Word: world
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...last men's event in the World Gymnastics Championships, the finals in the individual competition on the high bar, and the Soviets' Alexander Tkachev went first. He was trailing Kurt Thomas, the finest male gymnast in U.S. history, by just .025 points. Leaping up to the bar, Tkachev spun through a series of dazzling maneuvers. He launched himself into a twisting flyaway somersault, swooped down, then grabbed the bar a split second before crashing to the floor. Finally, Tkachev arched his body high above the bar, twisted through another flying double somersault with two half-twists and landed...
...title would be lost. Jammed into Fort Worth's convention center, the crowd of 9,200 that had been roaring for its favorites sensed the meaning of the moment and fell silent: never before had an American tested muscle and nerve under such pressure in a world-class gymnastics showdown...
...final major meet before next July's Olympic Games in Moscow, U.S. men won three gold medals, three silvers and a bronze in individual events. At the last world championships in 1978, the U.S. took just one men's event -Thomas in the floor exercises. This time, Thomas won two gold medals and two silvers, and came within .275 of a point, after 18 events, of beating the Soviets' Alexander Ditiatin for the coveted all-around title. Amer ica's Bart Conner won a gold on the parallel bars and a bronze on the vault. What...
Thomas and Conner coolly dueled the world's best, displaying not only solid technical skills but the flair and inventiveness that raise their sport to art. Conner's performance on the parallel bars was such a blend. Legs spread in a straddle position, he supported himself on one bar, pressed slowly up into a handstand - then shifted to a one-armed handstand. He was the only finalist even to attempt such a stunt. For making the difficult look easy, Conner earned a 9.90 score and a gold medal...
...star is rising, Japan's fortunes seem on the wane. For 20 years they had dominated men's gymnastics so completely - winning every Olympic and world championship team gold medal since 1960- that many of the difficult tricks bear the names of the Japanese gymnasts who invented them. But a solid Soviet team, led by Ditiaid, 22, and the exciting Tkachev, 22, may change the language of men's gymnastics. Says former U.S. Olym pian Muriel Grossfeld: "The Soviets are superb, awesome under pressure. At least five of the six Soviet men can do [tricks] only...