"When Lyuda and I go to discos, we always have to walk up with our pasports open, because the doormen cannot believe she is 19," says Korostelyova, a former Russian national teammate. "She may be small and seem shy, but when she dances, everybody just stares and says, 'Wow!' Lyuda is a great dancer, and when she is dancing, she is not shy at all."
Nor is Yezhova reticent about expressing her support for relatively mature competitors such as herself and 23-year-old Khorkina. "Gymnastics is not only for young girls," she says. "Even gymnasts like Khorkina and others are grown up now. Because of that, gymnastics will be blooming."
As Yezhova assesses her own usefulness amidst newfound appreciation for gymnasts' longevity, she says age has made her gymnastics challenging in one way and rote in others. "I think that gymnastics is more complicated, of course, when you are older," she admits. "But your technique and your habits that you get from a lot of years are also a big plus. You can do it automatically."
For the tenacious Yezhova, maintaining her form should maintain her well-earned place in the gymnastics world.
-John Crumlish
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