Following the injury, the Soviet Gymnastics Federation remained secretive about the events surrounding Mukhina's injury, with Soviet team coach Yuri Titov deflecting inquiries about whether she would be trying for a comeback in 1984, even blaming Mukhina's "injury" on attempting a skill that she "was not able to do but thought she needed to make the team[...]she suffered injury and missed her chance.[...]All the bad stories, they are not true." Information emerged only slowly. Initial rumors were that she had fallen on approach to the vault, then Soviet newspapers reported she had fallen during her dismount from the balance beam and had a blackout but then got back up to finish her floor exercise without knowing how badly she had been injured. Finally word emerged that she had fallen catastrophically during the floor exercise. Mukhina became reclusive following the accident, and rarely discussed it publicly. In one of her few interviews about the accident, published in "Ogonyok" magazine, she criticized the Soviet gymnastics program for deceiving the public about her injury, and for the system's insatiable desire for gold medals and championships: