5.15 - See that gesture! Elena is able to spontaneously move her left arm. Looks like she was getting some movement back - if only she had good physiotherapy as soon as possible after her accident...
I don't agree with any of this. Nothing is used to stunt the girls growth. If that's the case why are US girls short too? We know damn well parents of the US wouldn't have this "abuse" going on. They are just petite young ladies and some are quite average height (tall for the sport): Boginskaya, Khorkina; Liukin, etc......
At 29:09-29:55 I am sure the two girls are Marina Goryunova and Tatiana Chernova? They were both gymnasts who trained under Elvira Saadi at Moscow Dinamo gym? Elvira's more famous protege was the wonderful Tatiana Groshkova, who features in this documentary of course.
@ralucagymnast Tatiana Groshkova is absolutely beautiful isnt she? Unbelievable that she is 17 years old here; she looks no more than 12:( She looks so sad though:( Elvira Saadi was a very tough taskmaster, no doubt about that. If anyone doubts that you should watch "Are you going to the Ball" which features Groshkova, and her teamates training under Saadi's tutelage.
okay i'm not saying the pregnancy thing is true, but you guys are missing the point. some gymnasts who have leveled these accusations, also said they were forced to receive abortions.
And if you don't believe that the Big Red Machine (aka the former Soviet Union) did not cheat it's way to gold medals through drugs, voting blocs and the like, then you are either absolutely delusional, or are completely uneducated on the subject. The athletes themselves have confirmed this to be true.
I don't understand what everyone is squawking about. The documentary (which is not presented in it's entirety here) presents the GOOD and the BAD of sport.
Anyone else think the voice dubbing the coach after the girl vaulted was exaggerated? it didn't actually sound like she was giving out to the gymnast like that, it sort of looked like she was just explaining what went wrong. Maybe it's just me...
It was partly the coaches fault but it was also the fault of the Gymnastics community wanting to see more and more of the Gymnasts. This put coaches in difficult positions.
Didnt like the prevailing tone in this documentary. Reality check: the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. competed against each other in 9 summer Olympics; the results couldn't be clearer: in 7 out of those 9 games the soviets surpassed the U.S. in total medals, not to mention the also the soviet union surpassed the Americans in nearly all Winter Olympics, oh! and also in all the Universiades. Of course they will want to find an explanation after being knocked out in such an overwhelming fashion.
if u were listening they didnt say the gymnasts were forced to get pregnant, it just said soviet athletes. it could have been any sport, obviously a pregnacy would slow a gymnast down, but not other sports
@MrLoso19 What was she like as a coach? Was she stern? Or did she have a "softer" side to her? Watch the documentary "Are you going to the ball"; its on here, its very interesting.
How in the world could those gymnasts have gotten pregnant with their physical condition? Gymnasts have very little body fat, way below what's needed for women which is why some of them hardly get their periods. Pregnancy seems far-fetched.
Frank Gifford should have put his jingoistic chauvinism in check. He's just an arrogant, philandering (has cheated on all of his wives), athlete-in-decline whose sense of invincibility caused him to take too many hits on the football field. How would he like it if someone took pleasure in his football-induced senility? Just look up the Chuck Bednarik hit on YouTube.
There is a disturbing tone of "schadenfreude" in Frank Gifford's voice as he's narrating this piece. Instead of showing compassion for what people like Mukhina had to go through,it's like he's reveling in the disintegration of the USA's "enemy" & enjoying exposing the "downside" of the Soviet athletic machine.
And did you notice that they always showed Groshkova falling or failing to complete a move successfully? This docu. was edited to be as negative as possible toward Soviet sports life.
I wonder if people just assume that US success is achieved through hugs, kisses and kind words?! This is a tough sport and training is just as tough all around the world. Not to mention that many of the former communist `'monster`' coaches both from Russia and Romania went on to coach in the West...
@svetaswan You put "downside" in quotes, as if it were an invention of Gifford's mind. But Elena Mukhina in that wheelchair due to an impossibly demanding system was all too real.
@svetaswan I don't know who you are "svetaswan". But thank you very much for most appropriate comments about program "More Than a Game". My name is Vladimir Zaglada ... You can see my interview in this program. I know probably better than somebody else why the content of the program was very negative towards former Soviet Sport. One more time,THANKS!
This is an expanded version of the hugely-edited form of this docu that I had previously seen. Thanks for uploading it.
Not to be greedy - but I wish I could somehow see the *entire* episodes - not just those parts pertaining to the Soviet gymnastics system. Maybe the entire footage "rounded out" the biased, "USA Prevails!" presentation of these sections - but I won't hold my breath on that.
Communist regimes in the 70's and 80's were notorious for exploiting children in sports. And there was absolutely nothing the parents could do. It wasn't just the Soviets, The East Germans, Romanians, etc. were just as guilty. Take a look at the East German Swimming Team from the '72 Munich Olympics. They looked like men!!
Absolute power always corrupts. No government (whether it's democratic or communist) should ever be able to rule all aspects of your life.
GRRR. Many of the Soviet gymnasts were NOT Russian!!
This is one of the saddest stories in gymnastics. She was such an amazing gymnast. Unlike just about everyone today, she managed to combine great skills with balletic beauty.
@girlrok Larissa Latynina won medals at a World Championships WHILE 5 MONTHS PREGNANT!!! So again you idiots who say you can't do gymnastics when pregnant need to get your facts straight! Maybe just maybe the people who ran this actually did the research like proper journalists and know the facts.
"...forced the gymnasts to become pregnant so that their bodies could soak up more nutrients..." Yeah right. Those girls, and most elite gymnasts today don't have enough body fat to even have periods...how could they possibly become pregnant?! And did they not like their gymnasts extremely thin...if they were somehow to become pregnant would they not balloon up like crazy?? This accusation cannot be true...it'd completely counterproductive as far as gymnastics is concerned. Lmao.
