Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

International Gymnast alerts me to this interview with Ludmilla Korolenko, former coach of Ukrainian 1996 Olympian Liubov Sheremeta.  Korolenko now works for the Russian federation as a coach, primarily for the junior team, specialising in beam preparation, and also judges at major international competitions. There is a lot of meat in this interview if you can get past the Google translate.  Korolenko discusses recent changes to the Code, and refutes the idea that judging is subject to deliberate corruption and cheating, preferring to think of controversies such as those surrounding Mustafina's vault valuations as simple errors or misinterpretations, something she says is quite a common occurrence.  She also highlights inconsistencies between rule applications in men's and women's gymnastics.  Errors in women's gymnastics, she suggests, are penalised twice as deductions are made for poor execution and the move is downgraded.  If I read the translation correct...

I'm just collating the voluminous amounts of results and video links relating to the Russian Federal Championships, though I'm afraid my progress is rather slow thanks to the recent adoption of two adorable black and white cats, Harry and Ron, who are of course my priority at the moment, alongside large volumes of assessment I must complete as part of my 'proper' job!  However, to keep you interested, here are some links I located via the Russian Gymnastics Federation website .  First of all, an interview (from 2007) with 13 time Olympic medalist and long-serving member of the Men's Technical Committee, Boris Shakhlin (RIP).  Boris reflects on the relative increasing difficulty levels in gymnastics (he competed at Olympics in 1956, 1960 and 1964), on the rewards accorded to sportsmen in his time, and on his premature retirement from sport, brought on by a heart attack at the age of 35 as he prepared for the 1968 Olympics.  When asked to rank the best gymnasts of ...

Alan Owen of Anastasia Grishina Online kindly informed me of the Moscow Championships which are taking place on the 25th of January.  Anastasia will compete there, along with Anastasia Sidorova, Anna Rodionova and Kristina Sidorova. Sounds like an interesting competition - glad to see Anastasia Grishina back from her injury.

Nora at the All Around forum kindly posted a link where you will be able to find videos of some routines from the North West Regional Championships (see earlier post) that are taking place in Vologda this weekend.  Thanks to DJKiara88, whose Youtube channel this is. National team member (reserve) Maria Dunayeva's floor and beam routines can be seen.  Maria will be age eligible for 2012.  Results of all six competitions will be posted here as soon as they become available (the Russian Gymnastics Federation website has a set of pages devoted to these competitions). 

Visit this link to view a charming short documentary (2002) on 1956 and 1960 Olympic All Around Champion, Larissa Latynina.  Latynina retired from competition in 1966 and took up post of Soviet National Coach for the women's team, a title she held until 1977. The documentary includes footage of Ukraine-born Latynina in competition in the 1950s, and more recently relaxing in her rural home in Russia, and attending the Russian Championships.  Towards the end of the documentary she is seen congratulating Elena Zamolodchikova, Anna Pavlova, and their coaches.

With upcoming parliamentary (December 2011) and presidential (March 2012) elections looming, Vladimir Putin is voicing his commitment to supporting sporting excellence.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation website carries a notice of imminent Federal District Championships to be held in Vologda, Vladimir, Rostov-on-Don, Chelyabinsk, Cheboksary and Novosibirsk.  It's unclear who will compete at these competitions - but I will update this site with links to results as soon as they appear..

Despite the terrible quality of this video, it's worth a look to see all the exciting new difficulties the gymnasts were rehearsing in this pre-Olympic year - and remember, this was 23 years ago.  The gymnasts featured, in the order that the skills appear (and with due respect to the occasional inadequacies of my transliteration), are Shushunova Priakhina V. Sarkyoan (?) Zadorozhni Schepochkin Porpenko Priakina Shushunova Schepochkin Kharkov Priakhina x 2 Rodion Martsinkiv Tikhonkikh You can also find a link to the original video on Youtube, here .

It's worth gaining access to a hard or digital copy of this month's (January/February) International Gymnast magazine to read John Crumlish's interview with Mustafina and Alexandrov. Crumlish highlights how Alexandrov and Mustafina have built a strong working relationship in the two years they have been together, with Alexandrov likening aspects of Aliya's personality to his former protege, 1983 and 1987 World Champion Dmitri Bilozerchev. He also comments on how Mustafina's father, an Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling [note: I believe he still coaches the sport] has been figural in her development as a competitor. He attributes the Russian team's recent success to the influx of talented newcomers onto the team and the increased levels of difficulty they bring. He also values the rejuvenation and refocussing of the coaching team. Looking forward, but echoing a similar interview International Gymnast published with Leonid Arkaev back in 1988 or 19...

