International Gymnast - September 2010

1980s Russian gymnast Alexander Pogorelov threw his name into gymnastics history with an innovative release element on high bar. His signature skill—a 11⁄2-twisting flyaway regrasp—is known as the Def, for French gymnast Jacques Def, who performed it at the 1981 world championships. Pogorelov, however, began training it in 1977 and first competed it in 1978.

“The idea came to me alone in my
head,” says Pogorelov, who at the time
had no coach, but trained with a
friend. “I began to learn it like every
flight element. I did it as a dismount,
and every day I gradually came closer
to the bar. This gave me a good feeling
for distance. Sometimes, especially at
competitions, I performed it very close,
but I never crashed into the bar.”
Pogorelov’s high bar routine also
included a Winkler (full-twisting front
salto regrasp) and a triple back dis-
mount.

Pogorelov credits his success to Vik-tor Korolkov, the senior coach at “Trud” in his native Volgograd, for encouraging Soviet head coach Andrei Rodionenko to take him into the Soviet senior training squad; and Slava

“The idea came to me alone in my head.” “The idea came to me alone in my head.”

Boiko (now an assistant coach at Penn State), who began coaching Pogorelov in 1981.

Pogorelov won the USSR Cup in 1983 and 1984, tied for the silver medal on high bar at the 1983 worlds, and won a team gold at the 1984 “Alternate” Games.

These days, Pogorelov’s life is perhaps less daring, but equally fulfilling. He owns a mobile-telephone business in Moscow, where he lives with his wife, Irina Kozharina, and their daughter, Anastasia. Anastasia, a rhythmic gymnast who is coached by her mother, keeps Pogorelov’s wild streak alive. “Like all athletes, I like video games,” Pogorelov says. “At home she sometimes invites me to play PlayStation with her. She needs the company.”