Event
Balance beam

Skill type
Mount

Value
D
(upgraded from C in 2017)

Known as
Gurova
Round-off 1/2 to handstand mount

Named after
Elena Gurova (SOV) – 1987

About
Nothing in the code of points signposts an older element quite like the words “near side handstand.” Can you imagine if someone submitted a skill today and the description was like, “I intend for this skill to end slightly short of handstand.” The women’s technical committee would burn the submission to ashes and immediately disappear in a smoke bomb.

But 1987 was a different time. Elena Gurova got this mount named after herself at the world championship in Rotterdam, and if you ever need to counter the argument that an open-ended code of points is required to encourage innovative difficulty, point to the original beam mounts of 1987 worlds.

Interestingly, Gurova performed this mount to end in a hip circle, but that has never actually been required by the skill description, which has always allowed for an optional end position. I guess if you want to be basic about it.

This mount was downgraded from D to C in 1993 and was not brought back up to D until 2017, when both this and the candle mount got an upgrade. Thankfully, when the candle mount was bumped back to C in 2022, the Gurova retained its D (0.4) status.