"Hide my hands from Samaranch...". Close people talk about how gymnast Elena Mukhina lived her last 26 years

40 days ago, the famous Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina passed away

REMEMBER

40 days ago, the famous Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina passed away. She died on December 22, 2006 at five o'clock in the evening in her Moscow apartment near the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station. The body, exhausted by 26 years of immobility, simply ran out of strength to fight for life. Elena was only 47 years old.

LIFE BROKEN IN TWO

History, as you know, does not tolerate subjunctive moods. But how you want to rewind the tape back - to stop Lena, who decided on that fateful day on July 3, 1980 to train on her own ...

On the eve of someone with an opportunity from Moscow brought to the Belarusian base "Stayki", where the national team held the last training camp before the Moscow Games, a rumor: they say, Mukhina does not get into Olympic squad. One of the most real contenders for gold in the overall standings, a gymnast, whom the Romanian Nadia Comaneci herself is frankly afraid of - is out of the national team?! Maybe an accidental failure at the World Cup-79 is the reason for this? Or autumn trauma?

Tough and ambitious Mikhail Klimenko immediately rushed to the capital to defend his student. And Lena (probably any 20-year-old girl would do the same) decided not to waste time. “Shock”, no one in the world performed an element on floor exercises - one and a half back somersaults with a 540-degree turn into a somersault forward - should have become, in their opinion with the coach, a trump card at the Olympics.

I ran up, pushed off, and then, as in a dream: I see people running towards the carpet on which I was warming up. It turns out that they are all running towards me. I want to get up, but I can’t get up, although my head is clear. I want to move my hand but I can't. And then from somewhere the thought: this is probably a disaster. They brought me to the hospital, they put ammonia in my nose, and I am fully conscious and twist my head - I don’t need to give it to me .., - later, already in a Moscow hospital, Lena told one of the people closest to her - the head coach of the Moscow national team in artistic gymnastics Tamara Andreevna Zhaleeva, who will remain the closest to the end of her days.

The fatal jump, which ended in a fracture of the cervical vertebra, broke the life of the 20-year-old girl Lena Mukhina in two: before and after.

"After" turned out to be six years longer ...

"THE POSITION DOES NOT LIVE LONG"

Tamara Zhaleeva, Honored Coach of the USSR, world champion (1954) in the team competition, tells:

On the evening of July 3, 1980, I received a call from Minsk and was told that Lena had fallen badly during training and pulled her back muscles. They decided to save, as it turned out later, my nerves so that I could sleep peacefully that night. The call from Minsk, of course, alarmed me, but not enough to dramatize the situation. Lena accustomed us to her injuries (the last one happened no later than in the autumn of 1979 at demonstration performances in England, where she broke her leg) and to the fact that she is ready to perform with any of them. By the way, she also performed that fatal jump with an unhealed ankle injury, which did not allow her to properly push off in the takeoff run ...

I learned the truth about what really happened at the Staika base only on the morning of the 4th. Until now, I can’t get rid of the thought that everything might have turned out differently for Lena if she had had the operation not on the third day after the incident, but on the next. Well what can we say about it now...

We met her at the Belorussky railway station when, two weeks after the operation, Lena was brought to Moscow. The motionless body was carried out through the window of the train, so that, God forbid, no more harm.

She spent about a year in the spinal department of the 19th city clinical hospital on Krasnaya Presnya, and then in a categorical manner asked to go home. No, not from despair and hopelessness! She never had a decadent attitude. She believed in the future, all 26 years that she spent in complete immobility, did not lose hope that she would definitely get on her feet and walk. At least, I never saw her in a depressed state, although from some point, I think, Lena began to understand that a miracle would not happen. But she never talked about it...

Already after her death, one of the journalists wrote, allegedly from my words, that the last days Lena thought a lot about death, about where and how to be buried ... It was very insulting to read this, because it is not true! I couldn’t say that, because Lena herself never spoke about it. Only once, about four months before her death, did I ask her: “Len, why are you sick all the time this year? Let's get this over with..." And she suddenly answers: “Tamara Andreevna, I have been in bed for 26 years. They don't live that long in that position." But all the same, it was said with a smile: they say, do not worry - I will get out ...

She lived a full life with such an injury. I read a lot, making up for what I did not have time to do during sports. CSKA, for which Lena played, installed a plate in her apartment satellite television, and she did not miss a single interesting program, not to mention the broadcasts of gymnastics competitions. She was completely aware of what was happening in our sport. Constantly analyzed something, had an opinion on everything. I even tried to recommend to some athletes some elements in the program, music for floor exercises. Lidia Gavrilovna Ivanova, Olympic champion 1956, 1960, who is now often invited to comment on gymnastic competitions, said that after each broadcast, Lena would certainly call her and they would discuss the performances of our gymnasts for a long time.

Bedridden, she graduated from the Institute of Physical Education, defended her PhD thesis ...

STAND AGAIN

Nina Lebedeva, methodologist for therapeutic gymnastics and massage of the spinal cord department of the 19th city hospital:

Professor Arkady Vladimirovich Livshits, a world-famous neurosurgeon, operated on Mukhina (before emigrating to Israel, he worked in our hospital). I flew to Minsk especially for this purpose. I called from there and said that the operation went well. Success means you have saved a life.

The question, indeed, then stood like this: will Lena live or not? She had an anatomical rupture, and this is a fracture of the cervical vertebrae with damage to the spinal cord. That is, by the time of the operation, irreversible processes began. More than once I later heard talk that it was not necessary, they say, to do Mukhina's operation, it was enough to bring her to the Poltava region to the famous doctor Kasyan, he would have set the vertebrae and that's it. Complete nonsense! Anatomical rupture is, I repeat, not only damage to the spinal column. With such an injury, the victim is doomed to immobility, and without surgery - to certain death ...

As soon as Lena was placed in our department, we began to work with her: re-learn to stand, sit, hold a pencil in her hand ... And at the same time - fight for her life, because in such patients, who are constantly in a horizontal position, the kidneys suffer ...

