If revolutions can only be acknowledged and recognised with hindsight, we are still too early to celebrate the Russian women’s team and all around victory at the Rotterdam World Championships 2010 as such. In many ways, Russian gymnastics is only beginning to turn a corner and to build the foundations for future more solid and consistent victories. The women’s team looks strong; over this weekend we have seen an impressive number of medal winning performances all across Europe. The Russians appear to be building strong reserves as well as celebrating the achievements of their medal winners. But we are still some distance away from witnessing a force to compare with the relentless, invincible gymnastics machine that was the Soviet Union. The technical, political, funding, human resources and artistic changes that Russian gymnastics needs to undergo to reach such a position are still very much underway.
Media coverage of the world championships, and in particular during and post world championships coverage, has unveiled a plethora of different themes relating to the development of gymnastics in Russia. The following listings are by no means comprehensive, but attempt to provide links to key sources. The first listing is in chronological order, beginning with the most recent references first, and each reference has two parts, (i) full bibliographic listing including hyperlink, (ii) list of keywords or themes addressed in the article. A second listing provides hyperlinks to video stories or interviews – this list does not include keywords.
A brief outline of what seems to be addressed in these articles.
The Russians’ current success has largely been forged at the hands of Soviet veteran coaches such as Andrei Rodienenko, Alexander Alexandrov and Oleg Ostapenko. Few ‘new faces’ exist in the Russian gymnastics coaching world, and this is clearly a worry. Both Rodienenko and Alexandrov emphasise the sorry state of Russian gymnastics at grass roots level and Rodienenko highlights the problems for mature gymnasts in pursuing their sporting/professional careers once their competitive lives are over. The mass base of sports that existed during the Soviet era has been eroded, with few professionals available to select and coach young potential thanks to lack of pay.
The importance and role of the Federation in securing sufficient funding throughout the country is emphasised. The Russian Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy are presumably key gatekeepers of funding and infrastructure and are regularly acknowledged in press releases and interviews. Similarly, Russian bank VTB’s support of the RGF, and its corresponding sponsorship relationship to the FIG is clearly of importance, both political and resourcing. Valentina Rodienenko, technically a coach with the RGF but who seems to front much of the publicity and PR for the Federation, makes reference to initiatives funded by the Government, Federation and VTB to improve equipment standards in schools across Russia, as well as the development of a special institute in the Moscow area to train very young gymnasts and their coaches.
A clear picture is painted of what needs to happen to support continued success in Russia, but gymnastics (to quote Andrei Rodienenko) is an expensive sport. Essentially, the old Soviets have returned to a brave new capitalist world, equipped with knowledge of how international models of sporting excellence work. They are well aware of the political and other challenges they now face. Their aim is to ensure that the Soviet legacy of sporting excellence continues and thrives in Russia today. And to achieve this, it will not be enough for them to be outstanding sporting technicians – these coaches must now navigate the difficult waters of funding agreements, project management, diplomatic and political negotations and press conferences.
Sport in general has become globalised and gymnastics is in no way immune to the effects. Discussions of Dina Kamalova’s apparently sudden exodus to the USA make it clear that this was a significant threat to young Aliya Mustafina’s career in the sport. The intervention of CSKA chief Galina Stepanova and Russian team coach Alexander Alexandrov ensured that Russia did not lose this brilliant, unique gymnast. Kamalova migrated to Valeri Liukin’s empire in Texas to train none other than Mustafina’s main rival for the recent world championships title, Rebecca Bross. Was this the sporting equivalent of deliberate industrial sabotage? No one can say, but Rodienenko clearly holds Liukin’s business acumen in high esteem, citing Liukin’s chain of gymnastics schools as one of the best examples of private sporting enterprise. There is increasingly a need to protect information about young gymnasts’ start values and innovative new techniques being developed.
The landscape of gymnastics is changing. Western migration of so many Russian coaches away from the former Soviet Union did have a significant impact on the skills base in Russian gymnastics, an impact which is likely to be felt more and more unless inroads are made in training, recruitment and retention of talented individuals into the sport. Funding is key to this to provide both training and pay.
On a lighter note, Alexandrov demonstrates his affection and understanding of his team in multiple interviews where he talks about the characters of the girls and in particular Aliya Mustafina. Obviously, coaching a team of adolescent girls is far from plain sailing!
Media directory listing updated 19th November to include 1TV report on meeting between the Russian girls and President Dmitry Medvedev.
