Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

The videos you have been able to see in the previous posts come from a Youtube channel entitled Fizicultura . In addition to the videos embedded on the pages of this blog, you can find the following; they are a fascinating document of the Soviet Union's training regime and show familiar gymnasts in a relatively unfamiliar role. Basic women's gymnastics, 1990 Featuring Svetlana Baitova, Svetlana Kozlova, Irina Viatinina, Elena Abrashitova, Tatiana Gutsu, Oksana Chusovitina, Tatiana Lyssenko, Tatiana Ignatova and Tatiana Toropova. Men's all around, compulsory programme, 1989 Video features Valeri Belenkyi, Dmitri Vorobaev, Valentin Mogilnyi Consultant video editors, Nikolai Andrianov and Alexander Alexandrov Compulsory programme (men) for the 1980 Olympic Games  Compulsory programme for Candidate Master of Sport, (women and men) 1981 Features Tatiana Frolova, Elena Polevaya, Tatiana Arzhannikova, Pavel Sut, Vladimir Artemov, Stanislav Sitnik, Artur Ako...

Routines from the 1982 Soviet Championships. Enjoy a tiny, 12 year old Elena Shushunova, Olga Mostepanova, Alla Misnik; and Natalia Ilienko is accorded the dignity of her own music to perform on floor ...

Enjoy routines from the 1982 Soviet Gymnastics Championships

It was 1978 and we were watching the Strasbourg World Championships.  Rivalry between the Soviet Union and Romania was at its height; only a few months earlier the Romanian team had walked out of the European Championships, held in Prague, as national coach Bela Karolyi bitterly contested scores and alleged cheating by the East German and Soviet-led judging panels. In the Soviet Union women's team there had been a changing of the guard since the 1976 Olympics. Key new faces on the team included the eventual all around champion, Elena Mukhina, and bronze medallist, Natalia Shaposhnikova.  Legends Ludmilla Tourischeva, Olga Korbut and Elvira Saadi had left the playing field, and now Nelli Kim led the team, alongside the young veteran of the 76 Games, Maria Filatova. The video below, a Soviet produced, black and white information programme, shows important gymnastics from these Championships, including all of Elena Mukhina's routines.  Mukhina is featured here as an origin...

Viktoria Komova accepts her silver medal all around at the Tokyo World Championships in 2011 The 2011 Worlds are well over now. The gold medals won in Tokyo and, the following year, in London, put America in prime position as we approach the Antwerp World Championships this autumn. They are reigning World and Olympic champions in both team and all around. Only the all around title will be contested in September, so America will inevitably remain team champions until 2014. Event finals are, relatively, small fry. Let's not forget, however, that this seemingly dominant position stems from two highly controversial all around competitions. In both cases, Komova versus Wieber and Komova versus Douglas, the result could have gone either way; reverse the positions, and world rankings in WAG might look a little more balanced. The judgements made are not black and white. They cannot be denied or affirmed by a simple one sentence assertion, and they bear continued discussion...

Ivan Stretovich competes at last year's Junior European Championships Siberian-born, 16 year old Ivan Stretovich featured on this blog last year after his appearance at the Junior European Championships, and was one of the rising stars at this month's European Youth Olympic Festival, taking bronze medals all around and on rings, in addition to gold on parallel bars.  There is something about this gymnast that I like; his competitive bearing is confident and strong, his work presented with an economy of line that reminds me of a young Dmitri Bilozerchev .  Between last year's Junior European Championships and this year's EYOF, Ivan improved his D value on parallel bars from 5.1 to 5.6, including a brand new double front with half twist out dismount. The local Siberian sports committee has produced this video of Ivan in training.  Lupita provides a brief summary of what is said below. Ivan Stretovich is one of the candidates to be nominated "April Russian A...

