Most stories call her 'the girl with ice eyes', but yes it's very sad what happened to her, I'm glad the thomas salto is banned for wag and mag now

That was the first thing I noticed about her. Her eyes. Her face is gaunt and pale and her cheeks are hollow. She looks rail-thin and you can see the suffering from deep within her soul. She was a victim of child abuse and exploitation. 💔

her life was really fucking tragic too, both her parents died within like the first four years of her life, leaving her an orphan, and then i believe when she was a bit older her guardian passed away. there was nobody there to protect this poor girl. may she rip

@@hannahtanski3911 Her grandmother, Anna Ivanovna raised her after her parents passed. In 2005, her grandmother passed. Her friend Elena Gurina had taken over her care as her grandmother aged.

Dont say fake news....father is probably still alive. At least he was when she died and inherited her flat and medals. Mother died yes in fire that alcoholic father provoked. He was in prison for a while....after he had another women and family. Return to Lena only for money when she was already paralyzed. The Grandma was strange character, strong and cold....very religious in bad way so there cant be warm touch too.

I agree. Nadia Comenici is often mentioned, it would be good to remember Elena in those instances. It is my understanding that Comenici was treated extremely poorly as well (form the documentary Athlete A - I don't know that much about it). But about physical abuse if they didn't perform and that all the announcers spoke about Comenici never smiling. 👎👎

@@dyslexiahelpforallages4176 She wasn't undererrated. She was expected to take gold in the Moscow Olympics. Maybe you haven't heard of her, but we all saw her on Saturday tv on ABC and she was considered a tough tough contender for gold. That entire Russian team was

@@asturiasceltic3183 I guess I'm thinking in the history of gymnastics. I am 35, so I wasn't able to watch her when she performed. But, I also haven't really heard her mentioned and have been a light fan of gymnastics for awhile.

@@dyslexiahelpforallages4176 You probably saw her without knowing it. Do you remember a news story of a funeral that Svetlana Khorkina attended and suddenly burst into tears and ran out of the funeral? That was Elena's funeral.

Very sad. When she won it was for her country. She was praised. When she got injured , she was forsaken and left to suffer and die. Cruel.

She died in her early 40s. I hope her coaches are in h€||

Freedom, ha! You,like most people, probably don’t realize what it is like for someone with a spinal cord injury. They have absolutely no control over their bowel and bladder. It is like being in hell.

@@scot60mid forties .

No one knew what happened to her in the USA. Maybe the sports world did but the everyday American didn't

The truth about the circumstances and extent of Elena’s injury did not come out until after the fall of the Soviet Union.

@@asturiasceltic3183 I certainly didn’t; I just noticed that she was Just Gone from one meet to the next…

@@lesliegoodman-malamuth9796 Me too. I noticed the little red-head girl was no longer there and I thought she got in trouble or didn't make the Olympic team and didn't know the horrible truth until about 6 years ago while being on KZfaq

@@asturiasceltic3183 I am glad that in many nations, “safe sport” precautions of all kinds are being put into place for gymnasts and other young athletes. Since I was molested as an adolescent by a doctor, the Larry Nassar case revived horrible memories. Though I’d told myself that I was “only groped,” “only” remains much too much for a young girl to tolerate. I still freeze when someone snaps off a light abruptly, as did my erstwhile optometrist.

I Also couldn't understand the bully mentality and lack of compassion from the conservative KZfaq news blogs and the all out attack on her patriotism referring her decision to a "woke" response for her twisties and stress.Women get stressed by excess hormones that cause postpartum infanticide,or suicide. I thought they had good fact finders before they " open mouth, insert foot".

I bet those beta males hated her for being a female and black. Typical racist and sexist behavior because they went beyond being disappointed at her; they were bashing her. As long as she was winning, they could tolerate her being black. So when she started having the twisties and feeling mentally out of her element, they used this as an excuse to voice their hate in the form of calling her “weak” etc. She has nothing to prove to anyone. She’ll always be an amazing gymnast 💗

@@LeMarais88 🙄🙄

Yes so true @Lizzie Beth, When I first read about Mukhina's injury I remember being shocked her first thought was that too - just speaks to how much pressure and abuse she was under. Such a tragic story and all the more cause it was preventable :-(

@@LeMarais88 👏👏👏

Good that you write this here. But about these cases no such propaganda film - we have here - will be made. The goal for this video is to not to show how much cruelty is in gymnastics, but in Sowjet Union.

@@sakura44553 The sport of gymnastics everywhere is cruel.