She didnt say "gymnasts": she was talking about endurance sports, not just gymnastics: of course gymnasts wouldnt benefit from the forced impregnation, as the body produces more fat when a woman is pregnant, and in gymnastics, every single gram makes a difference. But in other sports, I can see why forced impregnation would have been an option, even though its barbaric.
Since I understand, pregnancy is very useful even for gimnasts.
The blood irrigation increases in the whole body, producing a "natural doping" to optimize the preparation before competitions. And a short time preganancy wouldn't affect the weight (thou it's really cruel with the athlets.)
@oubeauty2008 it is well know fact, i'm not sure about gymnasts in particular, but east european athletes were forced to become pregnant. the pregnancy does not start showing immediately, it takes a few monts to "balloon up" as you say, but the body start producing immediately some hormones that makes woman stronger, which is exactly why this was used.
@KsiezniczkaTatusia comming to think, it wasn't probably the case with gymnastics, cause even now senior gymnasts are far younger than in any other sport, and back then they were even younger.
@thetigersedroar Umm...ok...pretty sure that I said the Soviets preferred their gymnasts to be thinner/leaner not "skinny" and most ELITE gymnasts have very little body fat but that's not to say they are "skinny". I was a gymnast too...don't think I don't know a little bit about what I'm talking about.
@oubeauty2008 Actually gymnasts from the yester years were more mature than we see now. A lot didn't reach their peak until late teen or mid to early twenties... Look at Ludmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Kuchinskaya, Polina Astakhova. There are many more but those are some with some footage here on youtube. Maybe you should look around before putting such a comment on something you know nothing about.
@oubeauty2008 I agree with you completely. I'm not buying this. The Soviets wanted their girls to look like Groshkova, a 17-year-old with the body of a 10-year-old. Even if she could actually conceive, which I doubt very much, why in the world would they do something that would eventually cause her to gain weight? If they really wanted that, they could just feed her more. I'm more inclined to believe that they gave their gymnasts potions to retard their growth. That's not inconceivable to me.
@oubeauty2008 It's very counter-productive. In pregnancy, the embroyo/fetus gets the nutrients FIRST and the mother gets whatever is left over. I don't see how they thought getting pregnant would be of any help.
@oubeauty2008 You are obviously naive and know nothing about history. We're talking about Russia, a place that defined evil. They could and would do anything to win, whether it was on the world stage or sport. The pregnancy did not progress long enough for the girls to "balloon;" they were forced to abort at any early stage. You don't get fat the second you become pregnant, for heaven's sake.
its the same shit all the time, the governments getting involved with the sports...in Romania they tried to relate the success of Nadia Comaneci to belong a comunist country...to the hell with that!
these kids worked their ass off to get to this level of perfection and then the governments try to take the credits...
I feel sorry for her, she was such a graceful gymnats...its pretty sad
It was under communist regime when these extraordinary athletes were produced, thanks to organized and systemic well though communist schemes. Americans are too busy with their Budweiser and watching rubbish TV to have enough discipline to achieve anything. America has always purchased and hired exceptional athletes and scientist everything from other countries. The only thing purely genuine in America is Hollywood, rubbish movies which make money.
Speak for yourself. I left the US for all the reasons you mentioned. But don't credit communism, either, they put real achievers in the Gulag if other methods of reform don't work. Give credit to Jesus Christ, Son of God.
Yelena also stated that when she broke her leg,the doctor was forced by the Soviet Union to take off the cast early before the leg was fully healed so Elena could get ready for the training preceding the 1980 Olympics and that caused great damage to her leg. It doesn't really get any worse, does it?
Yelena said in one interview: "My injury could have been expected. It was an accident that could have been anticipated. It was inevitable. I had said more than once that I would break my neck doing that element. I had hurt myself badly several times but he (coach Mikhail Klimenko) just replied people like me don't break their necks." extracted from Wikipedia.
when mukhina landed on her head and broke her neck, she knew straight away that she was quadraplegic, and the first thing she said was "thang god now i won't have to go to the olympics"... what does that tell us about the then soviet regime?!
sure the soviet system was extreme...but these kind of things happen all over in every sport. i bet the chinese are doing similar things to their gymnast these days...since the chinese have a "goal" of proving themselves to the world.
oh absolutely! i am NOT saying the soviet system was the only one of its kind! it is unfortunately still an issue to these days... all i'm saying is, it's pretty awful to ignore the gymnasts' limits just because you want glory for your country! and yes i also believe a contemporary example would be the chinese coaches and government who do not hesitate a second in endangering young girls' lives "for the nation's hounour"! sad...
Yes, it's great i didn't have to wait for multiple parts to load. Great job, i learned about her accident while watching another youtube clip and this video opened my eyes to just how competitive the athletic world is.
I agree... they would have looked at everything... perfect proportions for the sport, muscle build, natural flexibility, how tall the parents were etc etc.
If the parents want to escape poverty let them do all the gymnastics and rigorous training. The age limit for the olympics should be 18, so at least they could say no to their coaches and parents who just want to exploit them or walk away with the rewards themselves. It's basicly child labor in any country.
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This is all lies and BS what they said about sports in the USSR. Perhaps there were a few attempts to make girls pregnant and earn advantage out of it, but it hadn't been done on the large scale. They're trying to make up reasons why the USSR was better in gymnastics than the West. But not only in gymnastics the USSR was better, but the sports in the USSR was in great shape in general: figure skating, hockey, athletics, etc. Or did they try to make the national team hockey players pregnant too?
Did you see what they did in R.D.A? Among other things, the comunists gave masculine hormones to women - one of them even needed to make the surgery to become a man.
Thank God the evil empire is gone. Saint Gorbashev.
I'm thinking 1991-early 1992, as there are references to the World Championships held in the US (Indianapolis in 1991, I'm assuming), and the fact that the USSR has won nine Olympic Team titles (1992 made its tenth).
