Andrei Rodionenko interview - Lupita translation

Andrei Rodionenko observes David Belyavski.  Picture: Sovietsky Sport

Andrei Rodionenko was interviewed by Sovietski Sport journalist A Vandenko on August 9th, the same day that Alexander Alexandrov gave his interview to Rsport (translation available on this blog, dated 11th August).

I have been warned that Sovietski Sport is the Russian tabloid equivalent of the UK's Daily Mail, so do read this article with due care and attention. The Russian text is quite dense and we present here the main points. Omissions are indicated by elipses ...

Taken in the round, a number of interviews recently have strongly hinted that there is some uncertainty over which coaches will continue at Lake Krugloye after the end of this month. Head coach Andrei Rodionenko, women's team coach Alexander Alexandrov, and women's uneven bars coach Evgeny Grebenkin have all been mentioned by name. Things seem rather unsettled. I just hope a good solution can be found that will be the best arrangement for the girls.

No recent statements from Valentina Rodionenko!! 

Apparently the interview took place late on the last evening of the gymnastics competition, after or during the team's party, and Rodionenko seemed rather tired ...

FORGIVEABLE WEAKNESS

–  Have you deliberately avoided shaving, Andrei Fiodorovich?

– Did you notice? I apologize. Since the event finals I decided not to shave. It may seem naive, but if the tradition exists, why not follow it?

– Did your son-in-law teach you that - Viacheslav Fetisov?

– Yes, in hockey, especially in North America, from the play-off stage, the team don’t shave for the sake of success. I decided to try it.

– Did you try it for the first time?

– I tried it at the World Championships as well.

– Did it work?

– You do it once and then you start to believe in it.  You know, everyone has weaknesses. I hope this one is forgiveable.

–You aren’t leaving London empty-handed. After Beijing, here [in London] you won one gold, three silver medals and four bronze medals

– No doubt, over four years we have made some progress.

– You have already said: "Rio is waiting for us". We understand that this concerns the team as well as the national head coach

– I don’t know yet if I can stay four more years. It all depends on the conditions that will be provided for.

- Krugloye Ozero fulfils world standards.

– Not exactly. A lot exists in theory, but not yet in practice.

– And more specifically?

– Sports medicine. It’s almost the main problem. A lot is done, but it’s not enough. For instance, you cannot start training all events before the gymnast is ready; you cannot work on rings with a young boy. The girls don’t have the same constraints; they train when they are small, not yet formed. Did you notice the Americans' strength? Especially if you compare them with our girls. Komova lacks strength.

– Physical strength?

– Health. Generally speaking, a strong person is healthy. This is why one day Viktoria can be excellent, аnd the following day she can collapse. Her recovery process is slower. In warm-up, she is relaxed, and she gets mobilized in competition. This time her method didn’t work. Later she concentrates, but she could not catch up the half point she had lost. 

On the other hand, her rivals’ scores can be questioned. Douglas’ routine, who won the AA, is not to be compared with Komova’s routine. The points that Vika lost on vault had to be won on bars. Yet, the judges assessed the gap as 0.3 - for difficulty. It’s as if Gabriella had performed her routine perfectly, without a single deduction. This is impossible, the ideal doesn’t exist. 

– Аnd when the men were in second place in the team’s competition and suddenly

– This doesn’t make sense. It’s due to the format of the competition. In the qualifying competition, there is the format 5–4–3. In other words, the team is made of five athletes, four compete and the best three scores are counted in. In the final there’s another variant: 5–3–3. Three gymnasts compete and all the scores are counting.

This is not normal. It’s too strict, even cruel. The athletes don’t have the right to make errors. The psychological pressure is incredible! Everyone is against this format, but the FIG doesn’t change anything. They say it’s for the interest of TV channels. Тhis is the toll we have to pay for gymnastics to be more spectacular, but in fact the athletes are submitted to more constraints. Who needs this? Not us. All this is not without influence, it has an impact on the psyche. Sport is already very stressful, аnd with this the load is too great.

When the gymnasts understood that they could win silver, they felt nervous and gave out. Those who wobbled were those who were not expected to do so. Belyavski in pommel horse and Balandin in parallel bars.

–    - Did they lack experience?

– Of course! The Americans, the Japanese and even the South Koreans have two equal teams. The Chinese have three. We have difficulty in finding one. You can find almost all the best gymnasts on this bus. Only a few stayed in Moscow.

This is the core of the problem. We need competitivity inside the team, a high level at the Russian Championship, and a good reserve.