@@sofiarangel1315 yep

Julissa Gomez (as sad as her story is) was not treated anywhere near as badly as Yelena Mukhina. The Soviet regime was on another level of harshness and was nothing like how American gymnasts were treated!

@@MagicalMukhinasorry ? Who was killed ? Not Mukhina. And let’s talk about sex scandal in American gymnastics

I can't recall how old she was in each instance, but I read that by the time she was a senior gymnast both her parents had died. I have also never heard of her having siblings. This is so tragic. She was just 19 when she was paralyzed. Rest peacefully, Elena. You were a magnificent person and this never should have happened to you. ❤😥

Me too ....rip❤

That's how communist countries that focus on face and soft power act. China is doing exactly the same thing and everybody is watching in HD screens and applauding for how great they are and giving them a "soft warning" for displaying political items at awards ceremony, like the cyclists who "decided" to wear a mao zedong pin (Im sure it was their decision). And China just testing how many boundaries they can cross without any consequences. No worries, if any of their athletes become severely disabled they'll just kick them to the curb, if they still can be used somehow they will rehabilitate them for the paralympics, what matters is to bring medals to mother land.

Look at what happened to Kamila Valieva in Beijing

@@Sarablueunicorn you don’t think American coaches aren’t cruel

No, innocent people are jailed in Russia only.

Good

Is it though? It was still done in the 90s.

It took them 12 years to ban it for the women and finally for men in 2012. Crazy!

For guys it was done even until the 2010s

@@colesmith7509 no till 2017 in men gymnastics

Especially tell all men. No empathy, instrumentalizing for personal gain, disbelief and gaslighting. The daily utterly common things. doing horrific damage.

Sorry ,but there is truly no reason for this story to be repeated to those whom have in actuality no connection to her. Waste of time to do such -- perhaps only for those whom may want to know whom she is or whom she had been.

Simone Biles has no bearing on this subject matter -- time to leave her where she belongs -- on the sidelines.Unless wanting to,discuss her actions ,of quitting on the American team ,the other fellow teammates with what had been construed as being nothing but excuses . After all ,her scores were already lower than her other teammate ,based on what has been claimed/ stated in other stories / articles regarding the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

@@wandabailey7870 I feel like her story is a valuable cautionary tale for any athlete. It's a great, real life example of the consequences of over-working your body. Of not listening to yourself when something doesn't feel right. It's also noteworthy because this happened in training, not in competition. The injuries athletes suffer each and every year often occur when they're doing everyday, regular workouts and practicing. It highlights the point that it's critical to never let your guard down in terms of safety. People thought this girl was INVINCIBLE she was so talented. So yeah, I think this is actually an incredibly important set of information that would do nothing but benefit those who heard it and possibly save lives.

@Wanda you must be fun at parties. People with zero understanding and compassion usually are.

Sorry correction her mom died I a fire 🔥. :( but still orphaned ) :(

Based on what I read, Elena did the Thomas salto routine with still unhealed leg wound from surgery without the presence of her coach klimenko.

Did you get to know her? I recently knew of Elena's story, and I immediately admired how talented and strong she was.

There was a similar episode with another neck injury before that. A spinous process broke off of one of her neck vertebae. The coach made her take off the neck brace and train. She had a chronic wrist injuries and often dislocated fingers from bad falls. Choreographer used to sneak her smelling salts, Elena hid a bud of cotton wool wet with the smelling salts solution in the sleeve of her leo to sneak a sniff when she felt like fainting from pain. If she gained as much as 100 grams of weight, she'd be running at nights instead of sleep to avoid coach's fury. She said in several interviews that she felt suicidal and at the end of her rope

So sad 😢😢😢

She's my favorite too. Not enough people notice her absolutely gorgeous ballet skills on beam and floor. She was perfection! What happened to her is CRIMINAL. This tragic story makes me so angry every time it crosses my mind. And very, very, very sad. I hope at least now she is at peace.

@@MeganVictoriaKearns The Soviet Union was very evil regime that lasted from 1917 to 1991. The Red Square scared the shit out of the Western world. The Iron Curtain was very real.

no because same. she was so ahead of the time in terms of her tumbling and skills, but was able to retain the classic grace of the soviets. i feel so sorry and sad for her, she had nobody left to watch for her or even protect her, she was an orphan. what bothers me even more was that klimenko was allowed to coach more gymnasts after!

People praised the Soviet Union and the Communist countries for their sports program because of their work ethic, but the sports teams were nothing but machines and pawns by a horrible political system. And for what??!!.. This poor girl was so abused. We know now.