But you know what struck me in the first place? Her hands. I have never seen such fragile children's hands (at 20 she looked 15) with huge "industrial" calluses...

Lena was practically motionless. Like in a science fiction novel about Professor Dowell's head: only slight movements of the shoulder joint, which, moreover, caused her sharp pains. Plus - a barely noticeable life in the elbow joints ...

From these positions, we began to work: through pain and tears, through her innate obstinacy and capricious character. They developed joints, because if they are not touched, they overgrow. But still, it is not difficult to imagine what kind of reaction Lena caused, for example, another spoonful of soup poured onto her when trying to eat on her own ...

MOST IMPORTANT - PEOPLE

Tamara Zhaleeva says:

Complete immobility for twenty-six years! Neither sit nor stand. She couldn't even hold a spoon by herself. Probably, in such a state, it really would not have been possible to live so long if she had not been helped for all these years. And Lena from the very first day was not left alone with trouble. Participation in her fate was taken by CSKA, the sports committees of the USSR and Moscow. In particular, at the request of the Moscow Sports Committee, the Moscow City Council very quickly changed her one-room apartment on Chasovaya Street to a two-room apartment near the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station.

This apartment was jointly adapted to the life of the new owner. They made a special ramp to the balcony so that it could be taken out to Fresh air. We bought a bed with an anti-decubitus mattress, a stroller. When Lena started training according to the Valentin Dikul system, a special simulator was installed. Over time, a personal presidential card was pierced to the disability pension ...

But the most important thing is, of course, the people who were constantly next to her and surrounded her with everyday care. Lena lost her mother at the age of three. Relations with his father, who started another family, to put it mildly, did not work out. And the 70-year-old grandmother Anna Ivanovna, of course, was not able to take care of her paralyzed granddaughter alone ...

Lidia Ivanova, at that time the state gymnastics coach, turned to the leadership of the First Medical Institute with a request to allocate female students, patronage nurses to care for Mukhina. Many responded to the Komsomol cry: Nina, Sima, Galya - these girls, even after graduating from college, remained with Lena until the end of her days.

LAZY OR FALSE?

Nina Lebedeva says:

In the mid-80s, the technique of Valentin Dikul appeared, which I really liked. She, in particular, gave hope that the existing shoulder joint should be preserved for long years, pumping it up with the help of athletic gymnastics. But, alas, this technique did not work with Lena, although she began to practice it even with some fanaticism. I almost saw the last hope in her. But big physical exercise, which the Dikul method provided for (and, frankly, I still spared Lena), again caused problems with the kidneys, so I had to abandon it ...

And almost the next day, an interview with Valentin Dikul appeared in one of the popular publications, who allegedly claimed that his technique did not work just because he encountered ... Elena's laziness. I know Valentin Ivanovich very well: he couldn't have said that!

By the way, about publications… Why did Lena once get mortally offended by journalists? I never talked to her about this. I can only assume that this happened after I started laying her on my stomach for the first month. Half an hour on the stomach with an emphasis on the elbows, the head is laid back a little. The pain is hellish. On the days when these procedures take place, the department resembles a torture chamber. Screams, as in the dungeons of the Gestapo. But this is the case when it is necessary to hurt for the sake of good - so that the joints, as we say, do not stick together.

So, I put a piece of some newspaper in front of the sobbing Lenka so that she would not flood the sheet with tears. And when the poor thing, as they say, grew together with pain, caught the so-called "dead point", a journalist unexpectedly looked into the ward. Where did he come from, because the hospital has a strict access control? A few days later, an article appeared that the bright April sun was shining through the window, and Lena Mukhina, sitting comfortably in a hospital bed, propping her head in her hands, was reading the latest issue of the newspaper ...

After the injury, she avoided any publicity. She deleted many from her life, leaving only the closest. She was afraid that suddenly something very personal would become public, someone would suddenly come and see her helplessness, her paralyzed hands, which she had once been proud of ...

In the hospital, she immediately fenced herself off from everyone with an invisible, but very dense wall, and practically did not communicate with any of her comrades in misfortune. At the same time, they, without suspecting it, helped her: looking at them, Lena, in my opinion, felt better, because these people did not even have a tenth of what she had. And she was even sent to the spinal center in the Crimean city of Saki on a special military plane. She was good at comparing...

I remember 1982, when the then President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, expressed a desire to visit Lena at home to present her with the International Olympic Order. What a crazy stress she went through then! For two days we picked up a decent blouse for her, in which her hands would not be visible ...

"I'M NOT SICK!"

IN last years Lena came to religion, very sorry that before no one could explain to her the most important things for her in an accessible way. And only special literature suggested that the Lord did not offend her in any way, since he makes only those he loves suffer. I was carried away by philosophy, astrology, parapsychology, lying in bed, looking for ways to save myself and others. She sincerely believed that God endowed her with the healing abilities of a psychic: at some point she even received patients ...

Nina Lebedeva says:

One day she suddenly said to me: “I don’t consider myself sick. I am not sick because I feel very comfortable. And it’s still unknown whether it’s bad or good, what happened to me ... If it wasn’t for this injury, maybe there would be more trouble. Many years ago, I was walking around Leningradka to train, and suddenly a girl with cerebral palsy comes up to me, asks for an autograph, and I was out of sorts and kicked her off: “Go away, freak!”. For this, God punished me ... "

Imagine, she carried this memory in herself for so many years ...

"LENOCHKA BELONG TO HER SOUL"

Tamara Zhaleeva says:

Since 2000, her namesake Lena Gurina has always been next to Lena, in the past also a gymnast, with whom they once performed together. Gurina had a family, but, after parting with her husband, she devoted herself to her friend. She belonged to her soul. I once asked her: “Helen, is it hard for you?” - “No,” he says, “on the contrary, it’s nice that Lenka is needed. It seems to me that in my life there is more meaning and light, because I help her ... "

They were very friendly. In addition to their spiritual kinship, former gymnasts, there were common interests. And Lena died in her arms.