Listings
Russian gymnastics media coverage relating to the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships (roughly chronological order, most recent first)
Lenta (online) ‘Andrei Rodienenko : What are the chances of the Russian gymnasts at the 2012 Olympics?’ Press Conference 12th November 2010 available at : http://lenta.ru/conf/rodionenko/ accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords : Rodienenko, Olympics, Soviet Union, system of training, importance of media, international system of physical education, Russian system of physical education, Valeri Liukin, exodus of Russian coaches, ambiguity of judging decisions, FIG, future of Russian men’s gymnastics programme
Rasskazova, I (2010) ‘The Girl with the fearless eyes: Aliya Mustafina became World Champion against the odds’ Sovietski Sport, 12th November 2010 available at : http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/418471%20 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: Aliya Mustafina, Nailya Mustafina, Fargat Mustafina, Galina Stepanova, CSKA, Dina Kamalova, Alexander Alexandrov, character, circumstances of exodus of Dina Kamalova, formative experiences,, sporting career, relationship with coaches, Svetlana Boginskaya
Kulinicheva, E (2010) ‘Andrei Rodienenko: Men are expected to achieve results in the coming year’ Sports Express Online, 9th November 2010, available at http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9195/ accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: Russian women’s gymnastics, Rotterdam World Championships 2010, Russian men’s gymnastics, incentives, recovery of Russian gymnastics system, university sports in Russia, international sports models, Nastia Liukin
Kulinicheva, E (2010) ‘Komova, Mustafina prepare to fight next year’ Sports Express Online, 9th Nofember 2010, available at http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9194/ accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: training programme, competition programme, career decisions, Youth Olympics 2010, Voronin Cup 2011, Japan Cup 2010, World Championships, parents
Russian Gymnastics Federation (2010) ‘Andrei Rodienenko: We have proved our point: press conference on the results of the 2010 Rotterdam World Championships’ undated press release relating to conference of 2nd November, available at http://www.sportgymrus.ru/press/news/default.aspx accessed 7th November 2010
Keywords: Andrei Rodienenko, Alexander Alexandrov, Aliya Mustafina, VTB, sponsors of Russian gymnastics, Russian Gymnastics Federation, Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy, role and importance of coaches, Viktoria Komova, ambiguity of marking system, improved facilities at Lake Krugloye, state of resourcing of mass base of gymnastics in Russia, resource requirements, Andrei Kostin, Valentina Rodienenko, Academy of Physical Education in Malakhovka, Moscow, training of coaches, youth training, Nikolai Yepishin, coaches’ pay
Russian Gymnastics Federation (2010) ‘Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko congratulates the team on winning the World Championships’ available at http://www.sportgymrus.ru/press/news/4761/default.aspx%20 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: Vitaly Mutko, Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy, Merited Master of Sport, Merited Coach of Russia, Tatiana Nabieva, Anna Dementieva, Aliya Mustafina, Ekaterina Kurbatova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ksenia Semenova, Alexander Alexandrov, Vasily Ivanov, Olga Borova, Evgeny Grebenkin, Elena Zhiganova
All Sports (2010) ‘Alexandrov: Russian Gymnasts – Real Stinker!’ brief interview with Alexander Alexandrov available at http://www.championat.ru/other/news-632596.html%20 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords : Alexander Alexandrov, Russian women’s team, World Championships 2010, Anna Dementieva, characters
Mysin, N (2010) ‘Valentina Rodienenko: We’ll Appeal!’ Sovietski Sport, 23rd October 2010, available at http://www.sovsport.ru/news/text-item/414988 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: Valentina Rodienenko, Aliya Mustafina, Tatiana Nabieva, ambiguities in marking, World Championships 2010
Mysin, N (2010) ‘Aliya, you are now a star – our correspondent gave the gymnasts cover of Sovietski Sport with their pictures’ Sovietski Sport, 25th October 2010, available at http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/415234 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords: Sovietski Sport, Aliya Mustafina, Ekaterina Kurbatova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ksenia Semenova, Tatiana Nabieva, Anna Dementieva
All Sport (2010) ‘Aliya Mustafina – I cannot afford to sip a glass of red wine – I am a minor!’ Brief interview available at http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=44717 accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords : Aliya Mustafina, World Gymnastics Championships 2010, amibiguities in marking
Titov, B (2010) ‘Iron Aliya’ Izvestia 25th October 2010 available at http://www.izvestia.ru/sport/article3147641/ accessed 14th November 2010
Keywords : Aliya Mustafina, World Gymnastics Championships 2010
Mysin, N (2010) ‘Aliya: Superman! Graceful, brave and flexible: Yesterday, Aliya Mustafina became all around world champion of gymnastics’ Sovietski Sport 25th October 2010 available at http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/414904 accessed 14th November 2010
Video hyperlinks (alphabetical order by source)
Channel 1 (Russian TV) (2010) 'Dmitry Medvedev met with the winners and prize winners of the World and European summer sports' news report transmitted 17th November 2010 available at http://www.1tv.ru/news/sport/165201 accessed 19th November 2010
FIG (2010) ‘WC Rotterdam 2010 : Women Team Final’ available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ZfaGLIcJQ accessed 14th November 2010
Gymnastike (online) ‘Team Russia Warm-Up’ available at http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/9091-Aliya-Mustafina accessed 14th November 2010
Gymnastike (online) ‘Aliya Mustafina is now World Champion’ (Russian language, with translation provided in comments below) available at http://www.gymnastike.org/speaker/9091-Aliya-Mustafina/video/361153-Aliya-Mustafina-is-2010-World-Champion accessed 14th November 2010
Gymtube (2010) ‘In interview: Aliya Mustafina’ (German language) available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcEu4qShleQ accessed 14th November 2010
Gymtube (2010) ‘In interview: Leonid Arkayev’ (German language) available at http://www.youtube.com/user/gymmedia2010#p/search/0/MyvgqOK-16E accessed 14th November 2010
Russian Gymnastics Federation (2010) Photographs of the women’s team arrival at Moscow can be found at http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/3946/4149/4703/default.aspx accessed 14th November 2010
Sovietski Sport (online, 2010) ‘Meeting Champions in gymnastics in Moscow’ 25th October 2010, available at http://www.sovsport.ru/video/gallery-item/2123 accessed 14th November 2010
Sportbox (2010) ‘Russian gymnasts arrive home’ features interviews with Fargat Mustafin, Aliya Mustafina, Anton Golutsotskov 25th October 2010, available at http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta/gimnastika/spbvideo_Rossiyskie-gimnasti-prileteli-domoy accessed 14th November 2010
Tatar Inform (online) ‘Gymnastics: Results of the Season – Video conference between Moscow and Kazan’ 9th November 2010. Moscow panel includes Viktoria Komova, Gennady Elfimov, Aliya Mustafina and Andrei Rodienenko. Kazan panel includes Anastasia Kolesnikova and Dimitri Drevin. Available at http://www.tatar-inform.ru/video/1369/ accessed 14th November 2010
like it a lot.
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