I would have said sorry no but I heard that one way ticket to Siberia was still about then

@@sandrasanders706 Step out of your anti-communist narrow, which is brainwashed in your mind and see what sport is doing to people all over the world. Extrem skills come often with a high price. Wake up!

Don’t say rip that’s rude literally bro

@@sakura44553 your comment didn't age well. The Beijing winter Olympics has just finished and the shame of Russia doping a 15 year old figure skater (kamila valieva) and then not supporting her after an obvious mental breakdown on the ice at these Olympics. Also, this has nothing to do with communism per se, just authoritarian dictatorships (like Putin's Russia right now) that don't give a fig for their athletes.

I know what you mean. Poor Elena had such a tragic life 😢

You can't compare Elena's years with Simone's times.

Simone was no hero.

@@lois2997unless you can do better your opinion means nothing.

@@nyx7506no I disagree. Everyone has opinions about a lot of things they can’t personally do and they do count. How many of us could be prime minister or president? Yet everyone’s opinion counts, that’s why we have elections.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f5yRdrhnxL-5kWQ.html

Yes, seen by the whole world. That everyone knows what Russia did, their lies....lies..lies.

Crow embarrass the nation?!? Seriously?!? No matter what happened, Simone could never embarrass a nation! She is an incredible athlete and human being…and should never be viewed as someone to just get medals for a nation…….

My opinion is if she knew ahead of the olympics that she wasn't physically and mentally ready for the 2020 Olympics she should have stepped down and let someone else take her spot.

I did I thought everyone did.

​@@TheWoodland12 Everyone does not. How could you support a known drug user and quitter?!

There's a large swath of Americans who are psychopaths and have zero capabilities for human emotions and empathy. Those psychopaths were the ones bullying Simone. Very sick, evil, malignant and demonic is what psychopaths are.

I was wondering where he parents were and why they were letting that happen. 😪

Carey Metz her mother had died, her father was apparently an alcoholic and in prison

This is what communism does

The problem I have with Simone Biles's decision is when she decided to withdraw. She should have retired after the US qualifiers and let someone else take her place and realize their dreams. Because of her someone lost out on their dreams and that isn't right

Erin Meany I wonder if any of you can comprehend the unrealistic and immense pressure that Simone was under? It’s almost a wonder that she didn’t have a nervous breakdown because of it. The fact that she didn’t is a testament to her mental toughness. Simone and all the others are elite athletes, but they are not a machine!

@@cynthiasealy573 OMG, are you her besty?

@@cynthiasealy573 No, they can't comprehend because they don't care. All they are is armchair critics.This is the same attitude that got Elena injured.

Ralph Hahn 🙄

He is a coward.

You could see how exhausted she was, she lost speed in the middle of her second rotation in the double back. Most elite gymnasts can do that skill every day, when one can't it means there is something wrong and that gymnast needs rest and/or healing. I could feel her exhaustion just watching her videos. Poor dear! She had no parents to advocate for her.

The Soviet govt controlled the doctors ; can’t place all blame on them. They would have been thrown out the window

R u kidding??? If it was the same they wouldnt have allowed Simone to back out of competition. She would have been forced despite what she wanted. Its completely different and comparing the 2 just takes away from Elenas harrowing story.

They are not going to stop, is just that at those times, everything was worst. Have you seen China train the poor girls?

@@nomdeplume2213 the only difference is that Simone had the strength to stand up for herself and say no…. If not, she VERY WELL could’ve ended up with an injury like Elena’s. Don’t forget that the Olympics before this last one, Simone was there and was getting sexually abused by the “doctor” who she was sent to BY her coaches.

Simone does not endure what Elena did. What the hell are you talking about?

@deirdrekiely6187 She and other gymnasts talk about it all the time. How the hell would you know enough to just say she definitely hasn't been through anything similar. You must not pay attention. I never said their situations were exactly the same, i said PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE which they ALL have pointed out. Just because simone lived through it does not mean she doesn't know what it's like to be in that space.

Amen

Worse than that

I've heard that it's possible the coaches themselves were being pushed hard by people higher up the pecking order such as Soviet government officials. I think Elena herself may have said she didn't completely blame her coach as "he's a victim of the system."

​@@lesleyb5591 yes if you went against the system you could be sent to the gulags and your family could be targeted also by government officials , it was a very cruel regime in those years and people lived in fear

Was this the standard of care in 1980, in the U.S? You are correct about the care being better here than the USSR.

She didn't even get the surgery for a couple of days.