I went to see them on the 21st, and Lenochka Gurina said: "Lena fell asleep, she asked not to wake her." So I left without saying goodbye. Nothing foreshadowed trouble, although my heart ached a little. And the next day, Lenochka Mukhina died ...

THE LAST DAY OF THE GREAT GYMNAST

On the morning of December 22, Lena woke up and complained to her friend that she was not feeling well: “My strength is leaving me.” - "Maybe you have something to eat?" Gurin suggested. "I don't want to, give me some water." She drank and closed her eyes as if trying to sleep again. It was always like that when she was sick. But closer to noon, Lena began to slowly leave. There were wheezing. Gurina called an ambulance, tried to help on her own: she began to massage her hands, as it should be in case of heart failure, but there was no improvement. Doctors couldn't do anything...

ABOUT last day According to Gurina, Zhaleeva told me the famous gymnast and urged me not to look for Elena and not to call her. “All the same, she will refuse to be interviewed,” said Tamara Andreevna. - At one time, Lena Mukhina, offended by journalists, promised herself not to communicate with them anymore and asked Gurina not to tell anything either. Lena promised and now she will never break her promises. I know…"

PRIVATE BUSSINESS

Elena Vyacheslavovna MUKHINA

One of the strongest gymnasts in the world in the late 70s. She was born on June 1, 1960 in Moscow. Honored Master of Sports. Absolute world champion and world champion in the team event (1978). Silver medalist at the 1978 World Championships (bars, balance beam, floor exercises). Winner of the 1977 World Cup (bars, balance beam). European Champion 1977 (bars, balance beam, floor exercise). Winner of the silver medal of the European Championship (1977) in the all-around. Bronze medalist of the European Championship (1977) in the vault. Absolute champion of the USSR (1978). Champion of the USSR (1978) in the team competition and in the uneven bars. Champion of the USSR (1977) in floor exercises. She was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and the silver badge of the Olympic Order of the IOC.

One of the most talented athletes the school has brought up gymnastics Soviet Union was Elena Mukhina. She became famous due to her unique performance and rejection, as well as her tragic fate. After an unsuccessful fatal injury, the gymnast remained bedridden forever. Unable to move, she nevertheless lived to be 46 years old.

Elena Mukhina: biography, childhood

Elena was born in Moscow in 1960. Since her mother died early and her father left the girl, the grandmother was fully engaged in raising the child. A girl from childhood, unlike her peers who dreamed of figure skating, dreamed of a career as a gymnast. Her joy knew no bounds when one day the master of sports Antonina Pavlovna Olezhko came to the class and offered to study in a sports gymnastic circle. The girl has always been very hardworking and incredibly able-bodied. Thanks to these qualities and natural grace, eminent coaches noticed her very soon.

The beginning of a professional sports career

Thanks to incessant work and talent, the girl did not stay long in the Olezhko sports section. Soon, Elena Mukhina came to the titled coach Alexander Eglit, who at that time worked at the Dynamo club. A little later, Eglit moved to and took his students with him, not wanting to leave them. Thus, at the age of 14, already a candidate for master of sports, Mukhina Elena Vyacheslavovna began to train at CSKA.

Coach Mikhail Klimenko

After moving to another sports club, the gymnast's coach offered to work with her colleague Mikhail Klimenko. Previously, he trained only the male team, however, after looking at Mukhina's technique, he agreed to take her into his group. The attitude of the coach to his ward was always too tough and demanding. He never allowed the girl to relax, demanded from her full dedication, performing elements almost on the verge of human capabilities. Thanks to this attitude, in 2 years Klimenko turned his pupil into a high-class gymnast. We must pay tribute to the athlete - she always unquestioningly obeyed. Klimenko was the last to coach Mukhina.

1975 First injuries

In 1975, Mukhina Elena Vyacheslavovna received her first serious injury when she was training while performing a jump in a foam pit, she landed unsuccessfully on her head. X-ray showed a rupture of the spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae. With such an injury, the girl needed a long rehabilitation in an orthopedic collar. The coach, however, did not give her time to relax and daily, straight from the hospital, took the student to training, where she removed the collar that did not allow her to turn her head and worked out the program. It is surprising that with such a regimen, she was still able to recover and continue the competition. However, Elena Mukhina's injury constantly made itself felt by a feeling of weakness and numbness of the lower extremities.

1976 unjustified hopes

In 1976, for a gymnast who barely had time to recover from an injury, Mikhail Klimenko staged the most difficult program, probably the most difficult one possible at that time. Then Elena Mukhina was a candidate for the Olympic team for the Games in Canada. However, sports leaders considered that the athlete was not able to perform consistently, and did not take her to the competition. However, she continued to work hard.

1977 Rapid takeoff

In 1977, Elena becomes the second in the all-around standings of the USSR Championship, which gives her the right to compete in the adult European Championship in Prague. Why is Elena Mukhina so distinguished there? "Mukhina's loop" is a famous element that a gymnast demonstrates for the first time in the uneven bars program. Elena performed it with such ease that it seemed to the audience that she was fluttering over the projectile. This transformed element was reworked from Korbut's Loop by her trainer Mikhail Klimenko. At the competitions in Prague, Elena Mukhina became the owner of gold medals in three different apparatuses and only slightly fell short of the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci in the individual standings on points.

1978 The triumph of Elena Mukhina

The most outstanding and fruitful in the career of the gymnast Elena Mukhina was 1978. First, she won the title of the best gymnast of the USSR, and a little later, at the World Championships in France, she became the absolute world champion. Then she won the team event, became a finalist in competitions in three of the four types of shells, in each of which she won medals. This year, the Soviet gymnast beat her rival Nadya Komanechi. In Moscow, the champion was greeted with great joy and enthusiasm.

