Fondly remembering the ‘Sparrow of Minsk’, bright star
of the Olympics, that teeny, tiny gymnast from Belarus,
the whole world’s darling, watched from far-edge of the sofa
holding my breath as she flung herself about in rapid flik-flak
somersaults across a mat; launched into high-spins; leaping up
to catch the tallest of uneven bars, which, given her height was
a feat in itself, performing a repertoire of rapid moves as we’d yell:
‘Bloody hell! How did she do that?’ at almost every turn; entranced
as she danced on a narrow beam, performing tricks with apparent ease
before landing, suddenly in characteristic triumph: arms up, back arched ~
exactly like a bow about to let fly an arrow; nubby bunches of hair, wagging;
perpetual grin in place. Kept waiting as Judges took too long before raising
score-cards of near-perfection, except one time marked down for something
slight – audience wild and clamouring for another outcome; loud protests, but
in order to get facts straight I take a look at her on-line profile, and Boom!
There it is: allegations of rape; her coach; hidden secrets rising up, at last
given safer distance of time, more able to talk about young athletes, not
just part of the sports-machine, moulded to gain Silver and Gold, but used
as sex-slaves on the side by trainers. Of course, we all guessed they’d been
worked hard: put through the grind of impossible schedules, unenviable diets,
but not the sexual rot that eventually leaked out, as so many women dared
to expose the truth, no longer willing to keep such crimes locked up inside,
forced for so long to bend over backwards in un-natural contortions, trying
to maintain balance, to keep from failing their nation, and falling from grace.
Young Olga Korbut had kept us enthralled, though she endured so much
at such high cost. And that move she created and pioneered? Now banned.
She’d flipped the narrative from highest stand-point; turned it upside down,
and, in taking life in her own capable hands, on her own terms – won.
***
Janina Aza Karpinska draws on many influences and writes in a variety of styles, with poetry published in: London Reader; Magma; Ekphrastic Review; Drawn to the Light; Heron Tree; Lit Shark; Cold Signal; Epistemic Lit, Midwest Zen, and Raising the Fifth, amongst others. She lives on the south coast of England.
