I disagree with Soviet officials is their claim that it was all Klimenkos fault. 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. Klimenko, however, had other ideas, reportedly removing her from hospital and directly back to training, taking off the orthopedic brace from around her neck. 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. 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. Likewise, there was desperation from Klimenko to get Mukhina back on her feet and into training to ensure she made the team. Mukhina went as far as to say she felt sorry for Klimenko and classified him as a victim of the system.. The injury left Elena Mukhina paraplegic and promptly ended her career. . RIP AshleyakaFlipper 3.98K subscribers 114K views 11 years ago Montage of Elena Mukhina. This website uses cookies. Before their partnership, both had witnessed unsuccessful careers, but found instant success as soon as they joined forces. , Elena Mukhina1960 61 - 2006 1222. 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. Now his WAG coaching career was experiencing a rut as Mukhina entered a decline in 1979. Mukhina wasnt being coerced into solving a difficult math problem on the chalk board, but to keep working past her physical limits as she was encouraged to perform increasingly more dangerous acrobatic stunts. Gymnastics prodigy who tragically broke her neck while practicing a dangerous move, just two weeks before the Olympics, and shortly after her 20th birthday. She does not get enough credit for how rapid and unexpected her rise was. The tweet sparked an insane backlash, with people slamming Morgan for his comments. In the lead-up to the Olympics, Elena had broken her leg but despite this, her coach insisted that she continue . At the time Nadia Comaneci was Romanias top gymnast. Mukhinas reactions are not always being shown. 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. Only Nellie Kim and Stella Zakharova were able to medal. If not in time for 1980, then certainly those who were on a track for 1984. I wanted to point out these censorship possibilities so viewers know which part of the footage they should trust, and which parts should be questioned. This article isnt an attempt at rehabilitating Mikhail Klimenko or trying to paint him in a more sympathetic light. Mukhina took a keen interest in children and young gymnasts both before and after her injury. 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. But it was the coaches of the Soviet national team who had been the ones who ultimately destroyed Mukhina in a way in which she could never recover. Mukhina was rushed into surgery that afternoon, but the damage had already been done to her reputation. Mukhina crash-landed, snapping her spine. I realized that I needed to radically change my attitude to life, Mukhina said. 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). She was taken unconscious to a hospital. ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) _ Dmitri Bilozerchev and Elena Mukhina both suffered disasterous falls after becoming world gymnastics champions. Otherwise, you can go crazy. Because of the devastating injury, Elena Mukhina could not be added to the 1980 Soviet Union Olympic team roster. "Physically, I feel good, I'm in shape," she told the US Today Show. (LogOut/ The slightest lapse - whether it be physical or mental - can be life changing, sometimes even fatal. RIP Women's Gymnastics Good People Amazing People Female Gymnast Picture Video ELENA MUKHINA 1978 WORLD'S ALL-AROUND-ALL 4 ROUTINES! As an athlete, his Olympic dream was stolen from him and he was living that dream though his own pupil. 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! Elena Mukhina and Nelli Kim win the gold medal In The Strasbourg World Championship. 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. One incident was the Romanian domination of the Soviet gymnastics machine at the 1976 Olympics. 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." 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. She had set numerous records, including getting the first perfect score in gymnastics Olympic history. The Moscow Games have not even begun, but this must be one of their saddest stories. With the Olympics just weeks away, the Soviet team were in Minsk, putting in intense training. What are your thoughts on Simone Biles withdrawing from the Olympics? All at the 1976 Olympics, where she also scored the perfect ten. When doctors removed her cast against her wishes and had her try walking on the leg, she said that she knew she was walking \"crookedly\" and that something was not right. Klimenko may have been one of the most extreme examples of a Soviet coach utilizing psychology, but he was far from the only one. Share with us. Comaneci famously earned the first-ever perfect 10 score for her performance on the uneven bars. 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? 1 week ago 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. What Klimenko was dangling over Mukhinas head was the prospect of her going it alone and to leave the closest thing she had to a father-figure. Further Reading:After Her Injury a Soviet Coverup Hurt Elena Mukhina Even MoreHow Fan Mail Bothered Elena MukhinaElena Mukhinas Trip to AmericaShortly After Her Paralysis Elena Mukhina Wrote a LetterWould Elena Mukhina Have Made the Olympic Team if Not For Her Paralyzing Injury? (VIDEO), Khabib says Hasbulla can become billionaire. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. If there're ANY problems whichever content make sure to message me and I'll be sure to check it out and take it down if that is what the owner desires. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. There are other tough moments in the footage. Because that will tear you apart.. Nothing exists except work and pressure, which constantly increase, and sometimes it seems thatthat's it, you haven't got any more strength. 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. Unlike Simone Biles, Mukhina is the tragic example of what happens when you're not allowed to say no. 6 ratings3 reviews. Im sure you all have seen the gymnast suffer broken ankles, leg, and such live on television or in past footage. 0 views, 55 likes, 11 loves, 12 comments, 120 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina - 1960-2006: Video of the documentary "More Than a Game", 1991, shows that the testimony.