I'm glad the money stopped flowing to the national gym, gives other countries a chance to have a fight shot and now we can see the Russians aren't so superhuman afterall when the drugs stop flowing! HUH!
But somebody said that most of the gymnast can't have baby!! Actually, this is propaganda!!! Most of the gymnast made their life and gave birth to normal children!!! Perhaps the girls still less tall tahn other, but that's all!
um, yeah, americans can never achieve what the soviets did? Please, have you ever heard of Nadia, Mary Lou, Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal or Carly Patterson? None of them from Soviet Union...we have had tons of other great athletes in other sports, but since this focuses on gymnastics... there have been more amazing gymnasts from Romania and the US and the rest of the world in the last 20 years than Russia- and they didn't have to cheat to do it....
If Romania was part of the Soviet Union they would have competed as Soviets but they didn't...they competed as a seperate country...know your history!
I think when they mention pregnancy they are not talking about it being used in the sport of gymnastics but in track and other sports. Unfortunately, I have read that this type of induced pregnancy has been used as a method of gaining strength in track athletes.
That's insane... I've never heard of getting a girl pregnant then terminating it. That would put her out of training for weeks. The selection process is so tedious. They meassure girls very early on to see if they are gymnast material.
The measuring process is decisive: the coaches also look at the childs' parents and even grandparents so they will have an idea how the child will develop physically. Very tall children are unsuitable for gymnastics. There are always exceptions, such as Sveta Khorkhina and Sveta Boguinskaya, but they are not the rule.
The body type is usually short torso, slightly longer arms(for reach on a-bars, and because with longer arms, the child can make more artistic movements)and legs, broad shoulders and narrow hips to comply with recognised standards.
Sorry, I had to split this up: damn 500 word limit!!
I do not believe they were speaking of the gymnasts. Many could not menstruate well into their late teens. Besides that, but being pregnant for let's say three months to five and then terminating wouldn't put you out of training for weeks unless there were serious complications.
to become pregnant wat bullshit, americans always try to pin everything bad on the russians because we(russians) are better and always will be in sports and its just tearing americans apart because they have never achived anything like the russians did and probably never will
The interviewer and interviewee were both Russian so Americans did not make this up. You are in denial that the old Soviet Union would stop at nothing for sucess.
3) Don't say stuff about things you know little about. You don't know 1/4 of Americans so you can't even say anything like that about us. I believe you're the one 'pinning everything bad at us'.
Also, most elite gymnasts don't have enough body fat to have menstrual cycles until after they retire and gain weight...so how the hell was pregnancy induced if there was no egg there to fertilize???
It seems to me making their gymnasts pregnant would also cause them to gain weight by retaining calories and fat for the fetus; I like how the documentary only takes info from this one person...a little biased.
I dont think they meant gymnasts: common sense would tell me that they meant track and field athlets, where any fat would be quickly converted to muscle mass.
Thanks for posting this, I love any type of thing that focuses on gymnastics, being a former gymnast myself. Sort of know first hand about the pushing and coaching of those who want to produce stars
its so easy to blame Soviet coaches... dont forget the war was held on the BOTH sides of the Ocean. No american sport man or woman was destined to be this war vitim? better to say the meat for this war. Sorry
I feel much sorry for all those little gals and boyz broken physically and morally. SORRY ELEN! and all the others...But look those polyanskayas and the kind of so called journalists seeking for seculations (read some f... damn money) would never say that the cold war was on the both sides...
I know.. it's not me, that's just the way the video is... If you'll notice there are some bits missing in the middle too. I didn't make it, I just downloaded it, so there's nothing really I can do. Sorry.
I always wondered why the girls were so small. I always thought, "A 15 year old girl at 4 foot 11 and 66 pounds!! How is that possible?!" but I'm SO glad I know now. It's been driving me nuts!
I can remember watching Gymnastics during the 1990s. Some of the Coaches were HORRIBLE. How their Parents can sit by and idly watch, I'll never under stand.
i dnt no y they sit wachin us in pain. ak my mom lol. im an elite gymnast n i tell u tht yeh, some of the coaches are hell. but they get us were we need to go if we are mentally and physically strong enuf.
You took the words out of my mouth:) I detest this desecration of the English language, known as "fuckwit language"; it takes longer to type it too, so it just shows the sheepish mentality of the idiots who use it-they do it because everybody else does it. Youtube should ban fuckwit language anyway.
Terrible things were done to Kristie Phillips. She attempted suicide and when she went on Johnny Carson, they had to give her a script so she would know about boyfriends and normal teenage life. Read LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES. It is not just the communists who exploit children!
I found the segment on forced pregnancies to be very inappropriate. This piece is primarily about gymnastics but they bring in a rumour which primarily applies to marathoners. I have a science degree in human performance and I don't recall any benefit of pregnancy for gymnasts. The vast majority of gymnasts are physically incapable of pregnancy because they are prepubescent or amenorrhaeic.
No you are right-she did it weird though, sort of like a "puck": a cross between a pike and a tuck. What is even more amazing is that she was 18 years old in this video!!!!She has the face and body of a 10 year old. Unreal. Although she was beautiful, she was terribly inconsistent in her gymnastics, which is why she didnt live up to her potential.
shut the fuck up. i do not like watching gymnast get injured and i didnt watch this video because i thought they would show her getting injured. i was asking before i watched. dont say shit when you know nothing
It is obvious that this is very biased and unbalanced reporting. I believe that that there are negatives and positives to communism and capitalism. However, this segment is mainly the opinion of old white men and everything is oversimplified. What happened to Elena Mukhina is infuriating but you can't be so dismissive of people's talent, dedication and perseverance.
how old was yelena during that interview ?
irishdancerashleigh 2 months ago
@irishdancerashleigh
It was filmed in 1991
custardaghost 2 months ago
5.15 - See that gesture! Elena is able to spontaneously move her left arm. Looks like she was getting some movement back - if only she had good physiotherapy as soon as possible after her accident...
