“My teammates understood that my participation in the finals could make me win, but
we didn’t become enemies, nevertheless.”
Experts respected the majesty of Baraksanova’s
performances, which combined with her prodigious
talent earned her a precious spot in the Soviet team
in the mid-1980s. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan,
Baraksanova tied for the all-around title at the 1984
European junior championships, and helped her
senior team win gold at the 1984 “Alternate
Games” in Olomouc, which mainly included teams
that had boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics.
Baraksanova’s top skills included a full-in dismount
on beam. On floor in various meets, she tumbled a
piked full-in as a first pass and tucked full-in as a last
pass; double layout as a first pass; and 11⁄2 twist
through to double tuck as a middle pass.
Baraksanova moved with an aesthetic purity that
few gymnasts then or since could replicate. Her
1984-85 floor routine (YouTube link on p. 8),
sumptuously choreographed to composer Yevgeny
Doga’s haunting waltz from a 1978 Soviet film, is
one of gymnastics history’s most beautiful compositions. The humble Baraksanova Malinina credits
genetics for providing the rudiments of her peerless
style.
“Nature gave me a very good physique: good
proportions, lightness and strength,” she says.
“Besides, I was a very hard-working child. I loved
gymnastics and trained a lot.”
No amount of discipline and determination, how-
ever, could intercede when
That was as close as Barak-
sanova got to victory, though.
Soviet officials told the press in
Montreal that Baraksanova and
Mostepanova were suffering from
lingering injuries, and therefore
were being replaced in the final
by teammates Oksana Omelian-
chik and Yelena Shushunova. “I
wasn’t injured,” Baraksanova
Malinina says. “I was simply
exchanged, even though I was
prepared to perform and was
healthy.”
Omelianchik and Shushunova,
who made costly mistakes on
uneven bars in the team competi-
tion, were equally splendid in the
all-around final and tied for the
gold medal.
“That was the decision of the
team management,” Baraksanova
Malinina says. “My teammates
understood that my participation
in the finals could make me win,
but we didn’t become enemies, nevertheless.”
While outside forces put Baraksanova’s potential-
ly glorious moment in Montreal out of reach, she
refuses to torment herself by asking what she could
have made of it.
“I don’t like to think What if…? Baraksanova
Malinina says. “It doesn’t make any sense. It is
important to overcome the challenges that come
your way. And I was able to do that, which makes
me very proud of myself. I wish that all the people
who encounter challenges in their lives could do the
same.”
Baraksanova Malinina prefers to devote her
energy to her family and career instead of ponder-
ing the past. She stays busy—and fit—as a private
fitness and Pilates instructor in Moscow. “I really
like my job, and I feel a lot of affinity for it,” she
says. “I like the fact that I can grow professionally.
I attend international conventions and seminars,
and meet and work with a lot of people, including
children.”
Her own children—19-year-old Lena, a market-
ing student, and 13-year-old Anton—are aware of
their mother’s gymnastics success. “They like to lis-
ten to my stories about it, but it doesn’t happen
very often,” she admits. Otherwise, Baraksanova
Malinina stays keen on the sport by getting togeth-
er with coaches and gymnasts, attending meets—
“unfortunately, not as often as I would like”—and
tuning in when gymnastics is televised.
While Baraksanova Malinina realizes that contemporary rules reflect the sport’s
technical evolution, she thinks
the requisite elegance that
made her and her teammates’
performances so memorable
could restore gymnastics to its
former level of popularity and
intrigue.
“Gymnastics is a very
demanding discipline with a lot of difficult, acrobat-
ic and technical elements,” she says. “Right now
the accent is made on the technical components. If
the rules of gymnastics will change, and beauty and
grace become the priority, then women’s gymnas-
tics will become more artistic and beautiful.”
Websites such as You Tube offer young fans the
chance to experience the sport’s golden years,
including many of Baraksanova’s stunning routines.
She is grateful that fans remember and appreciate
her contributions to gymnastics, and treasures the
sport for molding her—mind, body and soul.
“Gymnastics put a foundation for all of my professional life,” Baraksanova Malinina says. “It made
my character stronger. It taught me how to overcome difficulties when you’re out of physical and
spiritual strength. I feel grateful that I had a chance
to be a part of gymnastics.” IG
Baraksanova in
action in the
1980s (left &
opposite), and
today as a private fitness
instructor in
Moscow (above).
IG contributor John Crumlish, who has covered three
Olympic Games and 12 world championships, lives in
Los Angeles.