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko visited Burtasy Palace of Sports, Penza , yesterday and congratulated the regional leadership on its management of sports in the region. The facility houses both a swimming pool and gymnasium. 2012 Olympic medallist and 2013 European Vault Champion Denis Ablyazin has his home in Penza and trains at this school under coach Valeri Starkin. Sports Minister Mutko meats with local dignitaries and athletes at Burtasy Palace of Sports, Penza, host to the upcoming Russia Cup gymnastics competition (begins 15th August) The School is the regular base for national competitions such as the Russia Cup and Russian Championships. As mentioned in a recent RRG report , this is made possible by the investment of the local government, who allow the RGF to use the facility free of charge. Mascot of Spartakiade Chairman of the regional Sports Committee, Artur Panteleev, noted that following on from the European Championships (held in Moscow this spring) ...

You can find the results here . Valentin Starikov, floor Nile Wilson, pommel horse Link to Valentin Starikov's bronze medal winning routine on the pommel horse Nile Wilson, rings Ivan Stretovich, bronze, rings Kirill Potapov, vault Valentin Starikov, vault Ivan Stretovich, parallel bars Carlo Macchini, high bar Valentin Starikov, silver, high bar

Ivan Stretovich from Novosibirsk enjoys gold in the parallel bars Every member of Russia's boys' team at this year's EYOF took home an individual gold medal in addition to the team silver they earned behind Britain in Tuesday's team final. The team as a whole collected 3 gold medals, one behind the British who were dominant at this competition.  The graceful Ivan Stretovich, substituted for Kirill Potapov in the all around final, also finished in third place there. Results (including D scores for the event finals) are reproduced below from links given at the RGF website , and you will find videos of the gold medal winning routines here .  Pictures come from the Koningfoto gallery. Valentin Starikov, of Sizran, Samara Oblast, won gold on the floor Kirill Potapov, from Tomsk, won gold on the vault

Maria posted this picture of Mischa the bear, mascot of the 1980 Olympics All the best gymnasts are called Maria ... :-) And today, it's Maria Filatova's special day - Happy Birthday, Maria!! Maria won gold medals at both the 1976 Montreal and 1980 Moscow Olympics. She was 1978 World Cup all around champion, and four times won gold medals as part of the Soviet team at Worlds and Olympics. In 1981 she won the silver medal all around at the Moscow World Championships, where many people felt she merited the gold. She was a great fan favourite and a great in her own right, competing during a vintage era of classical gymnastics, alongside fellow legends such as Liudmilla Tourischeva, Olga Korbut and Nelli Kim..  You can read more about her here and at her official site, here . Maria is a good Leo woman, positive and sunny, full of encouragement and happy words for those around her. She was always a great team mate, and still is today, as a coach working at her own clu...

Feisty Russian junior Maria Kharenkova worked with purpose and conviction to win today's girls' all around in Utrecht in fine form, avoiding major errors to win a tightly fought competition.   She finished on beam, her best piece, where minor errors tallied up to deprive her of a repeat of yesterday's high scoring.  But the final total matched that of Germany's Kim Janas and the judges had to use the tie-breaker to decide the final positions, giving Maria the gold! There is an archived copy of the entire live stream of the final here . A great week so far for the Russians.  The live streaming did not show any of team mate Maria Bondareva's routines. 1  Maria Kharenkova  54.95 2   Kim Janas, Germany 54.95  3   Tyesha Mattis, GBR  54.85 4   Ellie Downie GBR  54.7;  5   Maria Bondareva 54.2 Maladyets, Maria!!

You will be able to watch Maria Kharenkova and Maria Bondareva compete for the all around title at the European Youth Olympic Festival in slightly less than an hour's time (3.30 pm London time) here . It has been a great competition for the Russians so far, with the boys taking silver in the team competition against a very strong British team on Tuesday, and a bronze for the graceful Ivan Stretovich in today's all around, again against two British gymnasts. Britain's MAG programme is certainly highly competitive at all levels these days and with Russia as their closest rivals, there looks likely to be a fascinating battle between these two teams over the coming years. Russia's girls yesterday took gold in the team competition, ahead of Britain, with Maria Kharenkova sitting in second place in all around qualifications behind Britain's Tyesha Mattis.  The team of Kharenkova, Bondareva and Kuzmina were OK on vault with FTYs, took two falls on bars, but then excel...