custardaghost 2 months ago
@custardaghost Oh yeah i never noticed that :( r.i.p xxxxxxxx
irishdancerashleigh 2 months ago
Haha no shit this documentary is so racist with very overt political tones. Wasn't it made cold war period?
bernardmvella 2 months ago
The most ridiculous "documentary" I have ever seen.
mavalise 3 months ago
Comment removed
BoraBoraGirl2001 5 months ago
like robots they were treated!poor girls!you can do gimnastic and enjoy it as well!
cotynita 6 months ago
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LupeTemple 8 months ago
I don't agree with any of this. Nothing is used to stunt the girls growth. If that's the case why are US girls short too? We know damn well parents of the US wouldn't have this "abuse" going on. They are just petite young ladies and some are quite average height (tall for the sport): Boginskaya, Khorkina; Liukin, etc......
taydev2007 11 months ago
At 29:09-29:55 I am sure the two girls are Marina Goryunova and Tatiana Chernova? They were both gymnasts who trained under Elvira Saadi at Moscow Dinamo gym? Elvira's more famous protege was the wonderful Tatiana Groshkova, who features in this documentary of course.
ralucagymnast 11 months ago
@ralucagymnast Tatiana Groshkova is absolutely beautiful isnt she? Unbelievable that she is 17 years old here; she looks no more than 12:( She looks so sad though:( Elvira Saadi was a very tough taskmaster, no doubt about that. If anyone doubts that you should watch "Are you going to the Ball" which features Groshkova, and her teamates training under Saadi's tutelage.
ralucagymnast 11 months ago
RIP Yelena Mukhina.
sad that no else on here has said that yet, although other nice comments were made
bbhouk1 1 year ago
okay i'm not saying the pregnancy thing is true, but you guys are missing the point. some gymnasts who have leveled these accusations, also said they were forced to receive abortions.
bbhouk1 1 year ago
12 days, were gonna be sad about the 4th year she has been in heaven
XxCadence123xX 1 year ago
This is one of my favorite documentaries because it has such rare footage in it. However some of the information they are trying to push is crap.
gymnasticsloverxoxo 1 year ago
What kind of crap is the pregnancy thing? This is BS
amapolamartinez 1 year ago
hi nanquan, very nice video, thanx for the upload. does your nick stand for the wushu style?
rockerdrake 1 year ago
And if you don't believe that the Big Red Machine (aka the former Soviet Union) did not cheat it's way to gold medals through drugs, voting blocs and the like, then you are either absolutely delusional, or are completely uneducated on the subject. The athletes themselves have confirmed this to be true.
GlobalGal1976 1 year ago
I don't understand what everyone is squawking about. The documentary (which is not presented in it's entirety here) presents the GOOD and the BAD of sport.
GlobalGal1976 1 year ago
Anyone else think the voice dubbing the coach after the girl vaulted was exaggerated? it didn't actually sound like she was giving out to the gymnast like that, it sort of looked like she was just explaining what went wrong. Maybe it's just me...
Sheepkidnapper 1 year ago
"A wrong result can earn the athlete a trip to Siberia" ??? Really ?? I don't think we can believe everything in this documentary..
Litepad 2 years ago
@Litepad They did send people to Siberia - you don't believe that??
GlobalGal1976 1 year ago
It was partly the coaches fault but it was also the fault of the Gymnastics community wanting to see more and more of the Gymnasts. This put coaches in difficult positions.
Stonymypony 2 years ago
"The Us boycotted the games to protest the USSR invasion of Afganistan " ahahahahahaha
sochisochi 2 years ago
one sided documentary
sochisochi 2 years ago
Didnt like the prevailing tone in this documentary. Reality check: the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. competed against each other in 9 summer Olympics; the results couldn't be clearer: in 7 out of those 9 games the soviets surpassed the U.S. in total medals, not to mention the also the soviet union surpassed the Americans in nearly all Winter Olympics, oh! and also in all the Universiades. Of course they will want to find an explanation after being knocked out in such an overwhelming fashion.
vonkaunaz 2 years ago
if u were listening they didnt say the gymnasts were forced to get pregnant, it just said soviet athletes. it could have been any sport, obviously a pregnacy would slow a gymnast down, but not other sports
suegirl145 2 years ago
He says that part about American fast food like it's a good thing....
auswriteratheart 2 years ago
OMG, Elvira, was my coach here in Ontario, Canada.
Weird...
I never knew she was a hard core coach in the Soviet union
MrLoso19 2 years ago
@MrLoso19 What was she like as a coach? Was she stern? Or did she have a "softer" side to her? Watch the documentary "Are you going to the ball"; its on here, its very interesting.
ralucagymnast 11 months ago
And there's the great Mitch Fenner, beloved commentator :-)
BTW, always so sad about Mukhina...
alepeccia 2 years ago
How in the world could those gymnasts have gotten pregnant with their physical condition? Gymnasts have very little body fat, way below what's needed for women which is why some of them hardly get their periods. Pregnancy seems far-fetched.
AndromedaAiken 2 years ago
Yeah, the last thing an athlete needs is pregnancy
Scandium98 2 years ago
Frank Gifford should have put his jingoistic chauvinism in check. He's just an arrogant, philandering (has cheated on all of his wives), athlete-in-decline whose sense of invincibility caused him to take too many hits on the football field. How would he like it if someone took pleasure in his football-induced senility? Just look up the Chuck Bednarik hit on YouTube.
svetaswan 2 years ago 4
There is a disturbing tone of "schadenfreude" in Frank Gifford's voice as he's narrating this piece. Instead of showing compassion for what people like Mukhina had to go through,it's like he's reveling in the disintegration of the USA's "enemy" & enjoying exposing the "downside" of the Soviet athletic machine.