TELEPHONE DIRECTORY

I see that you switch into English from time to time. Is it easier to express yourself?

– Sometimes in Russian it’s difficult to find the right expression. In gymnastics we use our terminology, which sometimes is not understood by the public. What is the meaning of TkachEv release, Korbut loop or Jaeger salto? Almost all the great gymnasts left their print. We don’t have the names of the elements, but a telephone directory! On the one hand, it’s not bad because we remember those gymnasts; on the other hand, the non-specialist is unable to understand anything.

–      - Do any of the current team have the chance to make history?

– Absolutely! David Belyavski was to first to perform a unique dismount on bars. Two front somersaults in the pike position. It’s an original element that he began to perform a year ago at the World Championships. Komova has a bars elements named after here. The title is complex. Inbar back Stalder on the low bar through handstand, shoot with 1/2 turn (180°) to hang on the high bar. Can a commentator pronounce this in a few seconds? Of course not. It’s simpler to say Коmova’s flight and all the professionals will understand.

– In this sense the coaches' work is not rewarding

– In sport people are ambitious and in a certain sense vain, but the coach must love his pupils more than himself. You know, when I worked with the USSR’s Junior team, which included Tkachev and Detiatin, we had a hymn with the words: "It’s not easy to be a coach. You have to be born a coach". I think it’s difficult to express it better.

– Do you regret the last years you spent at Krugloye Ozero?

– I have to confess it was difficult, but during the four years after Beijing we managed to change generations. The previous gymnasts did what they could and quit, and the new ones closed the gap with the leaders of world gymnastics. Some time ago, we were perceived as youngsters in the battle, and now we’ve gained respect. First we showed our teeth in Europe, then at the World Championships. In our sport the hierarchy is very strong. Rivals pay attention to this; as well as the judges. When we won in Tokyo, everyone realized one thing: after eight years, Russia has come back to elite.

 MY WORD IS MY BOND

–  ... The men are ready to compete at the highest level. They understand very well what they need to do, what they have to improve. Focus, self-discipline, total order everywhere. I only wish they didn’t clip our wings.

– Who?

– There are different scenarios.

 – As far as I understood, personally you have opponents in the Russian Gymnastics Federation.

– I know nothing of this. There may be opponents, but I never thought about that. I don’t make statements, I don’t write anything, and I try to seldom give interviews, because I realize that every word may become a threat.

– Alexei Nemov didn’t stay silent, he said that perhaps Rodionenko should retire.

– Did he tell you that? 

– It’s interesting! I can play you the recording.

– I heard that they apologized for Alexei, he didn’t say so. Perhaps someone wants to make noise, to make a scandal.  I never wanted to be a head coach. I worked with the Junior Team, I was hired by Yuri Titov, but after the Seoul Olympics the situation was such that I resigned. Everybody was astonished: he has won the gold medal and he quits.

– A conflict with Arkayev?

– In part. I worked some time in the trade-unions’ school, аnd then I went to the furthest country from Russia - Australia. To see nobody and to hear nothing.  I had the goal to qualify for the Olympics, where the Australian gymnasts had never competed. They competed, and quite well.

I always try to do what is in my scope, I always focus on professionalism. At the end of the day time puts everyone in their place. Life has proved that I was right when I went abroad.

– The important thing is that you came back on time.

–  Half a year was a very short time to achieve a team at the needed level.  We didn’t find a fifth gymnast. We tested different options. This is why we performed well at the qualifying competition, and in the team final we lacked depth. It doesn’t matter. We have time until Rio. If, of course …

– Andrei Fiodorovich, finish your sentence, please.

– We live in Russia; nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. Today everybody is smiling and looking into your eyes. A day later, you are told that you don’t have a job anymore. Let’s see. Life has taught to believe in people to a certain degree.

We have a contract until fall and we don’t know what will happen. I want to make it clear that I bother about those who came along with me. People have to provide for their families and of course they want to have guarantees, which I cannot give them.

Zhenya Grebenkin asks me what will happen. I answer sincerely that I’ll do everything I can, but others make the decisions. For a year he has not been in Volzhske*, he’s always at Krugloye with the [national] team. No vacation.  They are not victims. This is our system and it cannot work any other way. So far the support has been very good. I hope it will continue.

– Do you feel strong enough to stay?

– Don’t you doubt it! I have a sound way a life in my work. Before we fly back, I’ll shave and I’ll look better. I’ll land in Moscow as fresh as a cucumber.

*  Grebenkin is national bars coach but maintains an interest in his home club at Volzhski, where he is personal coach to national team member Diana Elkina.