Hard work to win

All sports achivments were given to Elena Mukhina not only with hard work and amazing talent. Sports are permanent injuries. And Mukhina was no exception. After the first serious injury to the cervical vertebrae, there were others. Elena Mukhina is a gymnast to be commended. She gave herself completely to work, despite her many injuries.

In 1977, when the athlete was preparing for the World Championships, she fell and hit her side so hard on the lower bar of the projectile that it broke. Elena felt that she had broken her ribs. However, she continued training anyway, working out the elements on other shells. When the pain became unbearable, the athlete complained to the coach. However, he did not take her complaints seriously. Since before that he had always worked only with men, he considered that the girl was just acting up.

In 1978, at one of the training sessions on the eve of the USSR youth games, Mukhina injured thumb on an arm that had completely popped out of the joint. I did it myself and didn't tell anyone. Later, due to the washed floor, performing an element without marking, she did not calculate the run-up before the jump and fell, hitting her head.

There were sprained ankles and concussions. But no injuries allowed for concessions. So, sniffing ammonia to dull the pain, Mukhina trained for wear. By 1979, she was so tired that she was in a state of depression, often crying. However, she continued to work out the most difficult program.

Last warning

After the triumph at the World Championships, the main goal of Elena Mukhina and her coach was to get into the Olympic team for the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. But all their expectations were not justified. At demonstration performances in the fall of 1979 in England, Mukhina broke her leg. After 1.5 months with plaster, it turned out that the bones had parted, and the fracture was connected and plastered again. This was a kind of last warning to the athlete that the possibilities of the body are not unlimited. She even wanted to leave professional sports. However, the coach persuaded her to stay. Moreover, he did not give Mukhina a day of rest, forcing her to train on shells with a sore leg. She had to perform dismounts on only one leg.

Fatal injury of Elena Mukhina

Since the famous gymnast was not in the best sportswear and has not yet fully recovered from a broken leg, she was conditionally included in the Olympic team. Mikhail Klimenko, however, was absolutely sure that his ward could and should participate in the competition. The last training camp before the Olympics was held in Minsk. The training sessions were very intense. The accumulated fatigue made itself felt. Mukhina stubbornly worked out the program, but not everything worked out, because of which the coach only lost her temper even more.

Literally on the eve of the opening of the Games, Klimenko left his ward under the supervision of choreographers in order to go to Moscow and defend her right to participate in competitions. However, in training, Elena Mukhina disobeyed the coach and decided to try to perform a new element herself, without insurance. It was a fatal mistake. Performing the most difficult element in the floor exercise program - a somersault in one and a half turns with a rotation of 540 degrees and landing in a somersault - the athlete did not twist it and fell on her neck. Witnesses later said that this was because the gymnast was unable to push off hard enough with her injured leg.

Treatment and life after the fall

Perhaps the athlete could have been returned to a full life if the operation had been done on time. Unfortunately, at that time there was no qualified surgeon nearby, and the operation could only be performed upon arrival in Moscow, on the third day. Precious time was lost, the brain suffered too much damage, the mobility of the limbs never returned.

In subsequent years, Elena Mukhina was repeatedly subjected to operations. However, the body weakened more and more, it became more and more difficult to get out of anesthesia. At one point, the former athlete decided that she had enough hospital rooms and was discharged home.

In 1985, on the advice of friends, Mukhina tried to be treated using the Dikul method. But the body could no longer withstand the enormous loads, and Elena's kidneys failed.

Then this strong woman decided that if it is impossible to change the situation, you need to change your attitude towards her. She began to study a little at home, to perform elementary exercises. And thanks to hard work, she was able to somehow hold a spoon, sit in an armchair and write a little. At the same time, she graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physical Education, studied with teachers and took exams at home.

When in 1983 Antonio Samaranch presented Elena Mukhina with the Olympic Order, she was not too happy with him. With a strong character, the former athlete did not like to be pitied and did not welcome journalistic curiosity.

Interests

Being almost completely bedridden, Elena Mukhina, however, did not cease to be interested in sports life countries. On radio and TV - the only means of communication with the outside world - she followed all the competitions, discussed and commented on them in conversations with her few close associates. She was also interested in space, believed that life on other planets exists. In the last years of her life, Mukhina converted to Orthodoxy, became a believer and God-fearing person.

The last years and death of Elena Mukhina

In 2005, Elena lost her beloved grandmother, who by that time already suffered from senile insanity and needed constant care. And a year later, the school of artistic gymnastics in Russia lost its outstanding gymnast, graceful and soft, but so unhappy ... The cause of Elena Mukhina's death was an old injury and deterioration of the body by subsequent treatment. For 26 years spent bedridden, almost all her organs became sick. In recent years, Mukhina was looked after by her close friend Elena Gurova, in whose arms she died in 2006.

Elena Mukhina - a gymnast who forever remained in sports history. Who knows what this girl could have achieved if fate had decreed a little differently. But, unfortunately, there's no arguing...

Here is how Mukhina's partner in the women's team, absolute world champion-79 and five-time Olympic champion Nelly KIM recalled this five years later in her book:

“Traditionally, we prepared for the Moscow Olympics in Minsk. The most hardworking of us was Lena. Due to an injury, she missed the 79 World Championships and now worked tirelessly, catching up and dreaming of becoming a member Olympic Games...

One day Klimenko went to Moscow on business for one day. And it must be such a misfortune to happen that Mukhina herself ventured in training without insurance to perform the most difficult somersault. Lena jumped, but there was no full rotation - and the gymnast hit her back on the platform. She was taken to the hospital, the training was crumpled for us, we were silent and could not talk about anything. The worst was soon confirmed: Lena had a damaged cervical vertebra ...

Mukhina's operation was performed only on the third day. Even in a military hospital there are vacations ... Therefore, the doctors could not return the ability to move independently. It's good that she was rescued. After all, when the spinal cord is in a compressed state for a long time, we are no longer talking about a complete recovery, but about life and death.