And did you notice that they always showed Groshkova falling or failing to complete a move successfully? This docu. was edited to be as negative as possible toward Soviet sports life.
svetaswan 2 years ago 24
I wonder if people just assume that US success is achieved through hugs, kisses and kind words?! This is a tough sport and training is just as tough all around the world. Not to mention that many of the former communist `'monster`' coaches both from Russia and Romania went on to coach in the West...
ifiva 2 years ago
@ifiva Um, there is a difference between tough training methods and outright abuse, OK?
GlobalGal1976 1 year ago
@svetaswan You put "downside" in quotes, as if it were an invention of Gifford's mind. But Elena Mukhina in that wheelchair due to an impossibly demanding system was all too real.
7beers 1 year ago
@svetaswan Disagree. I do not get that sense at all in Gifford's presentation.
7beers 1 year ago
@svetaswan I don't know who you are "svetaswan". But thank you very much for most appropriate comments about program "More Than a Game". My name is Vladimir Zaglada ... You can see my interview in this program. I know probably better than somebody else why the content of the program was very negative towards former Soviet Sport. One more time,THANKS!
ZagladaVlad 1 year ago
This is an expanded version of the hugely-edited form of this docu that I had previously seen. Thanks for uploading it.
Not to be greedy - but I wish I could somehow see the *entire* episodes - not just those parts pertaining to the Soviet gymnastics system. Maybe the entire footage "rounded out" the biased, "USA Prevails!" presentation of these sections - but I won't hold my breath on that.
svetaswan 2 years ago
What's with all the editing? And clearly, the cuts are not just for commercial breaks.
CrackedTroyster 2 years ago 2
Communist regimes in the 70's and 80's were notorious for exploiting children in sports. And there was absolutely nothing the parents could do. It wasn't just the Soviets, The East Germans, Romanians, etc. were just as guilty. Take a look at the East German Swimming Team from the '72 Munich Olympics. They looked like men!!
Absolute power always corrupts. No government (whether it's democratic or communist) should ever be able to rule all aspects of your life.
Dar0922 2 years ago 6
GRRR. Many of the Soviet gymnasts were NOT Russian!!
This is one of the saddest stories in gymnastics. She was such an amazing gymnast. Unlike just about everyone today, she managed to combine great skills with balletic beauty.
SonyaNatalia 2 years ago 3
you cant do gymanstics when your pregnant thats not true
im not sticking up for them though i dont like them
girlrok 3 years ago 2
@girlrok Larissa Latynina won medals at a World Championships WHILE 5 MONTHS PREGNANT!!! So again you idiots who say you can't do gymnastics when pregnant need to get your facts straight! Maybe just maybe the people who ran this actually did the research like proper journalists and know the facts.
TamarjanFan95 8 months ago
"...forced the gymnasts to become pregnant so that their bodies could soak up more nutrients..." Yeah right. Those girls, and most elite gymnasts today don't have enough body fat to even have periods...how could they possibly become pregnant?! And did they not like their gymnasts extremely thin...if they were somehow to become pregnant would they not balloon up like crazy?? This accusation cannot be true...it'd completely counterproductive as far as gymnastics is concerned. Lmao.
oubeauty2008 3 years ago 32
Very good commentary, that's too much to be said about getting pregnant.
ChildofPluto 3 years ago
She didnt say "gymnasts": she was talking about endurance sports, not just gymnastics: of course gymnasts wouldnt benefit from the forced impregnation, as the body produces more fat when a woman is pregnant, and in gymnastics, every single gram makes a difference. But in other sports, I can see why forced impregnation would have been an option, even though its barbaric.
ralucagymnast 2 years ago
Since I understand, pregnancy is very useful even for gimnasts.
The blood irrigation increases in the whole body, producing a "natural doping" to optimize the preparation before competitions. And a short time preganancy wouldn't affect the weight (thou it's really cruel with the athlets.)
rodrigoribeiro1902 2 years ago 2
@oubeauty2008 it is well know fact, i'm not sure about gymnasts in particular, but east european athletes were forced to become pregnant. the pregnancy does not start showing immediately, it takes a few monts to "balloon up" as you say, but the body start producing immediately some hormones that makes woman stronger, which is exactly why this was used.
KsiezniczkaTatusia 1 year ago
@KsiezniczkaTatusia comming to think, it wasn't probably the case with gymnastics, cause even now senior gymnasts are far younger than in any other sport, and back then they were even younger.
KsiezniczkaTatusia 1 year ago
@oubeauty2008 Tbh I Am A Gymnast Andd Im Not Skinny So I Dont Know What Your On:/.
thetigersedroar 11 months ago
@thetigersedroar Umm...ok...pretty sure that I said the Soviets preferred their gymnasts to be thinner/leaner not "skinny" and most ELITE gymnasts have very little body fat but that's not to say they are "skinny". I was a gymnast too...don't think I don't know a little bit about what I'm talking about.
oubeauty2008 11 months ago
@oubeauty2008 Actually gymnasts from the yester years were more mature than we see now. A lot didn't reach their peak until late teen or mid to early twenties... Look at Ludmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Kuchinskaya, Polina Astakhova. There are many more but those are some with some footage here on youtube. Maybe you should look around before putting such a comment on something you know nothing about.
TamarjanFan95 8 months ago
@oubeauty2008 I agree with you completely. I'm not buying this. The Soviets wanted their girls to look like Groshkova, a 17-year-old with the body of a 10-year-old. Even if she could actually conceive, which I doubt very much, why in the world would they do something that would eventually cause her to gain weight? If they really wanted that, they could just feed her more. I'm more inclined to believe that they gave their gymnasts potions to retard their growth. That's not inconceivable to me.
intldawn 7 months ago
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BoraBoraGirl2001 5 months ago
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BoraBoraGirl2001 5 months ago
@oubeauty2008 Yeah sounds like a good excuse to have have sex with them.. lol
mnstube 5 months ago
@oubeauty2008 It's very counter-productive. In pregnancy, the embroyo/fetus gets the nutrients FIRST and the mother gets whatever is left over. I don't see how they thought getting pregnant would be of any help.
