I came across this 1992 book about a year ago, thanks to a link on Facebook; I can't remember whose. I was lucky enough to be able to buy a copy on Amazon (it is now long out of print). In the middle of sorting out my sports books, I remembered that I wanted to share this treasure with you.
![]()
A spread from the lavish hardback book : Yulia Kut, Tatiana Toropova and Svetlana Boguinskaia at Lake Krugloye, prior to the Barcelona Olympics.
The author and photographer, David Turnley, made a journey through Russia shortly after the break up of the Soviet Union, and this photo journal documents his experience. It is a story of a society in transition, an art book and not a sports book, but it is still one of the best books in my collection.
David speaks of the gymnasts' daily lives, and talks to Soviet team captain, 1989 World Champion, Svetlana Boguinskaia.
He comments that the training is professional, but the facilities 'rudimentary', the living conditions 'sparse'. The food is basic by Western standards.
An American girls' team was training there during his visit; a money-making enterprise for the cash strapped Soviet State Sports Committee. 'What the Soviet team is doing in the first hour of training is what we try to work up to by the end of the day' comments one American coach (how things have changed).
David explains that the idea of the Soviet sports star as privileged was misplaced: Boguinskaia was earning 250 Roubles a month - the equivalent of less than $10 at that time. After winning multiple Olympic medals she had qualified to buy a 20 square meter apartment and a Volga car, without having to endure the years-long wait most ordinary Soviets would experience.
Even so, Svetlana emphasises, the conveniences accorded by her top sporting status - while meagre by international standards - were significant enough to encourage her continued commitment to sport. 'I realized this concretely two years ago when I dropped out of gymnastics, and went back to Minsk to live. One day I was standing in line waiting to buy chocolate, and the line was so long I was going to have to wait all day. I realized what the life of normal Soviet citizens is like. I came back to Moscow to resume gymnastics.'