... A year ago, a similar incident happened to our other gymnast - Maria Zasypkina. However, medicine has taken a step forward in a quarter of a century. In the 1980s, the methods of computed tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance were not yet used, giving an image and, therefore, the ability to plan the actions of surgeons in detail. And that Masha will not remain paralyzed, like Mukhina, CITO doctors are 99 percent sure ...

... And after all, there was a sign from above for Lena. In 1979, at one of the training sessions, she broke her leg and wanted to leave the sport altogether. However, at that time she was the only gymnast in CSKA who could get to the Olympics in Moscow. And mentor Mikhail Klimenko, a major in the Soviet Army, persuaded Mukhina to stay and fight for this right. Yes, not just to fight: he set her the task of winning a medal in the individual championship. Few people know that she started training while still in a cast ...

Recalls the absolute world champion-66, two-time winner of the Olympic Games in Mexico City-68 Mikhail VORONIN:

“Mukhina has always been distinguished by fantastic performance. She obeyed the coach implicitly. By the way, many blame the gymnast's mentor Mikhail Klimenko for this tragedy. Say, he was a terrible despot. But, in my opinion, this is just a terrible coincidence. One can envy the professional attitude of Mikhail Yakovlevich to his work. I actually grew up with him and I know what I'm talking about. And how many wonderful athletes he brought up.

Best of the day

Of course, it is difficult to disagree with Mikhail Voronin. But the fact that Klymenko was an obsessive coach, sometimes not knowing the measure, is for sure. Once, before the USSR Cup, Lena seriously injured her Achilles. The team doctor asked to remove Mukhina from minor competitions. Klimenko promised. And the next day, Lena, with terrible anguish on her face, went to the platform ... However, she often had to perform, overcoming pain.

In 1975, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, after an unsuccessful landing, Lena suffered a detachment of the spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae. With such an injury, it is impossible to turn your head. However, every day Klimenko came to the hospital and took her to the gym, where she trained all day without an orthopedic “collar” necessary for the rehabilitation of such injuries. She did not even pay attention to broken ribs, concussions, inflammation of the joints, twisted ankles and knocked out fingers. Fearing the wrath of the coach, she hid her injuries, secretly sniffed ammonia and went to the next projectile ...

... After numerous operations in the summer of 1985, Elena was offered to contact Valentin Dikul. However, as a result of huge loads, after a couple of months, she again ended up in the hospital - her kidneys failed. All this time she never gave up. A few years after a terrible fall, she could sit in an armchair, hold a spoon, write a little. Teachers came to her, lectured, took exams. She managed to graduate from the Moscow Institute of Physical Education. Looking at her, it's hard to believe that she was once called a coward for being afraid to learn new elements. Years of loneliness made Lena take a different look at the world, turn to God.

In fairy tales, a good fairy always rewards a person who has managed to endure the blows of fate. And in life, justice does not always triumph. Although Lena had her own fairy - grandmother Anna Ivanovna, who raised the future champion from the age of three. At school, Lena was no different from her peers, except that she was unsmiling and shy. At that time, most girls dreamed figure skating admiring the grace of Irina Rodnina and Lyudmila Pakhomova. And Lena liked gymnastics.

“One day an unknown woman appeared at the lesson. Introduced herself: Olezhko Antonina Pavlovna, master of sports. And he says: who wants to do gymnastics, raise your hand. I almost screamed with joy, ”Elena Vyacheslavovna herself later recalled.

The success shown by Lena did not go unnoticed, and she moved to Dynamo to Alexander Eglit. Eglit himself soon began working at CSKA and did not want to leave his students. So the 14-year-old candidate for the master of sports got into the "army". And then Eglit suggested to his colleague Mikhail Klimenko to take his ward to his group. Klimenko, who had previously trained only men, looked at Mukhina in action and, after some thought, agreed.

The master of sports in gymnastics, journalist Vladimir GOLUBEV, recalls:

“I met brothers Mikhail and Viktor Klimenko in 1967. I often visited the CSKA gym. Misha then coached Viktor and was an incredible maximalist. A few years later, Mikhail showed me Lena Mukhina, very modest, very sweet. He said: "She will be the world champion." I didn’t believe in my soul - such quiet people don’t know how to get angry, and without anger you won’t get into the champions. Did not guess. ... Klimenko immediately and firmly decided that Mukhina's trump card would be incredible complexity. “Designed” a fantastic program for Lena. Mukhina was an exception to the rule. Only at the age of 14 did she begin to study such a “basic” element as a double somersault - at this age all gymnasts can do it. When I looked at Lena, I compared her with Lyudmila Turishcheva. The same figure, the same strict, but internally soft, natural style, the same composure and seriousness.

In two years, Lena made an incredible breakthrough. She came to Klimenko on December 28, 1974, and already in the summer of 1976 she could go to the Olympics in Montreal! Her then program with unique combinations was called "space". But Elena lacked stability, and therefore sports leaders did not dare to take her to Canada.

Mukhina's hour struck the next year. At the USSR Championship, she becomes the second in the all-around and goes to the adult European Championship in Prague, where she is slightly inferior in the individual standings to Nadia Komaneci herself and wins three gold medals on individual apparatus, conquering the judges and fans with the highest technique. It was in the Czech Republic that Mukhina first performed the most difficult element, which was later named after her.

From the memoirs of Nelly KIM:

“Lena had a miracle element on the uneven bars, which was called “Mukhina's loop”. There used to be a “Korbut loop”, and then the “Mukhina loop” appeared, when Klimenko, at the suggestion of his brother Viktor, decided to improve the “Korbut loop” - something amazing turned out. The audience gasps and closes their eyes, and Mukhina, as in a circus, soars over the bars and flutters in the air.

1978 was a triumphant year in Mukhina's career. She wins the title of the strongest gymnast in the country. Ahead was the World Championships in France, where Lena became the fourth Soviet gymnast after Galina Shamray, Larisa Latynina and Lyudmila Turishcheva, who put on the world “crown”.