NewEnglanddur 3 months ago
@oubeauty2008 You are obviously naive and know nothing about history. We're talking about Russia, a place that defined evil. They could and would do anything to win, whether it was on the world stage or sport. The pregnancy did not progress long enough for the girls to "balloon;" they were forced to abort at any early stage. You don't get fat the second you become pregnant, for heaven's sake.
BoraBoraGirl2001 2 months ago
R.I.P.
m203508009 3 years ago 3
its the same shit all the time, the governments getting involved with the sports...in Romania they tried to relate the success of Nadia Comaneci to belong a comunist country...to the hell with that!
these kids worked their ass off to get to this level of perfection and then the governments try to take the credits...
I feel sorry for her, she was such a graceful gymnats...its pretty sad
minmeicwz 3 years ago
It was under communist regime when these extraordinary athletes were produced, thanks to organized and systemic well though communist schemes. Americans are too busy with their Budweiser and watching rubbish TV to have enough discipline to achieve anything. America has always purchased and hired exceptional athletes and scientist everything from other countries. The only thing purely genuine in America is Hollywood, rubbish movies which make money.
thebrainyouneed 2 years ago
Speak for yourself. I left the US for all the reasons you mentioned. But don't credit communism, either, they put real achievers in the Gulag if other methods of reform don't work. Give credit to Jesus Christ, Son of God.
cusanusnicolas 2 years ago
@cusanusnicolas Amen
Trob930 1 year ago
If thats true....how come we win so many gols medals?
MissNevada08 2 years ago
Oh, it's coz gymnastics in America don't hurt
ifiva 2 years ago
Yelena also stated that when she broke her leg,the doctor was forced by the Soviet Union to take off the cast early before the leg was fully healed so Elena could get ready for the training preceding the 1980 Olympics and that caused great damage to her leg. It doesn't really get any worse, does it?
sandrahadams 3 years ago 3
Yelena said in one interview: "My injury could have been expected. It was an accident that could have been anticipated. It was inevitable. I had said more than once that I would break my neck doing that element. I had hurt myself badly several times but he (coach Mikhail Klimenko) just replied people like me don't break their necks." extracted from Wikipedia.
sandrahadams 3 years ago 2
@sandrahadams Thinking about Yelena is heartbreaking:( At least she is at peace now; tragically, she never had peace while she was alive:(
ralucagymnast 11 months ago
when mukhina landed on her head and broke her neck, she knew straight away that she was quadraplegic, and the first thing she said was "thang god now i won't have to go to the olympics"... what does that tell us about the then soviet regime?!
lasalseracubana 3 years ago 8
sure the soviet system was extreme...but these kind of things happen all over in every sport. i bet the chinese are doing similar things to their gymnast these days...since the chinese have a "goal" of proving themselves to the world.
dreamissbehaved 3 years ago
oh absolutely! i am NOT saying the soviet system was the only one of its kind! it is unfortunately still an issue to these days... all i'm saying is, it's pretty awful to ignore the gymnasts' limits just because you want glory for your country! and yes i also believe a contemporary example would be the chinese coaches and government who do not hesitate a second in endangering young girls' lives "for the nation's hounour"! sad...
lasalseracubana 3 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
"One of the few remaining ways to escape the impoverishment of russian life...
children under the government duress..." LOL
When this finest piece of american propaganda was made? I hope in early 90-es.
bitchyru 3 years ago
35:47??? wow!!! most of the youtube videos last 10 min!!! great!
bluegarden12 3 years ago
Yes, it's great i didn't have to wait for multiple parts to load. Great job, i learned about her accident while watching another youtube clip and this video opened my eyes to just how competitive the athletic world is.
CherryBlossomskt 3 years ago
i think the USSR just selected young girls especially ones with the right body type and worked them to the bone.
schatzi321 3 years ago
I agree... they would have looked at everything... perfect proportions for the sport, muscle build, natural flexibility, how tall the parents were etc etc.
lizzle7654 3 years ago
how old were yelena when she got hurt??
kaulitzLL 3 years ago
About 18.
kashmirpage 3 years ago
She was 23
bitchyru 3 years ago
No, she was 19 or 20. It happen just before the 1980 Olympics and she was born in 1960.
Octochick 3 years ago
She was one month and two days past her 20th birthday when she suffered her accident.
scarletsmith 3 years ago
If the parents want to escape poverty let them do all the gymnastics and rigorous training. The age limit for the olympics should be 18, so at least they could say no to their coaches and parents who just want to exploit them or walk away with the rewards themselves. It's basicly child labor in any country.
strawberry9572 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This is all lies and BS what they said about sports in the USSR. Perhaps there were a few attempts to make girls pregnant and earn advantage out of it, but it hadn't been done on the large scale. They're trying to make up reasons why the USSR was better in gymnastics than the West. But not only in gymnastics the USSR was better, but the sports in the USSR was in great shape in general: figure skating, hockey, athletics, etc. Or did they try to make the national team hockey players pregnant too?
ballistic76 3 years ago
Calm down Checkpoint Charlie...
AngryWhiteGurl 3 years ago
Did you see what they did in R.D.A? Among other things, the comunists gave masculine hormones to women - one of them even needed to make the surgery to become a man.
Thank God the evil empire is gone. Saint Gorbashev.
rodrigoribeiro1902 3 years ago 3
she was really good
YesITalk2Much 3 years ago 2
probably 30 years ago
youareacool1 3 years ago
Probably more like 16-18.
TuesdayPillow 3 years ago
What year was this documentary made?
violet46 4 years ago
It had to be after the collapse of the USSR - I'm thinking 1990-ish.
