Skip to main content

'We cannot afford to prepare gymnasts for one competition'

Anastasia Grishina - a 'butterfly for a day'?


Valentina Rodionenko here provides clarification of some of the points made in yesterday's interviews. In a more measured account than her Allsport interview which is summarised as part of yesterday's blog post, she emphasises the need to retain and develop gymnasts on the WAG team and says there is a new, smiling, face of the team management, with greater collaboration between personal and lead coaches.









Key points are :

There is a new atmosphere in the Russian team since London, under new head coach Evgeny Grebenkin.  Everything is OK: everyone is friendly, works hard, there is no shouting and generally 'good human relations'.

 'Perhaps because we have worked abroad for a long time, we have never had any desire to humiliate or offend anybody.  We do not use such methods.'

Evgeny Grebenkin has brought the personal trainers into the centre of the team, rather than working on the sidelines as previously.  It is implicit in what Rodionenko says that the personal trainers were alienated from their gymnasts under the old system, leading to a loss of strength in depth on the team.  There were only four adult girls in the ranks of the team in the lead up to the Olympic Games, and she laments the fact that Nabieva (amongst others) was not available for the Olympic Games (Nabieva is now recovering and preparing for the Universiade).  'I can think of many more names, which have disappeared. It's wrong.' 

'We cannot spend so much money to have the girls make only one start.'  

So now the team is going to try harder to keep gymnasts, and to return gymnasts who had been removed.  She mentions Katya Kramarenko as a 'gorgeous, beautiful' gymnast who is preparing for the Universiade, and says it is important that the team works with all the gymnasts, not just the six who will eventually go to the Olympics

When asked how the team coaching changes might have affected Aliya Mustafina, Valentina replies that it is the head coach's job to organise the training process, and in this sense Aliya's situation has not changed.  On bars she is working with Evgeny Grebenkin, on beam with Raisa Ganina (whom Mustafina has worked with since 1993 [shome mishtake shirley - ed]).  [In yesterday's interview, Valentina had suggested that there was a rift between Mustafina and Alexandrov and that Alexandrov now mainly oversees Mustafina's training work.]  Mustafina went with the team to Spain after the Olympics - was told to relax, but said that if she stopped she might find it difficult to return to work.  She has now restored her beam routine but has yet to get to grips with upgrades to her vault.  On bars she 'has no equal'.  Anastasia Grishina has restored her programme to its previous level, but has made no improvements and they have yet to draw any conclusions about her and are very worried about her performance at the Europeans as she is not in the condition they would like.  She still thinks Anastasia is a very promising gymnast, but she changed her coach at the advice of her mother and is working with Viktor and Irina Razumovsky who have recently returned from Japan.  We will have to wait and see.Evgeniya Shelgunova was originally reserve for the European Championships on grounds of her third placed finish all around at Russian Championships.  Grishina had finished in second place there, but since then the gymnasts' readiness has changed, and Shelgunova now has the edge over Grishina.  Rodionenko says they cannot change the team selections as the decisions are made on 'sporting principles'. 


They have added some new gymnasts to the team.  Coming onto the senior formation alongside Shelgunova is Alla Sosnitskaya, who will perform at the World Cup in Portugal.  They have also recently held five selections over ten days at Lake Krugloye for girls born 2000, and have selected eight for training with the national junior team.
 

Ksenia Afanasyeva, active since 2007
Valentina stresses that the older girls on the team train more conscientiously, without the need to force or persuade them, in particular Ksenia Afanasyeva whom the team is now hoping will continue till the Rio Olympics.  'Even Aliya now has a mature approach to work' says Valentina.  She says she hopes that this will lead to long term (not short term) results.  They were surprised when Afanasyeva said that she wanted to prepare an Amanar vault, but that Afanasyeva's technique - and her attitude - is very good.  They do not, however, know if she is ready to perform the vault at Europeans.

'It is important to keep Ksenia Afanasyeva to the next Olympics.  She will be 24 years in Rio ... Aliya will turn 22 in 2016.  We believe that there are young talented girls, and it is important to preserve them and bring them to a level where they begin to show a conscious effort, and are more than butterflies for a day'.






Comments

  1. "Perhaps because we have worked abroad for a long time, we have never had any desire to humiliate or offend anybody. We do not use such methods."

    Hahaha, I think she actually believes that.

    As for loss of strength in depth in team, I am sure I read her and her husband have the power over such things, so I don't know who she is trying to blame here, it shouldn't be anyone but themselves that people have fallen away to the side.

    As for Aliya and Alexandrov - I thought that's what Alexandrov did before....overseas Aliya's work/training? Not sure when that rift happened, but it could have explained him possibly going to Brazil, or it could have happened because of that.

    She also needs to give Grishina time, not everyone wants to rush themselves after Olympics season, if Russia had more seniors this wouldn't be a problem. However, Grishina does need to get her butt in gear to make up for the bad Olympics and just general way people view her.

    Afanasyeva - good for her to finally be getting her butt in gear and training. Let's not pretend she isn't difficult. Semenova's even said that in her interview. So if she really has changed good for her.

    The fact that Valentina had to clarify her comments, shows she needs a course in learning how to talk to the press or something.

    Thanks for the translation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'the six who will eventually go to the Olympics' - is that a typo, or will Rio have teams of 6?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure. She probably just means 5 + 1 reserve.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tatyana Nabiyeva on work and love in China

Some highlights from a long interview with 2010 World champion Tatyana Nabiyeva.  Source: Russian team page on VK.com.  Translation - Google translate A big interview with Tatyana Nabieva about the peculiarities of work and life in China, the bright years of her sports career, a little about modern gymnastics and about love. On the Nabiyeva flight — At the same championship, you presented a new element on the bars, which was later added to the rules with your last name (flying over the top bar with a straight body, difficulty group F. — Sport24). How did you come up with the idea to try something new? — Actually, it happened spontaneously, I think. We worked with Vera Iosifovna [Kiryashova] on the purity of the elements on the bars, sometimes I didn’t fly all the way to the Shaposhnikova element. Once I didn’t fly all the way to the bars either and stood on my feet between the bars, bending my legs in flight for safety. Then Vera Iosifovna said that this was a different eleme...

‘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...

Angelina Melnikova photo session

Daria Isaeva has done a photo session with Angelina Melnikova at Dynamo Moscow.  Here are Angelina’s words about it.   "  The first time I was on a balance beam I was six years old. I was scared because of the height, so at first I walked hand in hand with my trainer." "The hardest thing on this apparatus is to keep your balance. Usually, when I'm on the beam, I imagine that I'm in a corridor 10 centimeters wide." "You can't be afraid of the beam! Coaches say that if you have fear, you will perform poorly." "The first difficult element I did at the age of eight was a backflip. In adult gymnastics, this element is considered one of the easiest." “I still can’t do a cartwheel on a log; I can easily fall off it, although children can do this element at the age of six.” "It's better to perform on the balance beam barefoot - you feel the apparatus better that way. But to avoid injuries, we sometimes tape our ankles." "It...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more