Who's Who - Russian men's artistic gymnastics

The Russian men's team looks likely to make more of an impression here in London than they did in Beijing four years ago, where two bronzes were their total accomplishment.  If team coach Valentina Rodionenko has it right, the team has halted their decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russian gymnastics is ready to make a statement.  For the men, this is likely to mean medals in apparatus finals.  Less likely are medals in the team or all around contests, thanks to a team weakness on the pommel horse and the competitiveness of the international field, where four teams can fight for bronze (Russia, Germany, Britain and USA). 

But the team does look ready to compete.  Yesterday's quick hits from men's podium training emphasised the team's strength on rings and vault, with the fiery Denis Ablyazin looking a likely contender for gold on floor and vault.  Russia perform charismatic gymnastics and add excitement, charm and beauty to their arsenal of high difficulty skills.  They are young, inexperienced and ambitious - tomorrow's qualification rounds will be the first phase of a fascinating competition.


 

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.  












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.