Skip to main content

Russia - the final five for the Olympics - men

Andrei Rodionenko has made his announcement of the final five men to travel to London on the 21st July. The selection - Denis Ablyazin, Emin Garibov, David Belyavski, Igor Pakhomenko and Alexander Balandin - relies on youth and ambition, showing a real focus on the longer term development of the men's team prospects. Two of the team (all arounders Belyavski and Garibov) have yet to turn 20, while the oldest, Balandin, only turned 23 last month. Big medals are not expected this year, but the balance between all around potential and individual event talent could see the Russians cause some surprises in London.
 


Denis Mikhailovich Ablyazin
born 3rd August 1992
Trains at - Penza, Moscow Dynamo
Coach - Sergei Starkin

Triple European bronze medallist Denis Ablyazin is the firecracker of the Russian team.  He has the world's highest difficulty level on floor and could well compete for gold there and on vault. 

Detractors complain that Ablyazin's floor routine packs in fast-paced acrobatics at the expense of grace and elegance - but the Code requires difficulty and explosiveness, and Ablyazin delivers both in abundance.





Alexander Sergeivich Balandin
born 10th June 1989
Dynamo Petrozavodsk, Karelian Republic
V N Bubnovski, S G Zagorski


 European rings champion Alexander Balandin is expected to contribute high scores on his specialist apparatus as well as qualify to the event final there.  He also contributes good quality routines on parallel bars, and may well be called upon to contribute to the team's efforts on pommel horse.











David Sagitovitch Belyavskiy
born 23rd February 1992
Ekaterinburg
V N Lomayev, P A Kitaiski

Graceful David Belyavskiy is one of two all arounders on this Russian men's team.  A poor performance at the European Championships this year was caused by a painful shoulder injury, but Belyavski showed his class by coming back a few weeks later and taking the all around title at the Russian Cup, a key milestone in the Russian gymnasts' preparation for the Olympics, ahead of team mates Sergei Khorokhodin and Igor Pakhomenko. 









Emin Nadirovich Garibov
born 8th September 1992
Moscow Dynamo
A I Sabyelin

At 19, Garibov is the youngest member of this team, yet in competition shows a self confidence beyond his years.  He is perhaps the Russians' most likely chance of an all around medal and, as European Champion on the high bar, bears responsibility for delivering a good score on the event.











Igor Alexeivich Pakhomenko
born 10th June 1992
Leninsk-Kuznetsk
D D Chunasov, T V Popova, E R Saifulin

Pakhomenko, a solid all arounder who came third in this year's Russian Cup, is important to the Russian team for contribution to pommel horse, a real weakness otherwise.  












Reserves, veteran Sergei Khorokhodin and this spring's Russian Champion, Nikita Ignatyev, will remain in Moscow unless required.

The pictures are of the Russian men at the control competition held on 6th and 7th July and are copied here from the Burtasy School of Gymnastics, Penza, where you will find a photo album.

Comments

  1. Thanks for the info for the guys, didn't know much about them. They are young in terms of male gymnasts. Hopefully they can try for Bronze.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘We all love her very much’ - Roschina speaks of Mustafina and the need to perfect an Amanar vault

From sport.ru via vk.com.  Google translate  A big interview with Anastasia Loginova from Sport24 with Lyudmila Roshchina following the Strongest Cup, where the gymnast won four out of five gold medals. We quote several fragments, the full version is available on the publication's website, link at the end. ❓ The Strongest Athletes Cup has recently ended. Did you have time to analyze your performances? 💬 I just rewatched the broadcast, looked at my shortcomings. ❓ Did you set a medal plan for this start? 💬 I didn't think about it. Only that I needed to do my program - and then what will happen. ❓ Did you have time to discuss the competition with your coach? 💬 She praised me, said that I was great. She didn't scold me for mistakes on the beam - on the contrary, she supported me. ❓ Can we say that the beam is your weak spot? This is the only final you didn't get to. 💬 Probably yes. I have this apparatus that is a bit unpolished, so to speak. Treacherous. I need to work...

FIG to reconsider refused applications for neutral status

PLEASE NOTE: statement from the FIG website is below. Source : RGF. Google translate The FIG Executive Committee has revised the rules for admitting Russian athletes as neutrals A meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 9 and 10. Following its results, the rules for obtaining neutral status by athletes from Russia were revised. According to the updated rules: – Russian athletes will be able to compete under the auspices of FIG not only in individual, but also in group and team disciplines. – Athletes who were previously denied neutral status will have the right to have their applications reconsidered. – New criteria for considering applications have been introduced and FIG clarifications to the updated rules have been approved — this should increase the objectivity of the admission procedure, eliminating cases of unjustified refusals. The President of the Russian Gymnastics Federation Oleg Belozerov ...

AA Champion Liudmilla Roschina targets Olympic gold

  Liudmilla is the first gymnast of the new generation to win AA in the most important international competition in Russia.  The Krasnodar born gymnast was at one time said to be the favourite of head coach of the junior team, Aliya Mustafina.   Source: gymnastics group on VK.com.  Google translate Lyudmila Roshchina shone at the "Strongest Athletes Cup" in artistic gymnastics in Moscow.  🔝 The 17-year-old gymnast became the absolute champion in the all-around and in individual disciplines, winning the vault, parallel bars and floor exercises!  "I am very pleased. There were small mistakes, but they did not prevent me from showing a decent result. I liked the atmosphere of the competition, the full stands helped when I went out on the apparatus. I love all the apparatus, but especially the parallel bars. And, of course, it was interesting to test myself against foreign rivals. In September, the Russian Championship will be held, I want to perform there at ...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more