Vladislav Rastorotsky

Vladislav Stepanovich Rastorotsky (Russian: Владислав Степанович Растороцкий) (born June 14, 1933 in Liski, Russian SFSR) is a Russian (and former Soviet) artistic gymnastics coach, Honoured Trainer of the USSR, who trained in Dynamo sports society. Sportswomen trained by him earned more than 50 Champion titles at the National (USSR) championships, European championships, World championships and Olympic Games. Rastorotsky trained Soviet gymnasts for five Olympic cycles since the mid-1960s. The most famous his students were Ludmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Shaposhnikova, Natalia Yurchenko.

Rastorotsky liked sports since his childhood and had a propensity to gymnastics. He went to Voronezh and entered the Physical Education faculty. Rastorotsky began systematic training in gymnastics very late, in his twenties. But managed to earn the title Master of Sports of the USSR at age above 27. His teacher in Voronezh was another famous Soviet coach Yury Shtukman. In the 1960s Rastorotsky moved to Grozny and began to coach Ludmilla Tourischeva. According to Rastorotsky, Tourischeva initially had strong muscles but a weak gymnastics school, as compared to other his students; but he didn't meet more industrious and purposeful students neither before nor after her.

In the early 1970s Rastorotsky moved to Iraq, and namely since that time the period of Tourischeva's domination on international events began. Concerning his contribution to Tourischeva's successes, Rastorotsky said, that another famous gymnast, Olga Korbut, had many advantages over Tourischeva, and Korbut's dream to overcome her was always extraordinary. But their principled battles always ended with Tourischeva's win. Rastorotsky believes, that this was due to the better "staging".

Rastorotsky's another favourite student was Natalia Yurchenko, one of the strongest gymnasts of the early 1980s. However, although she was the all around champion in many events of that period, she sometimes didn't get to the Soviet team roster due to the "reserved" places for other coaches and athletes. Rastorotsky liked Yurchenko for her "boundless charm, filigree skill, resolution and courage".

After the breakup of the USSR, Rastorotsky coached for some time in France and China before returning to Rostov on Don again in the mid-1990s. ^[1]