Skip to main content

The state of Russian men's gymnastics - Alexei Nemov interview - media link

Alexei Nemov talks to Anna Kozina of Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the relative progress of the Russian men's team. An English language translation is available here. It is clear that despite the team's recent success at individual apparatus level, disappointing results at team and all around finals are causing significant worry.

Nemov suggests the Russians need to seek the help of additional coaches, specifically mentioning Vyacheslav Boiko, who helped to prepare the national team for the 1996 Olympics along with the late Nikolai Andrianov.

Hmmm ... my impression of the Russian men (and this often included Nemov apart from the odd gold medal winning performance) is that they are somewhat casual and excessively philosophical in their approach. I still haven't forgotten Devyatovski giving up the ghost after a relatively minor error on p-bars some years ago.

My 51 year old memory has churned up a remark made by Ludmilla Tourischeva some time around 1972 when the Soviet women's team was winning almost everything while the men were doing significantly less well. 'If our men trained as hard as our women, they would experience similar success' is more or less what she said. I think that's a fairly reliable memory, though I would have to spend a long time in the library trying to find the original source.

Let's not forget that the Soviet men's supremacy only really began to develop after the appointment of Leonid Arkayev as head coach. I seem to remember him placing great faith in the talents of the new generation, allowing room for such greats as Andrianov, Tkachev and Detiatin to establish the Soviets at the top of the sport. Isn't it time for another new generation to be entrusted with the reputation of the Russian team?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...

Mustafina Interview 2 of 2 : 'I will only perform under the Russian flag'

Argumentyi i Fakti interview with Aliya Mustafina Translated by Marina Vulis ‘I have no fear’, says Aliya Mustafina.   ‘My father [Farhat Mustafin, the bronze medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1976 Olympics] took me to my first gymnastics class.   In his opinion children need to do sports, and he saw gymnastics as useful for my general development.   He had no goals – just to let us practice.’ It did not end with ‘just practice’ – she became the World Champion at 16, but then had an ACL injury the next year (2011) at the Europeans.   Even just returning to gymnastics is a feat; then she came back to win four medals at the 2012 Olympics. Aliya Mustafina – That injury.   I do not know why I was ashamed – so many people were watching me and I could not even walk.   My parents!   They saw everything on TV (the coach had to carry her from the podium).   Of course I was aware that anything could happen in gymnastics, but I di...

Marinov will compete AA in Jakarta

In an interview with sport 24, head coach Valeri Alfosov reflects on the MAG team and how the gymnasts performed in Sochi. After the men's all-around competition, senior coach of the men's team, Valery Alfosov, spoke to Sport24 correspondent Anastasia Loginova about his plans for the World Championships and summarized the results of the all-around at the national championships. ❓ How would you rate the boys' performance? 💬 It's hard to give a definitive answer. The national team performed brilliantly on the parallel bars and high bar, and they performed beautifully. The end of this competition was interesting; there were many mistakes today, and the boys were battling it out. Everyone had the same scores until the fifth apparatus, and the champion only emerged on the sixth. Of course, these performance shortcomings need to be addressed in preparation for the World Championships, because our level of difficulty is high, but our execution is significantly lacking. ❓ Spea...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more