As a supplement to the earlier post, these are the names of the junior girls who form part of the Russian selection squad, along with their home towns. Some of these girls competed at the Olympic Hopefuls competition in Bryansk mentioned below; Polina Spirina and Olga Valekzhanina achieved particularly good results. Elena Alexeyenko Nizhni Tagil Raisa Batyrova Moscow Mariya Bondareva Moscow Oblast Olga Valekzhanina Sterlitamak Yana Vlasova Moscow Anastasia Dimitreva Toliatti Evgeniya Zhukova Novocheboksarsk Ksenia Kopokolneva Cheboksary Evgeniya Korolkova Moscow Viktoria Rezakova St Petersburg Dariya Spiridonova Novocheboksarsk Polina Spirina Novosibirsk Mariya Kharenkova Rostov on Don Alexandra Yadzhyan Moscow

I promised last year to update the site with some results from this competition. Especially interesting now as we have seen the inclusion of some of these gymnasts (Polina Spirina, Olga Valekzhanina in particular) in the national squad listing. Names which crop up here repeatedly include Polina Spirina, Dariya Mikhailova, Olga Valekzhanina, Yulia Biriyulia. Remember these names, or write them in a notebook somewhere - born in 1999, they won't become eligible for senior international competition until 2015, assuming they hold their interest and avoid injury. I don't understand the format of the all around competition; I wonder if anyone knows, and could add an explanatory comment? A virtual box of chocolates to you, if so. The composite score used to determine ranking seems to be made up of an execution score and a full all around score. I'm therefore recording these results as a composite score, with the all around figure in brackets afterwards. The original, full...

Alan at Aliya Mustafina Online has alerted us to a link at the Federation's website including a full list of the women's national team. Amongst those eligible for competition at senior international level this year for the first time will be Komova, Paseka, Malikova. This significantly strengthens the selection squad available for this year's competitions. Senior national team: Ksenia Afanasyeva Yulia Belokobylskaya Anna Dementyeva Yulia Inshina Viktoria Komova Ekaterina Kurbatova Violetta Malikova Ramilia Musina Aliya Mustafina Anna Myzdrikova Tatiana Nabieva Maria Paseka Diana Sapronova Ksenia Semenova Reserve Gymnasts: Anastasia Grishina Maria Dunaeva Kristina Kruglikova Irina Sazonova Anastasia Sidorova Tatiana Solovyova Maria Stepanova

Well, yes, they are Belarussian, but these two are icons of perhaps the greatest era of Soviet gymnastics. See the video they appear in here .

The Couch Gymnast has published Part One of her Awards for 2010, and Russia has fared well, with three noteable wins: Alexander Alexandrov - Coach of the Year for his sterling contribution to Russia's amazing resurgence. Russia - Team of the Year! (Who else?!) Viktoria Komova - Junior of the Year More results will follow shortly. Thanks to the Couch Gymnast for running these polls. Congratulations to all the Russian team for a fantastic 2010, and good luck for 2011 ...

FIG President Bruno Grandi has recently published one of his regular addresses to the gymnastics community, a new year’s letter which can be found here . I frequently struggle to follow the logic of much of Grandi’s writing; I think it must be written in the Italian originally, and then suffers from poor translation. I also find many of his ideas distorted and misplaced. Grandi has been President of the FIG since 1996 and I therefore guess that he must have the support of a fairly significant body of gymnastics federations in order to survive. I suppose this isn’t that surprising when you consider they experience a better chance of medalling under his regime. It is rather sad, however, when you consider how the women’s sport has degraded artistically under his presidency. Despite what he says, the artistry of gymnastics has not improved since 1989, and artistic gymnastics is not the sole domain of the more physically mature woman. His age limits and competition format changes ...

2010 may well be looked back on as a revolutionary year for Russian women’s gymnastics, although the turn round is not yet complete. Only outstanding results in 2011 will cement the good beginning of 2010 and provide a basis for the key year of 2012. New and even newer talent will need to establish itself in what is becoming a fearsomely competitive national and international scene. All gymnasts will have to perform at their best if the team is to show its strongest face. The Russian coaches will have to make some difficult selection decisions if they are to strengthen and deepen the team as they approach the Olympic year. Their ultimate goal will of course be to present the best possible team in 2012, in addition to making a strong showing at this year’s major competitions. They have a very young squad, many of whom will need battle hardening before the London outing, and they also need to solidify their team identity and roles, and enhance reputations. I suppose there is o...