It does seem as though her post-injury care was severely lacking. And, the horrible part is, proper care was most likely available in some capacity but she didn’t receive it because she was no longer of any use to the Soviets. They knew she’d never compete again, so they just moved on. Incredibly, incredibly unfair and cruel. May you now have the peace you sought, Elena 🕊

In the USA she would have been living in the streets

@@brandycarter9829seriously ? You are just trrrible . Unfortunately at that time not much could have been done

Ditto. The skills that make us breathless require so much speed and power and it all happens in a second or two. Remember Jullissa Gomez? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z9d4pquis9DJpI0.html. Force = mass x acceleration

У Лены был замечательный , хороший тренер, который относился к ней , как дочери. Он решил показать Лену одному из лучших мужских Советских тренеров. Лена была очень покорная и выполняла всё, работала намного больше , чем ей говорили. Но новый Ленин тренер работал только с мужчинами, это была его первая ученица, а у девочек другой характер и физиология, чем у мальчиков. Её тренер выдумывал сложнейшие элементы и Лена покорно их учила. Она выступала с травмами, её организм был измучен. Ей очень не повезло с тренером ….

They are not a world power.Just criminals. And Putin rules Russians with an iron fist.Sending people to prison as he wishes.

Exactly. People on here are claiming to know about the accident when it happened and I doubt it at least in the USA. There was no news about it. No one knew what happened to her outside the sports world. It was like one day she is there the next day she is not

Yep, the USSR lied about this for years

@@scot60nope.

I remember learning her story from the book “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes”, where it was mentioned that Elena Mukhina was Julissa’s favorite gymnast. I appreciated learning more about Mukhina with this piece. Her story should not be forgotten.

I would 100% agree that that would make a HUGE impact on her. I'm in my mid 30's and take 60 mg. of Adderall daily and if I forget there is a remarkable impact on my day, let alone if you have to go a prolonged time without it your body withdrawals and for myself that is sever migraines and just general irritability.

Nobody should have a problem with use in daily life. But in a competition I say It doesn't matter if someone has ADHD I've taken Adderall and others like it they are performance enhancing drugs.

Is it the country that's banning it, or the Olympic Committee? Just curious. I absolutely agree with you.

@@bantz2588 The reason they did that to you is because you do not have ADHD! People with ADHD require Ritalin to put them on an equal not enhanced footing.

@@fizzao1342 you clearly stated yourself that your daughter preformed better with the medication. It's clearly a performance enhancer and if you must know I was prescribed the stuff when I was younger decided for myself to quit and find my way without copious amount of pills to get through each day.

@Angry Grizzly Walked away and LIED? She was not mentally able to perform and backed out rather than give a bad performance that would bring down her team’s score. She could have been critically injured had she performed in her current mindset. She did the right thing.

I read she had twisties and it can come suddenly one day to a gymnast, maybe she felt stress and pressure because of the olympics. If it was something else feeling mentally not okay can be very dangerous for a gymnast. It was totally right of her to take her own health first imo, I doubt the others would want her get hurt just because she's doing it for the team. I remember in the 90s one girl (I don't remember her name) did that and she hurt her food and destroyed her own career just because she decided to (or was pressured by her trainer) do it for the team. I don't get how people see it as a great or beautiful olympic moment, imo it's Oone of the sad and disgusting olympic moments considering what happened to her, her trainer should have stopped her instead of pressuring her to do it. What I remember but still sad even if it was only her choice but her trainer should still have stopped her, that's his damn job if a gymnast is doing something he/she sees she shouldn't or isn't capable of.

@Angry Grizzly Simone would have broken her neck just like this had she not withdrawn. I know the media makes it sound like she's giving a different story every day, but the only truth if you actually watch her interviews is that she couldn't orient herself in space and thus knows that she's not physically capable of safely performing the moves that she needs to do to compete. With regards to stress and her aunt and the Larry Nassar abuse and all the other shit she's been through, she literally NEVER used these things as an excuse to back out. She's willing to power through those hardships, which on any person would be a huge blow and completely legitimate reason to need time and space. What she's not willing to do is put her safety at risk. The only reason the media is making it sound like she's using these things to get out of it is because they keep asking her "Could this have contributed" and she keeps replying "Maybe" because she doesn't know what exactly is causing her twisties and thus isn't going to rule out these things. Next thing you know the headlines are "Simone Biles says [insert hardship here] may have led to this." But literally the only thing preventin her from competing was her inability to orient herself in space.

It sounds very much like the same tactics used by Eteri Tutberidze.

