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International Gymnast interview with Mustafina, Alexandrov

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 1989, Alexandrov says that the team now has to forget about success and start again at the beginning. There is intention to improve the team's difficulty levels, and he suggests that Mustafina is working towards improvements on floor, vault and beam.

The key themes in Alexandrov's explanation of the recent success of the Russian team are:

increased levels of difficulty,
newcomers to the team,
improved coaching,
injury avoidance and
improved infrastructure thanks to the financial support of VTB.

It is interesting to note the primary importance of injury avoidance, a new emphasis since Soviet days when the the ability to overcome injury was often cited as a heroic quality in World Champions.

Crumlish, J (2011) 'The Mustafina Mystique: Peerless in 2010, the world champion is fearless heading into 2011' International Gymnast January-February 2011, pp 18-20

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