From the memoirs of Nelly KIM:

“We came to Strasbourg with such a team: Elena Mukhina, Maria Filatova, Natalya Shaposhnikova, Tatiana Arzhannikova, Svetlana Agapova and me. This team became the "golden" one! But the absolute winner was Elena Mukhina - a real champion, without any reservations. The most difficult program, virtuosity, softness, femininity. ... We returned to Moscow - October, autumn, cold, and we all have spring in our hearts and smiles from ear to ear. But, of course, Mukhina and Andrianov were greeted especially solemnly - they are absolute champions.

... Mukhina's coach Mikhail Klimenko settled in Italy long ago. It is not for me to judge a man who has trained many wonderful gymnasts. But one day he said to his ward the following phrase: "They will leave you alone only when you break on the platform." Of course, he meant something completely different...

Formally, Elena is not an Olympian. But 23 years of being bedridden, not losing heart and continuing to live at all costs, aware of the tragedy of their situation, can only be real Olympic champions.

And further. Today, almost all of Mukhina's partners in the then national team live abroad - in the USA, Canada, France. They, healthy, turned out to be of no use to anyone in their homeland. And the paralyzed world champion is not needed by her country all the more, although it was for the sake of the country that she went on a fatal jump 23 years ago ...

P.S. The daily routine of Elena Mukhina has remained unchanged for many years. She wakes up, does certain exercises, reads, watches TV (this is the only thread that connects her with the world of people). Elena Vyacheslavovna prefers not to stir up the events of 23 years ago. And so we did not consider it possible to remind her of the past. We considered it necessary to remind everyone about her - the pride of our country, Elena Mukhina.

Delight
tktyf 12.05.2006 07:25:49

Delight
tktyf 12.05.2006 07:44:11

I would like to convey to Elena words of support and sincere admiration. We are the same age and I remember how I admired the baby, looking at the performances of our gymnasts, then I could not even imagine what hellish torments these dolls had to go through so that we admired their filigree technique and honed skills. Elena, you are a very strong personality, since you know how to win not only on the sorting platform, but also being chained to the bed. I bow before your courage, I wish you patience, and what possible health! In verses ru, there is a site of Elena Mukhina, I would like to know if this is your site? If "YES", then I also wish you creative inspiration and pleasure from communicating with beautiful literature. Evstigneeva E.E.

Remember.
Miriam 28.12.2006 06:08:45

I remember Elena Mukhina from personal communication.
I met her in 19 city b-tse, which is at the Institute. Burdenko works.
A strong, very strong man.
She had no courage. The man was left alone with his grief, but did not give up and did not lose interest in life.
Her isolation seemed to feed her with new spiritual forces. Elena Mukhina was a very integral person.
May the earth rest in peace for her. Everlasting memory.

Condolences on the death of Elena Mukhina.
Alexey Dimov 31.12.2006 07:45:03

For me, the message about the death of Lena Mukhina was terrible. It was a gymnast who sympathized with me. I remembered her all this time, but I lost all connections. When the Union collapsed, everything seemed to fall apart absolutely, and we involuntarily lost information about many people. One thing that made me happy was that she accepted God. If you could find out more about how this happened? When did she accept the Lord? many people accept Jesus as a personal Savior. I have always had and still have a dream that someone introduce me to celebrities of cinema, art, sports, culture. I heard about the difficult life of Nonna Mordyukova, Vyacheslav Tikhonov and others. I would like them to somehow help a little, both materially and spiritually. I would really like them to deeply believe in Jesus, who can make them happy once and for all. By accepting Jesus, they would have a lot of new friends who would support them in every way. Returning to Elena Mukhina, I would like to have if there is a video on cassettes or on disks of her performance in the 80s. Say what you like, but this is a star !!! Now she shines in heaven in the full light of a bright star from God. Now I I live in America, and I myself was born and raised in Ukraine, in the Odessa region. I am 50 years old, a musician, I play many instruments, I write music, a composer, (not held), because before my faith in God prevented me from studying anywhere. It’s not my fault that I was born in such a country (atheistic). I am a very big optimist. My optimism is built on a strong faith in God, because I know that without His intervention, nothing happens to me just like that. I don’t know you, I I don’t know who is responsible for this letter, but if you can really arrange for me, or periodically arrange meetings with different celebrities for me, no matter the age, then God will not leave you without a reward. I can tell people about the eternal values ​​​​of life in a personal meeting, I can sow in them optimism based on God, talk with an eye on az. It happens that you don’t tell everything to the public, but there’s no one to tell personally. I have a desire to meet with pop artists, but how? If you have the email addresses of these people, then let me know and I will be very grateful to you. Yes By the way, there was another gymnast, the same age as Elena Mukhina, her name was Nelly Kim. How is she now and where is she? . Thanks in advance
To you. May God bless you. Sincerely, J.B. Mission Global Evangelist, Professor of Missiology Alexey Dimov.

What a pity!
18.10.2014 07:17:44

I recently saw a film about her, made after her death. I also saw her photos, old recordings of speeches and interviews! God, what a pity that her fate turned out this way. She could get married, become a mother. In her childhood photographs, such pain is visible in her eyes. It’s too bad that Klimenko squeezed all the juice out of her, even when she became a champion! She was a strong woman! May the earth rest in peace to you, dear Elena Vyacheslavovna! I hope that in the best of the worlds it is easy for you, and all the joys that you did not receive in this are available!

This is the name of a girl, at the mention of which, back in 1979, gymnasts in every corner of the world trembled with horror. And there is nothing surprising: Mukhina had no equal. However, in pursuit of her dream, she completely forgot about her health and in an instant became disabled. Today IA Express-Novosti wants to tell a story about the short life of a girl with the most tragic fate in the history of world gymnastics.

Elena Mukhina was born in Moscow on June 1, 1960. Two years later, the mother of the future gymnast died, and her father at that moment left for another family. The baby was raised by grandmother Anna Ivanovna. Since childhood, Lena harbored the hope of becoming a great gymnast and the Universe seems to have heard her.

