Yuri Korolev - 1981 - 1984

1984

As Korolev had been winning many titles and medals for years as a Junior at such competitions as the Jr. USSR Championships and Jr. European Championships, it was no surprise that his senior debut in 1981 would be quite major. At that year’s European Championships in Rome, where he became the first gymnast to compete a triple back dismount from the Rings as well as a full-twisting double layout dismount from the High Bar, he won the silver medal in the Individual All-Around, as well as taking 4 out of a possible 6 event finals medals – 2 gold and 2 silver. He was no less successful at that year’s World Championships in Moscow, where his consistent, strong performances (highest 6-event composite score in the team compulsory segment of the competition, highest 12-event composite score throughout both segments of the team composition) won him the All-Around Champion title. He was the youngest Men’s World All-Around Artistic Gymnastics Champion up to that point.

The next year, he continued to be the first, or among the first, male gymnasts to successfully compete certain yet more difficult moves, such as doing a handstand in the middle of a Pommel Horse routine as well as doing consecutive repetitions of the Tkachev release move on High Bar, at the 1982 World Gymnastics Cup in Zagreb, Yugoslavia where yet more strong performances helped him to 3rd place in the All-Around competition behind Chinese gymnasts Li Ning (1st) and Tong Fei (2nd). He would also take 5 out of a possible 6 medals in the event finals (Parallel Bars title, plus 3 silvers and a bronze).

1983 was not as good a year for Korolev as the previous 2 had been. He did manage to place 2nd to Bilozerchev in the All-Around at that year’s European Championships in Varna, as well as winning 2 event titles (Floor, shared with Plamen Petkov of Bulgaria, and Vault). But a disastrous performance on high bar (score of 8.85) in the team compulsories segment of competition at that year's World Championships in Budapest dropped him to 5th on the Soviet team, although his 6-event team composite score in team optionals was second, among his teammates, to Bilozerchev’s. Not being among the top 3 men on his team, he did not qualify to the Individual All-Around Final, nor did he win a medal on any of the 3 individual event finals to which he qualified. Interesting to note is that although the Soviet team was able to throw out Korolev’s 8.85 High Bar score (their other 5 scores were all 9.7 or above), they still lost the World Team Title to China by only .100 (a very small margin in a team competition), and this was the only World or Olympic Team title the Soviet men would lose at a non-boycotted World Championships or Olympics from 1979 to 1992.

In 1984, any hopes Korolev would have realistically entertained about any Olympic successes were dashed by the Soviet-led boycott, and then his father’s death prevented him from participating in the Alternate Olympics that year.