TuesdayPillow 3 years ago
I'm thinking 1991-early 1992, as there are references to the World Championships held in the US (Indianapolis in 1991, I'm assuming), and the fact that the USSR has won nine Olympic Team titles (1992 made its tenth).
gutsfinky 3 years ago
At least the Soviet Union monitored their athletes who used drugs; other countries who were using dope werent monitored carefully and safely:)
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
WOW! THAT WUZ AMAZING!
Athlete065 4 years ago
WHHATT she coaches in Cambridge?!
that's scary
doubleback1696 4 years ago
cambridge, ontario CANADA not the UK or whatever
flyingspiral15 4 years ago
ELVIRA SAADI? No way!!! She coaches at Cambridge Kips in my town! I was going to transfer to her gym this summer...never mind that now!
flyingspiral15 4 years ago
was the last part really when it happend??
XxTPain 4 years ago
what minute was it on when you think it happened? if you mean the neck break
Nakhio 4 years ago
I'm glad the money stopped flowing to the national gym, gives other countries a chance to have a fight shot and now we can see the Russians aren't so superhuman afterall when the drugs stop flowing! HUH!
ChuckGymFan 4 years ago
But somebody said that most of the gymnast can't have baby!! Actually, this is propaganda!!! Most of the gymnast made their life and gave birth to normal children!!! Perhaps the girls still less tall tahn other, but that's all!
fatalbeauty 4 years ago 3
R.I.P Mukina. Gymnastic will always have in head your souvenir.
fatalbeauty 4 years ago
Where did you find this....this is s great program. Thanks for the vid.
mtnsleyg81 4 years ago
total respects go to former and current european gymnasts especially in romania and russia...
12idiotslover13 4 years ago
oo thank youu!
gymnasticsbabie 4 years ago
A good video. Thanks for posting.
arkadikl 4 years ago
Cheers!
nanquan491 4 years ago
why infamous? she didnt do anything wrong
scatteam2 4 years ago
um, yeah, americans can never achieve what the soviets did? Please, have you ever heard of Nadia, Mary Lou, Shannon Miller, Kim Zmeskal or Carly Patterson? None of them from Soviet Union...we have had tons of other great athletes in other sports, but since this focuses on gymnastics... there have been more amazing gymnasts from Romania and the US and the rest of the world in the last 20 years than Russia- and they didn't have to cheat to do it....
cheermomintx 4 years ago
Psst, Romania was part of the Soviet Union.
SchwarzeWitwe2 4 years ago
Psst, you are stupid, Romania is an independent country since 1877. Read some history books, before spreading shit via internet; stupid american.
petrebotezatu 4 years ago
If Romania was part of the Soviet Union they would have competed as Soviets but they didn't...they competed as a seperate country...know your history!
mtnsleyg81 4 years ago
My point was that Romania was behind the iron curtain.
SchwarzeWitwe2 4 years ago
Psst, you're a complete idiot.
dashajourafan 4 years ago
No it wasn't!
SpunkyGymnast 4 years ago
omg thats so sad
zipzang 4 years ago
awesome documentary... they own the sport... but was it worth it??? was all the coaches and gymnasts sacrafice worth it?
whatclub 4 years ago
I think when they mention pregnancy they are not talking about it being used in the sport of gymnastics but in track and other sports. Unfortunately, I have read that this type of induced pregnancy has been used as a method of gaining strength in track athletes.
doll1380 4 years ago
soo kool...sad...:(
Interesting things
pinkogurl 4 years ago
A country where almost nothing worked? Hmm..
kochilar 4 years ago
would you mind sending me this video please?
uncha 4 years ago
you can just download it through here, using firefox and a special plugin...
nanquan491 4 years ago
That's insane... I've never heard of getting a girl pregnant then terminating it. That would put her out of training for weeks. The selection process is so tedious. They meassure girls very early on to see if they are gymnast material.
Fabipunkinola 4 years ago
The measuring process is decisive: the coaches also look at the childs' parents and even grandparents so they will have an idea how the child will develop physically. Very tall children are unsuitable for gymnastics. There are always exceptions, such as Sveta Khorkhina and Sveta Boguinskaya, but they are not the rule.
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
The body type is usually short torso, slightly longer arms(for reach on a-bars, and because with longer arms, the child can make more artistic movements)and legs, broad shoulders and narrow hips to comply with recognised standards.
Sorry, I had to split this up: damn 500 word limit!!
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
I do not believe they were speaking of the gymnasts. Many could not menstruate well into their late teens. Besides that, but being pregnant for let's say three months to five and then terminating wouldn't put you out of training for weeks unless there were serious complications.
TuesdayPillow 3 years ago 4
Yes it would put you out of training for about 4 weeks. Remember abortions about 25 to 30 years ago are a bit more primative then they are now.
Fabipunkinola 3 years ago
Well, I was speaking from experience. Ten years ago when you were poor you got "primitive". But then again, who knows?
TuesdayPillow 3 years ago
omg...elvira saadi coaches at my gym! ive trained with her before! lol
MadelineSophia 4 years ago
to become pregnant wat bullshit, americans always try to pin everything bad on the russians because we(russians) are better and always will be in sports and its just tearing americans apart because they have never achived anything like the russians did and probably never will
alenakaka 4 years ago
I believe it was a Russian who made those stupid accusations... not an american.
Fabipunkinola 4 years ago
The interviewer and interviewee were both Russian so Americans did not make this up. You are in denial that the old Soviet Union would stop at nothing for sucess.
elong10 4 years ago
1) I'm American
2) I've never insulted Russians
3) Don't say stuff about things you know little about. You don't know 1/4 of Americans so you can't even say anything like that about us. I believe you're the one 'pinning everything bad at us'.
