Skip to main content

Alexandrov : Champions are never accommodating

By
The Russian Gymnastics Federation has kindly provided an English translation of a brief interview with Alexander Alexandrov, taken from the latest issue of Gymnastika.  He discusses the character of Aliya Mustafina in particular.

I'll copy what he says here :


'All six of our winners are very individual athletes. They are still children really and have their own difficult personalities. Aliya is a bit sly, she already knows everything about herself…she is a difficult girl. She is very talented in some thing, but she has her problems. And that's normal – champions are never accommodating.
The path hasn't been smooth. Yes, she was the leader among the juniors, but then things started getting complicated. When we met, we had to do a lot of talking. Not convincing, but real talking. Openly talking and laying it all out. I had to explain: you had results and you have good routines, but you are being easy on yourself – and you've put so much work in…
And bit by bit she began to understand that she had to go forward and trust us. Then we went to Russian championships in Bryansk and when she won, she got excited. I can't say everything has been easy after that; no, its been hard. And there have been tears and arguments…But we found common ground and began talking to each other like adults.
And it won't be smooth going forward, either. A week off in Italy and then holiday…It's hard to get back into it. So, we have to talk again. Well, what can you do?
Aliya's most important trait is her reliability. She knows how to pull herself together in meets. She can even cry the day before over not having any strength, and everything going wrong. But she goes out to compete and she really knows how to give it everything! Well, you've already seen that.

From the official magazine of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation GIMNASTIKA
2010 issue 4, page 21.'

Thanks very much to the Russian Gymnastics Federation for bothering to do these translations - it is very much appreciated by us fans!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Lyudmilla Shanzhen26 February 2011 at 10:04

    I thought the gymnastics coaching blog's "Train your dragon" post would link to this article (it doesn't actually).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Queen Elizabeth26 February 2011 at 10:20

    Thanks Lyudmilla ;-))
    In case anyone wonders what this is about, here is the link : http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2011/02/train-your-dragon/

    Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aliya Mustafina - I competed as best I could

By
Picture credit RGF Aliya speaks in Sports Express http://news.sport-express.ru/2014-05-18/699607 I am very pleased with my performance today, I don't know what the judges didn't like about my bars, but I didn't ask them ... I did my routine fairly well without serious error. On beam I didn't have the start value but I received the highest execution score.  We will try to fix that before the World Championships. Considering the problems I had with my ankle, I think I performed to the optimum at the moment.  I did everything I could. I'm not  the least bit sorry that I performed here -  Very glad that I could help the team. I think my presence made things easier for the girls.   It is very difficult to compete at such serious senior competitions for the first time.  Of course they were very worried.   But I'm sure that with time they will learn to cope easily with their nerves (smiles). 
38 comments
Read more

Remembering last summer - Nelli Kim, her judges and Viktoria Komova

By
In view of Nelli Kim's recent interview , Lupita and I thought it timely to revisit the performance of some of the WTC President's judges over past competitions ... this article from 27th August 2012 is reposted here, as a reminder. You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  M...
42 comments
Read more

Does Komova need gymnastics?

By
Komova - a prodigious talent for performance I have been pondering the nature of gymnastics talent recently, while viewing some videos of 1992 competitions on YouTube - you can find links to them if you like, by visiting RRG's Facebook page. What was it that made the Soviets so outstanding?  In the videos, you will see three champions, side by side, each competing close to perfect routines almost every time they hit the podium.  No sprung floor, no vaulting table, a Code that (1) required compulsory as well as optional routines to be prepared, (2) encouraged innovation in single moves of extreme difficulty, (3) required balanced performances of artistic as well as technical merit, and (4) recognised and rewarded virtuosity.   The three champions I am speaking of each satisfied the Code in different ways: Boguinskaia had unique and incredible grace and amplitude; Lyssenko expressed emotional intensity through an amazing combination of power, difficulty and artistry; Gutsu ...
21 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more