“One day an unknown woman appeared at the lesson. Introduced herself: Olezhko Antonina Pavlovna, master of sports. And he says: "Who wants to do gymnastics, raise your hand." I almost screamed with joy, ”Mukhina herself said.

Still a very young athlete, she trained with breaks only for sleep. Soon, Lena's successes were noticed by Dynamo coach Alexander Eglit. Under his leadership, at the age of 14, she became a candidate for a master of sports. Then Mikhail Klimenko drew attention to the girl, who had trained exclusively men before her.

“Misha was an incredible maximalist. He showed me Lena Mukhina, very modest, very sweet. Said, "She'll be the world champion." I didn’t believe in my soul - such quiet people don’t know how to get angry, and without anger you won’t get into the champions. Did not guess. ... Klimenko immediately and firmly decided that Mukhina's trump card would be incredible complexity. Designed a fantastic program for Lena. Mukhina was an exception to the rule, ”the master of sports in gymnastics Vladimir Golubev later recalled.

After six months of hard training, Lena became one of the main contenders for getting into the USSR national team for the 76 Olympics in Montreal. However, the commission at that time decided that the girl still needed to gain experience. This fact, obviously, only played out sports interest in Klimenko and his ward. In 1997, Mukhina won her first serious victories: at the championship of the Soviet Union, Mukhina became the second in the all-around, and at the European Championship in Prague she won 3 gold medals at once on separate shells. It was there that Elena first showed the improved “Korbut loop”, which later became known as the “Mukhina loop”.

“When Klimenko, at the suggestion of his brother Viktor, decided to improve the“ Korbut loop ”, something amazing happened. The spectators gasp and close their eyes, and Mukhina, like in a circus, soars over the bars and flutters in the air, ”recalled Soviet gymnast and Olympic champion Nelly Kim.

In 1998, Mukhina became the strongest gymnast in the USSR in all apparatuses. And even at the World Championships, she became the undisputed winner.

The disaster that shocked the whole world occurred in the summer of 1980. A few weeks before the start of the Olympics in Moscow, the gymnastics team of the Soviet Union was diligently working out the program in Minsk. The coach came up with an incredibly complex program for Mukhina. The "icing on the cake" was a trick called "Thomas somersault", which Klymenko took from men's gymnastics. The essence of the somersault was that after several difficult jumps, Lena had to land not on her feet, but to do a somersault, head down.

And now, another workout. Just one moment. Mukhina unsuccessfully pushes off, she lacks height, and in front of the coaches and the entire women's team she crashes into the floor, breaking her neck.

I did it, fell down and don't understand: "Why is everyone running to me?". I want to get up, but I can’t get up, but my head is clear. I want to move my hand but I can't. And then I just thought and said to myself: “This is a disaster,” Elena later said.

Elena Mukhina, the undisputed leader of Soviet gymnastics, was bedridden for 26 long years. The former athlete spent most of her life within four walls. A real treat for Elena was the occasional move to another room or balcony. For 26 years, Mukhina had the same schedule: she woke up, did exercises (thanks to which she learned to sit for a short time, hold a spoon and even write a little), read, watch TV and fall asleep. She never married and did not know the joy of motherhood. But at the same time, she was able to preserve her humanity and love for the world, people, life. At the age of 46, the greatest athlete died of a heart attack.

Date of Birth: 01.06.1960
Citizenship: Russia

Here is how Mukhina's partner in the women's team, absolute world champion-79 and five-time Olympic champion Nelly KIM recalled this five years later in her book:

“Traditionally, we prepared for the Moscow Olympics in Minsk. The most hardworking of us was Lena. Due to an injury, she missed the World Cup-79 and now worked tirelessly, catching up and dreaming of becoming a participant in the Olympic Games ...

One day Klimenko went to Moscow on business for one day. And it must be such a misfortune to happen that Mukhina herself ventured in training without insurance to perform the most difficult somersault. Lena jumped, but there was no full rotation - and the gymnast hit her back on the platform. She was taken to the hospital, the training was crumpled for us, we were silent and could not talk about anything. The worst was soon confirmed: Lena had a damaged cervical vertebra ...

Mukhina's operation was performed only on the third day. Even in a military hospital there are vacations ... Therefore, the doctors could not return the ability to move independently. It's good that she was rescued. After all, when the spinal cord is in a compressed state for a long time, we are no longer talking about a complete recovery, but about life and death.

... A year ago, a similar incident happened to our other gymnast - Maria Zasypkina. However, medicine has taken a step forward in a quarter of a century. In the 1980s, the methods of computed tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance were not yet used, giving an image and, therefore, the ability to plan the actions of surgeons in detail. And that Masha will not remain paralyzed, like Mukhina, CITO doctors are 99 percent sure ...

... And after all, there was a sign from above for Lena. In 1979, at one of the training sessions, she broke her leg and wanted to leave the sport altogether. However, at that time she was the only gymnast in CSKA who could get to the Olympics in Moscow. And mentor Mikhail Klimenko, a major in the Soviet Army, persuaded Mukhina to stay and fight for this right. Yes, not just to fight: he set her the task of winning a medal in the individual championship. Few people know that she started training while still in a cast ...

Recalls the absolute world champion-66, two-time winner of the Olympic Games in Mexico City-68 Mikhail VORONIN:

“Mukhina has always been distinguished by fantastic performance. She obeyed the coach implicitly. By the way, many blame the gymnast's mentor Mikhail Klimenko for this tragedy. Say, he was a terrible despot. But, in my opinion, this is just a terrible coincidence. One can envy the professional attitude of Mikhail Yakovlevich to his work. I actually grew up with him and I know what I'm talking about. And how many wonderful athletes he brought up.

Of course, it is difficult to disagree with Mikhail Voronin. But the fact that Klymenko was an obsessive coach, sometimes not knowing the measure, is for sure. Once, before the USSR Cup, Lena seriously injured her Achilles. The team doctor asked to remove Mukhina from minor competitions. Klimenko promised. And the next day, Lena, with terrible anguish on her face, went to the platform ... However, she often had to perform, overcoming pain.

