1979 USSR Spartakiade Elena Mukhina uneven bars

[Jay6459]

She was still healing from a broken leg when her coaches decided to take it off when it wasn't completely healed. She was being worked like a horse on a bad leg for the prep of the 80 Moscow games when she broke her neck. All for what? Winning? We all lost. We all need to get over this thing about winning so much. RIP Elena! Your contribution to the sport was NOT in vain.

[ralucagymnast]

Watching Elena is very much a bittersweet experience for me; I smile at her wonderful talent and elegance, but at the same time, I am overwhelmed with a sadness when I think of her life and her passing away. She was under so much pressure; do you know when she broke her neck, the first thought she had was "Thank God I dont have to go to the Olympics now". Heartbreaking:(

[manuelesilvia]

Bellissimo esercizio!!!

[mimibarn]

what a gal - may she rest in peace

[mariaegreen]

fenomenal!

[DarkMedievalTimes1]

woww, she was amazing... RIP Elena

[evaliaro]

i think this exercise is better than the one from 1977.

[WTHN87]

when did they decide to move the bars apart more? I'd never seen them this close before, it's so different to what it is now, but it looks like it would have hurt the girls bodies much more back then!

[7beers]

If reading the story of Mukhina doesn't make you cry, then I don't know what would.

[Electron64]

@7beers

i made me cry 24/7

[supernijn33]

WTF omg dit is echt geweldig!!!!!!

[MrsShazziePepper1996]

@supernijn33 Vroeger was turnen gewoon geweldig!

[Kulpa71]

She looks distressed at the end, I wonder if she was in pain, or under terrible pressure.

[fijago]

I agree with a lot of what everyone is saying in terms of Elena's technical ability and execution but you can't compare Elena with Nadia as even thought their competitive lives overlapped Nadia was there first. FACT

[lucialap]

Sad final

But she was awesome, the full twisting korbut flip!

[MISSLISH1A]

00:14 OMG. That takes guts.

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

That full twisting Korbut flip is awesome, I wish she would have done a straddle salto transition after she did her belly beat it would have gone well with the routine.

[samato29]

fantastic!

[iwiwacl]

holy canoly! she was amazing!

[nixelin27]

she added a full twist to the korbut flip!

[tamarauk]

she was amasing!!!....makes me feel proud, although our countries are seperated now.

[SketchUpGirl]

Whats that dismount called?

[gymerin]

The dismount is called a Mukhina

[ralucagymnast]

Its called a Hecht tuck-back dismount, and its a beautiful skill. Elena was so innovative; she has 3 skills named after her: the full-in double back on floor is called the Mukhina, the Korbut loop with full twist is also her skill, and the double back dismount from beam was first competed by Elena too. She only really became prominent after teaming up with mens coach Mikhail Klimenko, and, amazingly, she didnt start competing until she was 15 years old!!

[HailieNichole1995]

The Mukhina. It's a hect back tuck off bars.

[tgcgymnasticsgirl]

she is so much better than nadia comanchi rip elena

[violaroadkill]

she got no Olympic medals because she broke her neck...idiot.

[xxflyingsoulxx101]

ummm did you forget that she beat Nadia at All Arounds? Oh and she broke her neck (and was left paralyzed) so she was never able to compete in the Olympics...I mean are you serious? If she would've had the chance to compete there she would have beaten Nadia for sure. I can guarantee you that.

[ClevelandTigersVB5]

her coach was really tough and he pushed her way pass her limits. she broke her leg because of him and he had her take the castoff early which lead to her legs condition to get worst. when she underwent surgery, he had her back at practice early as well. she got paralyzed because she broke her neck while doing the thomas salto move that her coach forced her to do.

[ClevelandTigersVB5]

complications lead to a coma and she died. i honestly thought she was better than nadia when it came to BARS only because i thought she had more style and release skills. if it wasnt for her death, i think she could have been the next face of the perfect ten.

[custardaghost]

@ClevelandTigersVB5

You have it so wrong and yet so many approve it? WTF? Elena's injury rendered her quadraplegic but she suffered no cognitive deficits. She died - as do so many in her condition - after years of immobility lead to respiratory and general physical decline. It sickens me that so many get these basic facts - which are easily available - so wrong and which does Elena's talent or memory no respect.

[evaliaro]

i think she was better. nadia had the grace, it's true, but elena was way better when it came for the skills. her uneven bars exercise is way much difficult than nadia's.

[garyj79]

@gymnasticsloverxoxo - I know everyones marked you down because they dont agree with what you have said - im not going to 'join in' on that one but I would like to say that Nadia wasnt always perfect and sometimes scored more than what she actually deserved (on namesakes) eg the 78 worlds where most of her routines were poor YET still scored high !?! im informed that Mukhina did have better artistic choreo and upper body carriage than Nadia and the Romanian team in general though........

[ErosMCM]

Definindo-a em uma só palavra: "PERFEITA..."

[ItsLindseyBitch13]

OMG!!! she's AMAZING!!! i wish the gymnastics now was like that...

[valsoft]

Да - супер гимнастка ... жаль , что так вышло с ней ...

[elisabetanistor]

How did she manage to do that dismount ? wow !

[annieisadancer]

Why do they make some moves on the bars or in other elements illegal? Is it because they are dangerous?

[mistybabe5489]

yea the korbut flip was considered too dangerous. fig made it illegal to stand on the HB.

[NonMatchingUnderwear]

seems a bit odd that nowadays u can do a front somersault over the bar but not stand on it!

[gymnasticsloverxoxo]

It is for safety reasons that you can not stand on it.

[ralucagymnast]

The Mukhina Loop on bars was banned for two reasons: 1) movement on bars must be continuous, no pauses are allowed and 2) the safety(or lack of it!!) aspect.

[jynjer]

does anyone know the names of the skills in this routine or where i can find them?

[deniserogue]

the back flip is called the Korbut Flip, though she added a full twist to it.

[strawberryrainbow]

I absolutely love the part where she stands on top of the bar and then makes a back slip..I had never seen that, that was amazing!!

[Gymnastangelgirl]

That was even HARDER than olga korbut's routine.

[Sublue]

Some of those moves look really dangerous.

[gymnaworld22]

R.I.P.

[NonMatchingUnderwear]

I also like the way she does so many intersting skills, but doesnt try and giant round the high bar, which was impossible to make look good until the bars were moved apart

[mistybabe5489]

giant weren't done back then. they were almost impossible b/c the bars were too close

[NonMatchingUnderwear]

Gymnastics perfection defined.

[SWALE1984]

She was so beautiful! Her talent level was off the charts! She was incredibly sexy!

[LANA20050]

5+++ Молодчинка!!! Даже сейчас не каждая гимнастка на такое способна... ЛЕНА МУХИНА ЛЕГЕНДА!

[Itinhomtoloko13]

Perfect *-*-*-*-**

[Chaeley]

That dismount kicked so much ass.

[analuzz]

Perfect

[allancam]

great exercise.

[mikevideo07]

The best!!!

[elamantebilingue]

A pivotal force in gymnastics! Elena Mukhina you will be missed.

[DeltaSVO]

RIP Lena!