Pionerskaya Pravda. January 9, 1973. Mom would weep: "Give it all up, Lyuda! You'll only end up maiming yourself..."
But Lyuda would answer: "People fall even on level ground - and break their arms."
And she, too, wept: what if the bone didn't heal properly, and they wouldn't let her back into the gymnastics hall?
And so they wept for three whole months...
The next day, after her cast was removed, Lyuda came to the gym.
It was a long time ago - some ten years back. Now, everyone knows Lyudmila Turischeva: she is a Merited Master of Sports, a multiple-time USSR champion, a European Cup winner, an all-around world champion, and the all-around champion of the XX Olympic Games...
When I arrived in Grozny, Lyudmila Turischeva was a world away - in Japan, competing. And so it happened that, upon visiting the Turischevs, I was not the one to ask the first question. Lidia Ivanovna asked:
"Haven't you heard how our girls are doing? How's Lyudmila?"
Neither I, nor Lidia Ivanovna, nor Ivan Prokhorovich - Lyuda's father - knew back then that Lyuda had won the Chunichi Cup in Japan.
In Lyuda's room, the large cabinets are filled with sports trophies - medals, cups, and commemorative pins. There is a small, humble Third-Class Athlete pin - the very item that marked the beginning of this collection. Here, too, are dozens of certificates: "Awarded to Lyuda Turischeva, student of Class 3-A, for First Place in Gymnastics at the Class Championship," "Awarded to Lyuda Turischeva, student of the 5th Grade, for Outstanding Academic Achievement and Exemplary Conduct," "For Active Participation in the Life of the Pioneer Detachment at the 'Razdolye' Pioneer Camp..."
Lyuda was four years old when her mother took her to ballet studio at the Palace of Pioneers. They lived a long way off. Lyuda would constantly pester her mother: "Come on, let's go! Hurry up - we're going to be late!" They always arrived first.
Upon returning home, Lyuda would gather the children in the courtyard and teach them what she herself had learned. And as she did so, she behaved exaxtly like a real teacher: "Don't rush! Point your toes - and don't slouch!"
At a school concert, Lyuda caught the eye of Vladislav Stepanovich Rastorotsky, a gymnastics coach for Dinamo. He went to see Lidia Ivanovna and Ivan Prokhorovich: "Your daughter could grow up to be a talented gymnast..."
At first, Lyuda didn't look any better than her fellow athletes - in fact, in some respects, she even fell short of them. She lacked flexibility, and her physical strength was somewhat lacking as well. But Lyuda was persistent - a persistence that, at times, bordered on stubbornness. "It's not working! It will work, no matter what!" And it did.
She would come home from practice exhausted and sit down to do her homework. Everyone else in the house was asleep; Lyuda herself was nodding off, yet the math problem just wouldn't work out. "It won't work? It will! After all, I managed to stick the dismount on the uneven bars - surely this problem isn't any harder than that?" And sure enough - it worked!
Sometimes Lidia Ivanovna would get up in the middle of the night and find the kitchen light still on. Lyuda would be dozing over a textbook. "Go to bed, Lyudmilka - don't torture yourself. They'll forgive you one B or C!" "No, Mom, I don't want any special favors. Let everything be fair..."
Coach Vladislav Stepanovich was a hot-blooded man - at times, a tough one. Whenever things weren't going right, he would reprimand Lyuda so severely that she was on the verge of tears. Yet she stifled her hurt, realizing that the coach was right.
Today, whenever Turischeva is mentioned, Rastorotsky is invariably brought up; and if the conversation turns to Rastorotsky, Turischeva is spoken of as well.
What about her parents - how do they feel about Lyuda's fame?
"Just as usual," said Ivan Prokhorovich. "For us, she has remained exactly the same. And for her friends, too... It's a nice feeling when strangers approach you on the street and ask, 'How is Lyuda doing? Where is she planning to go next?' Sometimes, though, other questions come up: 'So, how much do they pay for a gold medal?' Not long ago, I went to pick up a new vehicle - I'm a driver; I work at a motor depot. Suddenly, I found out a rumor had started circulating: 'The Turischevs are getting a new car - their second one already!' But we don't even own a car. I was actually picking up a new mobile crane."
Before leaving, I called the Turischevs and congratulated them on their daughter's success at the competition in Japan.
"Lyuda is flying in today," said Lidia Ivanovna. "We're going to meet her."
Gymnasts were training in the hall of the Sports Palace at the 'Krasny Molot' plant. I stood there, scanning the room for Lyuda Turischeva. I couldn't find her. It was only when I stepped closer that I finally spotted her. She was busying herself with the girls who had come for their session - girls who looked absolutely tiny. Later, however, I learned that they were already Candidates for Master of Sport.
-- Lyuda, does sports help you?
-- One time, I left the house without taking my keys. Mom had forgotten hers inside the apartment, too. There we stood, with no idea how to get back in. So, I climbed up the drainpipe to the second floor - and slipped right through the transom window. Then I unlocked the door from the inside... But seriously - it feels good to be healthy and strong...
-- We often receive letters at the editorial office asking: "How does one become a world champion?"
-- Having the desire is a good start. But you have to work - and never cut yourself any slack.
-- Which competitions are you preparing for?
-- The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
I. NIKOLOV