In 1975, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, after an unsuccessful landing, Lena suffered a detachment of the spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae. With such an injury, it is impossible to turn your head. However, every day Klimenko came to the hospital and took her to the gym, where she trained all day without an orthopedic “collar” necessary for the rehabilitation of such injuries. She did not even pay attention to broken ribs, concussions, inflammation of the joints, twisted ankles and knocked out fingers. Fearing the wrath of the coach, she hid her injuries, secretly sniffed ammonia and went to the next projectile ...

... After numerous operations in the summer of 1985, Elena was offered to contact Valentin Dikul. However, as a result of huge loads, after a couple of months, she again ended up in the hospital - her kidneys failed. All this time she never gave up. A few years after a terrible fall, she could sit in an armchair, hold a spoon, write a little. Teachers came to her, lectured, took exams. She managed to graduate from the Moscow Institute of Physical Education. Looking at her, it's hard to believe that she was once called a coward for being afraid to learn new elements. Years of loneliness made Lena take a different look at the world, turn to God.

In fairy tales, a good fairy always rewards a person who has managed to endure the blows of fate. And in life, justice does not always triumph. Although Lena had her own fairy - grandmother Anna Ivanovna, who raised the future champion from the age of three. At school, Lena was no different from her peers, except that she was unsmiling and shy. At that time, most girls dreamed of figure skating, admiring the grace of Irina Rodnina and Lyudmila Pakhomova. And Lena liked gymnastics.

“One day an unknown woman appeared at the lesson. Introduced herself: Olezhko Antonina Pavlovna, master of sports. And he says: who wants to do gymnastics, raise your hand. I almost screamed with joy, ”Elena Vyacheslavovna herself later recalled.

The success shown by Lena did not go unnoticed, and she moved to Dynamo to Alexander Eglit. Eglit himself soon began working at CSKA and did not want to leave his students. So the 14-year-old candidate for the master of sports got into the "army". And then Eglit suggested to his colleague Mikhail Klimenko to take his ward to his group. Klimenko, who had previously trained only men, looked at Mukhina in action and, after some thought, agreed.

The master of sports in gymnastics, journalist Vladimir GOLUBEV, recalls:

“I met brothers Mikhail and Viktor Klimenko in 1967. I often visited the CSKA gym. Misha then coached Viktor and was an incredible maximalist. A few years later, Mikhail showed me Lena Mukhina, very modest, very sweet. He said: "She will be the world champion." I didn’t believe in my soul - such quiet people don’t know how to get angry, and without anger you won’t get into the champions. Did not guess. ... Klimenko immediately and firmly decided that Mukhina's trump card would be incredible complexity. “Designed” a fantastic program for Lena. Mukhina was an exception to the rule. Only at the age of 14 did she begin to study such a “basic” element as a double somersault - at this age all gymnasts can do it. When I looked at Lena, I compared her with Lyudmila Turishcheva. The same figure, the same strict, but internally soft, natural style, the same composure and seriousness.

In two years, Lena made an incredible breakthrough. She came to Klimenko on December 28, 1974, and already in the summer of 1976 she could go to the Olympics in Montreal! Her then program with unique combinations was called "space". But Elena lacked stability, and therefore sports leaders did not dare to take her to Canada.

Mukhina's hour struck the next year. At the USSR Championship, she becomes the second in the all-around and goes to the adult European Championship in Prague, where she is slightly inferior in the individual standings to Nadia Komaneci herself and wins three gold medals on individual apparatus, conquering the judges and fans with the highest technique. It was in the Czech Republic that Mukhina first performed the most difficult element, which was later named after her.

From the memoirs of Nelly KIM:

“Lena had a miracle element on the uneven bars, which was called “Mukhina's loop”. There used to be a “Korbut loop”, and then the “Mukhina loop” appeared, when Klimenko, at the suggestion of his brother Viktor, decided to improve the “Korbut loop” - something amazing turned out. The audience gasps and closes their eyes, and Mukhina, as in a circus, soars over the bars and flutters in the air.

1978 was a triumphant year in Mukhina's career. She wins the title of the strongest gymnast in the country. Ahead was the World Championships in France, where Lena became the fourth Soviet gymnast after Galina Shamray, Larisa Latynina and Lyudmila Turishcheva, who put on the world “crown”.

From the memoirs of Nelly KIM:

“We came to Strasbourg with such a team: Elena Mukhina, Maria Filatova, Natalya Shaposhnikova, Tatiana Arzhannikova, Svetlana Agapova and me. This team became the "golden" one! But the absolute winner was Elena Mukhina - a real champion, without any reservations. The most difficult program, virtuosity, softness, femininity. ... We returned to Moscow - October, autumn, cold, and we all have spring in our hearts and smiles from ear to ear. But, of course, Mukhina and Andrianov were greeted especially solemnly - they are absolute champions.

... Mukhina's coach Mikhail Klimenko settled in Italy long ago. It is not for me to judge a man who has trained many wonderful gymnasts. But one day he said to his ward the following phrase: "They will leave you alone only when you break on the platform." Of course, he meant something completely different...

Formally, Elena is not an Olympian. But 23 years of being bedridden, not losing heart and continuing to live at all costs, aware of the tragedy of their situation, can only be real Olympic champions.

And further. Today, almost all of Mukhina's partners in the then national team live abroad - in the USA, Canada, France. They, healthy, turned out to be of no use to anyone in their homeland. And the paralyzed world champion is not needed by her country all the more, although it was for the sake of the country that she went on a fatal jump 23 years ago ...

P.S. The daily routine of Elena Mukhina has remained unchanged for many years. She wakes up, does certain exercises, reads, watches TV (this is the only thread that connects her with the world of people). Elena Vyacheslavovna prefers not to stir up the events of 23 years ago. And so we did not consider it possible to remind her of the past. We considered it necessary to remind everyone about her - the pride of our country, Elena Mukhina.