By John Crumlish
World all-around bronze medalist Yelena Produnova: dynamic, daring, dignified
Few gymnasts infuse acrobatic intrepidity with such intense femininity as does 1997 world all-around bronze medalist Yelena Produnova.
Emerging from a promising supportive role on the Russian team in 1995 and a disheartening heel injury in 1996, Produnova is at last fully realizing the rich beauty and power of her talents.
Art and muscle merge to produce Produnova's classy gutsiness, softened by a personal disposition which is both ambitious and amnable.
"I'm just an ordinary, good-natured person," Produnova says breezily. "In competition, I have to get out of myself and get my mind focused on performing my routines. Then, when it's all over, I'm simply me- whom you see here."
Fans approve of the public Produnova- she of the sharp, deep flexibility and daring, complex trick combinations. At the '97 Worlds, only all-around champion Svetlana Khorkina stimulated more exuberant audience approval than the courageous Produnova. No other gymnast than she recieved more vehement spectator support when a few of her scores seemed questionably low.
The private Produnova is carefree, focused, and quick of commend her mentors for the harmony of her performances. Born Feb. 15, 1980, in the gymnastics landmark town of Rostov-on-Don, she enrolled in her first gym class at age 5. Produnova credits the aesthetic diligence of her longtime coaches, Ruslan Lavrov and his wife, Veronika Yakubova, for cultivating her gallant flair.
"My coaches were very good, and instilled style and beauty in my gymnastics," Produnova notes. Russian head coach Leonid Arkayev is now refining her program, since Lavrov and Yakubova recently relocated to Germany. (Lavrov also coached 1976 Soviet Olympian Svetlana Grozdova.)
The bold Produnova becomes instantly demure, however, when complimented on her personal elan. "For that, I have to thank my mother," she says, her chuckle and blush simultaneous.
Produnova's trio of medals in Lausanne firmly reinforced her senior international credibility. She competed for Russia at the '95 Worlds, then dipped back into the juvenile circuit to help her squad win the '95 Junior European Team Finals two months later. In 1996 Produnova hobbled through what she recalls a "very difficult" year, hindered by the injury that finally required surgery in December.
Now almost 18, Produnova says she is exerting- and inserting- more authority into her repertoire. "Basically, it's my choice," she explains. "I look at the different combinations and see which ones look good and which don't look so good. I want them to match my character. If I like a combination, it's wonderful!"
She is even more emphatic when defending her relentless barrage of skills, which exceeds the requirements of the new Code of Points. "I do a lot of different elements all the time in training, and I'm not the kind of person who would then water down in competition," Produnova says decisively.
For all her supple precision on beam and floor, Produnova admits she needs to better control her might on vaulting and bars, where her legs and feet sometimes slacken as she swings from one skill to the next. "I'm working on keeping my legs together," she says. "Bars, for example, has been a hard apparatus for me since I was a child. I have some small problems. I have to work all the time to fix them, but the problems still exist!"
Produnova is likely to obliterate those trouble spots in time, but she is cutting herself some slack in one aspect of her career: success beyone the present.
"I don't like to look into the future," she says. "I just take things day by day. Whatever happens, happens."
This mellow philosophy manifests itself when the self-proclaimed "ordinary" Produnova emerges after a tense competition. Her warm smile welcomes tough media questions and tender fan attentions. She poses patiently for photos and stays to sign the last autograph for the last of her imploring well-wishers.
Produnova is just as popular on her Russian team, eagerly fortifying friendships in spite of the constant rivalry for positions in the lineup. "I don't think of the other girls as enemies," she says of her desire to be a loyal confidant as well as a scoring leader.
Ever modest, Produnova can only laugh self-consciously when challenged to assess her impact as a prominent gymnast and benevolent young woman. She ponders for a moment before offering a simple aspiration. "I hope people say nice things about me," Produnova comments, "both as a good person and a good gymnast."
Indeed, Produnova is already giving them her power and beauty-reasons enough.
-John Crumlish
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