So, look at the USA who has been abusing its gymnasts for decades

She got what she deserved. Drop out before the competition if you need to work on yourself but she was selfish. Mental illness doesn’t just come upon you. She wasn’t as good as she was so she used mental illness as an excuse.

@@lois2997So... did you watch the video or just spew your vitreol without on-boarding any info? Are you capable of learning? And do tell us all about your expert opinion of Simone Biles now...

Laura, I know from the Holy Ghost, that Heaven does, indeed, exist, and that our Heavenly Father dearly loves his daughter, Elena, and that He has the power and ability to take away her emotional pain, and that therefore, He most likely has done so, especially because Elena already learned more than she had to in this life! This is why she now has peace, because our Father in Heaven gave her grace in the state of being she is in now, as He will do for all of us, his beloved children. Especially to those who love our Father, who desires to give his children all that he has! We need to show him that we do, in deed, love Him! We do this by keeping His commandments, as the holy scriptures explain to us in many, many verses. It’s simple: if we love Him, we follow Him. ALL of the above is made possible through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who showed his Father that he loved him, by keeping ALL of his Father’s commandments AND especially volunteering to actually give his very life to all of us who choose to repent and therefore become clean, so that we will live with God again, as we did before this life. “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee.” I, personally, am looking so forward to living in the same existence with God, our Heavenly Father, again, as we did before, where we will have peace, and where our joy will be complete!!! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you for reading and pondering. May you seek out the being who loves you more than any human ever could, your very own Father in heaven. I wish you happiness, peace in your heart, and love toward others. For more enlightenment and encouragement, I invite you to visit churchofjesuschrist.org Love and blessings to you!

Yo solo quiero que el Espíritu Santo me dé la certeza de que Elena está en el cielo, para tener paz, porque está historia me tiene muy, muy afligida.

@@nancymcgowan3433 Those that don't train at an elite level are unaware of how gymnast were trained in the US from the 80s till just recently.. The gymnasts that trained under Bela, Marta and all the other abusive National Coaches went through hell and were trained in an Americanized version of Eastern Bloc training because it produced medals. If you were in pain, you kept your mouth shut or you were off the team. John Goddard was heard to tell an injured gymnast to get the eff out of the gym and not come back. Or tell that to Julissa Gomez, who was forced to compete a Yurachenko vault she wasn't ready to do. Bela was not paying attention and she missed her hands on the horse and slammed headfirst into the horse. She broke her neck and ended up in a coma from which she would never wake up. She died as a result of the accident. Bela and Marta had that same mindset as Elena's coach. The medals and glory was more important then the health of the gymnast. No one spoke against it until the Nassar scandal broke and it came out that gymnasts of all levels, including Olympians, were being abused in every way possible. Simone has been very vocal about what happened to her, yes she is a Nassar survivor, and Is leading the fight to give gymnasts back control of their bodies, health and career.

“could have gone through”

EXACTLY! I'm actually relieved that Simone has had the strength and clarity to put her health first. I don't care if she gets a medal she's already shown she's the amazing. I do care if she ends up like Ylena or ruins her life.

In my opinion, gymnastics hasn't really changed, Simone Biles made a stand.

Simone Biles said "she was feeling pressure" and "wasn't having fun". Wtf.

@Angry Grizzly ok angry grizzly

Yes someone had to take a stand or the abuse would continue.

@@111marcie Simone was not being abused! Nasser is in jail and she has a great coach. She had a bad day on vault and lost her confidence, that's all. She cracked under the pressure.

@@JaneSmith0709 And she decided to quit before pressure got the best out of her and she would end up severely injured. If she didn't feel confident, mentally or physically, and when performing a sport that can leave you paralized in a second, she did the best.

@@Sarablueunicorn I can appreciate that, but you can't call yourself the GOAT if you cave to pressure like that. Part of being a top athlete is handling the mental pressure as well as the physical aspect, that's what makes a champion a champion. If everyone could do it then it wouldn't be special. She can take herself out for mental reasons, she has that right and I don't take that away from her, but she can't call herself the GOAT after doing so.

Watching Simone pull out reminded me of another incident--that of Keri Strug. And everyone thought what a hero she was. And Karoli on the sidelines pushing her to do that second vault. Despicable. Who is advocating for these girls?

@@crustyrash No one. Abuse in sport has become normalized in sport as long as they get results. It's disgusting. We should be applauding Simone.

@Angry Grizzly Troll

yes

🎯🎯

Simone Biles, Elana Mukhina.. Now what?