Grace And Skill Shown In Olympic Gymnastics

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29339, 19 October 1960, Page 13

Grace And Skill Shown In Olympic Gymnastics

■(From Our Own Reporter)

A T the Olympic ' Games one may see many skills of different types. Each has its own appeal, but it Is doubtful whether there is a sport which combines grace and skill to such an extent as does the gymnastics. The gymnastics at Rome was of a very high standard. As in Melbourne, the organisers greatly under-estimated the drawing power of this sport. There is little interest taken in gymnastics in many countries, and for this reason, undoubtedly, the Italians staged it in the Baths of Caracalla, where the seating was quite inadequate. As in Melbourne, great numbers of people turned up to see the finals of the. individual voluntary events, and many were unable to gain admission.

In recent years there has been some criticism, even in high Olympic circles, of the fact that there are gold, silver and bronze medals awarded for each of the six individual men’s apparatus events, as well as for the best individual totals over the six events, and also for the best team scores. Decathlon Some nations, especially those which have shown little interest in gymnastics, have likened this competition to that of the decathlon in athletics. If medals are to be awarded for each of the six component parts of the gymnastics, say these people, then why not for each of the 10 component parts of the decathlon event? The answer is easily given.

At Rome this year, for instance, the winner of the section for exercises on the parallel bars was B. Shaklin of Russia. He was awarded the gold medal. The question arises: “Has Shaklin shown himself to be the best in the world on the parallel bars?” The answer can only be yes. All the gymnasts at Rome competed on the parallel bars as part of their team exercises. The best six were given a further chance, and Shaklin emerged as the winner. He is, therefore, the rightful recipient of the gold medal in this event. In the decathlon, the best performer in the 1500-metres section of this even, for instance, was

M. Kahma of Finland. Does this mean that he is the best in the world over this distance? His time of 4min 22.8 sec does not make it appear so. H. Elliott of Australia was the winner of this individual event in the Games in 3min 35.65ec. It can be seen that winners of events in the decathlon have no claim to being the best in the world in these events, and as such have no claim to medals of any sort. If, by chance, a man in the decathlon was in fact the best in the world in 400-metres, for example, then there is a gold medal waiting for him in this individual event in the athletics programme. This was the case in the Melbourne Games when one of the United States competitors in the

decathlon was R- Richards. Richards was the best ip the world over the pole vault, and he duly collected the gold medal for this event. To have awarded another for the pole vault section of the decathlon would . have been to award two gold medals tor the same thing. The six individual gymnastic events—parallel bars, horizontal bar, rings, floor exercises, vaulting horse and pommelled horse—have something in common but are all a little different. In common they demand a fine blend of skill and judgment, and impose a great nervous strain However, they each require a slightly different type' of skill and place demands upon a different combination of muscles. The horizontal bar is usually the most spectacular, and in Rome the Japanese, T. Ono, as in Melbourne. gave a flawless display of style. Japanese also filled second and fourth places in this event. Shaklin won the parallel bars event, another which requires a fine sense of timing and style. Like the horizontal bar, the parallel bars present the opportunity for only a limited number of variations, so the emphasis is on perfection of these. The victory in the rings event of A. Azarian (Russia) was never in doubt. The margin held by Azarian over the second competitor, though small (19.725 against 19.500) was the largest of any event in the series. Azarian's 19.725 out of a possible of 20 was also by far the highest individual score gained in any event.

While he has developed his allround work on the rings to a high standard, Azarian undoubtedly owes his success to the movement to which he gave his name—“Azarian's Cross.” As in Melbourne, no other gymnast dared to attempt this movement, especially at the end of an exercise which places unusual strain on the arms and the wrists. It is difficult to describe this movement. Starting from a position like that of the letter “T." with arms outstretched at grasping the rings, Azarian slowly turned his body until he was djrectly facing one ring, the whole time maintaining his "T” or cross position. He then reverses and turns to face the other ring. This exercise demands, as well as strength and control far in advance of the ordinary, great flexibility of the shoulder muscles. Agile

A little bundle of muscle and agility. N. Aihara, of Japan, won the floor exercise section, also by a good margin. Tumbling and somersaulting, combined with graceful movements of the body on the floor, comprise this section.

Ono and Shaklin tied for first place in the vaulting horse, perhaps the most nerve-racking of all events. Absolute perfection in jumping and landing is demanded for a medal. To land on perfect balance is the hardest thing of all. In the “cavallo con maniglie" or pommelled horse, Shaklin tied for first place with E. Ekman • Finland) and won the combined individual title although Japan, with Ono finishing second and other team-members in fourth, fifth, and sixth places, took the team gold medals.