AndreeaRaducan4Eva 4 years ago
Also, most elite gymnasts don't have enough body fat to have menstrual cycles until after they retire and gain weight...so how the hell was pregnancy induced if there was no egg there to fertilize???
oubeauty2008 5 years ago 4
Erm...I think common sense should tell you that they were talking about track and field athletes, NOT gymnasts:)
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
It seems to me making their gymnasts pregnant would also cause them to gain weight by retaining calories and fat for the fetus; I like how the documentary only takes info from this one person...a little biased.
oubeauty2008 5 years ago
I dont think they meant gymnasts: common sense would tell me that they meant track and field athlets, where any fat would be quickly converted to muscle mass.
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
RIP Yelena.
olena89 5 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Hmmm yelena mukhina is still alive...
Fabipunkinola 4 years ago
I think you'll find she died in Dember 2006 from complications from quadriplegia
smilerjsy 4 years ago 3
Thanks for posting this, I love any type of thing that focuses on gymnastics, being a former gymnast myself. Sort of know first hand about the pushing and coaching of those who want to produce stars
7Millionaire7 5 years ago
this was cool but it cut off and wouldnt let me watch the rest. but it was really good.
lambie94 5 years ago
dude thanks for puttin this up !
whatupyo2006 5 years ago
sure thing! glad you enjoyed it =)
nanquan491 5 years ago
its so easy to blame Soviet coaches... dont forget the war was held on the BOTH sides of the Ocean. No american sport man or woman was destined to be this war vitim? better to say the meat for this war. Sorry
chlenisty 5 years ago
I feel much sorry for all those little gals and boyz broken physically and morally. SORRY ELEN! and all the others...But look those polyanskayas and the kind of so called journalists seeking for seculations (read some f... damn money) would never say that the cold war was on the both sides...
chlenisty 5 years ago
great video :)
postlemonkey 5 years ago
This is a great video. There is something wrong with the last part of it, because the video doesn't play until the end. Could you fix it?
johnnewton 5 years ago
I know.. it's not me, that's just the way the video is... If you'll notice there are some bits missing in the middle too. I didn't make it, I just downloaded it, so there's nothing really I can do. Sorry.
nanquan491 5 years ago
I remember hearing about how Coaches gave the Girls injections to stunt their growth to stay in that "little girl" mode a little longer.
Stinkyfart 5 years ago
I always wondered why the girls were so small. I always thought, "A 15 year old girl at 4 foot 11 and 66 pounds!! How is that possible?!" but I'm SO glad I know now. It's been driving me nuts!
dashajourafan 4 years ago
Well some of it is genetics. All the women in my family are petite-my mom is just 4'8 and her sisters 5'2, her mom was I think about the same.
audie83 4 years ago
I can remember watching Gymnastics during the 1990s. Some of the Coaches were HORRIBLE. How their Parents can sit by and idly watch, I'll never under stand.
Stinkyfart 5 years ago 3
i dnt no y they sit wachin us in pain. ak my mom lol. im an elite gymnast n i tell u tht yeh, some of the coaches are hell. but they get us were we need to go if we are mentally and physically strong enuf.
lilmizkittenz 4 years ago
If you're elite, you might want to return to school to learn English.
SchwarzeWitwe2 4 years ago 3
You took the words out of my mouth:) I detest this desecration of the English language, known as "fuckwit language"; it takes longer to type it too, so it just shows the sheepish mentality of the idiots who use it-they do it because everybody else does it. Youtube should ban fuckwit language anyway.
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
please type like an adult... this internet girlie typing just makes you look stupid. "dnt" "enuf" "tht" etc.
nanquan491 4 years ago
Terrible things were done to Kristie Phillips. She attempted suicide and when she went on Johnny Carson, they had to give her a script so she would know about boyfriends and normal teenage life. Read LITTLE GIRLS IN PRETTY BOXES. It is not just the communists who exploit children!
ilextree 5 years ago 3
yea i read it! it was really intense...
gymnasticsbabie 4 years ago
r dey made 2 av sex wen becoming pregnant or test tube?
colacool22 5 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
CANT YOU COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH????Or can you only communicate in fluent fuckwit language???
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
ya. who does this person think they are??? :@
kyleishotterthanjack 3 years ago
RIP, Lenochka. We love you.
katya74 5 years ago
Yes, that was double full in, Doug.
I found the segment on forced pregnancies to be very inappropriate. This piece is primarily about gymnastics but they bring in a rumour which primarily applies to marathoners. I have a science degree in human performance and I don't recall any benefit of pregnancy for gymnasts. The vast majority of gymnasts are physically incapable of pregnancy because they are prepubescent or amenorrhaeic.
katakanadian 5 years ago 2
At 7:20 in, is that a double full in back out piked? Or are my eyes going funny?
Doug1233 5 years ago
Sort of. Groshkova was the first to compete the double-full in back out TUCKED. Still amazing, but she RARELY made it.
mrparke007 5 years ago
I know: I always thought she was going to shatter her ankles landing it.
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
No you are right-she did it weird though, sort of like a "puck": a cross between a pike and a tuck. What is even more amazing is that she was 18 years old in this video!!!!She has the face and body of a 10 year old. Unreal. Although she was beautiful, she was terribly inconsistent in her gymnastics, which is why she didnt live up to her potential.
ralucagymnast 4 years ago
do they actually show her getting hurt? like landing on her head?
IGgymnast10 2 years ago
it was in training so no one taped it.
ilovelibertyTYC 2 years ago
you definitively are a sick twisted person by asking such monstruosity.
thebrainyouneed 2 years ago
shut the fuck up. i do not like watching gymnast get injured and i didnt watch this video because i thought they would show her getting injured. i was asking before i watched. dont say shit when you know nothing
IGgymnast10 2 years ago 3
It is obvious that this is very biased and unbalanced reporting. I believe that that there are negatives and positives to communism and capitalism. However, this segment is mainly the opinion of old white men and everything is oversimplified. What happened to Elena Mukhina is infuriating but you can't be so dismissive of people's talent, dedication and perseverance.
elamantebilingue 5 years ago 4
You obviously never lived under communism. Otherwise, you wouldn't be spewing such utter garbage.
shpala 5 years ago