Just look at the picture to the left of this post.  Recognise it?  If you love gymnastics, or are interested in Russian sport, chances are you will know it as the logo of the Dynamo Sports Society, one of the most important sports bodies in Russia and the former Soviet Union.  People all over the world are familiar with this logo, for its connections with not only gymnastics, but also football, athletics and many other sports. Dynamo Gymnastics - in particular Moscow Dynamo, the focus of this story - is associated with some of the best gymnastics the world has ever seen.  The club’s rich heritage includes multiple World and Olympic Champions, for example, 1984 Alternative Olympics Champion Olga Mostepanova and 1988 Olympic Champion Sergei Kharkov.   Today, several members of the national team train there and, looking to the future, there is a vibrant children's programme.   However, this heritage – and the potential to create more champions – is...

Russia's Nikolai Kuksenkov today became the first man since the legendary Yuri Korolev (1981, 1983) to defend his World University Games all around gold medal, and the first ever to take back-to-back titles for two different countries. He earned his victory thanks to a uniquely calm but consistent competitive ethos, and solid all around ability. Without scoring the highest mark on any single piece of apparatus, he held a faultless line across all six. There were other gymnasts whose greater risk and difficulty could have beaten Kuksenkov, but they all withered in the heat of a strong competition, victims to their ambition and risk. Japan's Ryohei Kato, a simply beautiful gymnast whose execution gains him an edge, would have won easily but for a fall from the parallel bars (injury?).  The dramatically explosive Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine had a disappointing showing on pommel horse but otherwise sizzled through the apparatus for his shared bronze medal.  His compatriot,...

Aliya Mustafina confirmed her dominance of the Universiade today, winning gold in the all around competition with a competent, if not full powered performance, understandable considering she had left hospital only a few days ago. The victory was certainly not assured.  After vault, Ksenia Afanasyeva was in the lead.  Mustafina, predictably, pulled ahead by two points with an accomplished bars routine culminating in a very strong dismount, but then dropped off beam after a double turn. So it was left to Afanasyeva to win the title on beam and floor, her strongest pieces.  But the veteran of two Olympics could not assert herself, making three major errors, failing to complete moves and combinations in the process, to score a competition low for her of 13.15.  So after the third rotation Mustafina still led the competition, with Afanasyeva a disappointing third at that stage - and needing her best floor routine to claw back the silver. She did not disappoint. ...

Russia's strategy of sending its best MAG team to the Universiade in Kazan today paid off. All rounders Nikita Ignatyev, David Belyavski and Nikolai Kuksenkov put in a solid showing, supported by specialists Denis Ablyazin (floor, vault, rings) and Emin Garibov (pommels, parallel bars and high bar). Their performance must be one of the most consistent and solid by a Russia MAG team in a long time and shows the benefits of competing at home. Ukraine finished in second place, edging Japan by slightly more than two tenths.   Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev finished all around qualification in first place, followed by Japan's Ryohei Kato and Ukrainian Oleg Stepko.  David Belyavski finished in fourth place with Nikolai Kuksenkov following closely behind.  Less than 1 point separates the top five qualifiers in the all around. While the strength in depth of the MAG competition is reflected in a wider diversity of gymnasts qualifying in first place for finals (see below) than in ...

The RGF has posted a gallery of pictures from the Universiade, a few of which I'll share with you here, along with some videos of the competition. Did you realise that every member of this Russian team has a chance of winning medals at this Championships?  Possibly even, gold?  There is hardly the competition here that there will be in Antwerp later this year, but I hope the team takes encouragement and motivation from this rare opportunity to shine. With the exception of Afanasyeva's fall from bars (apparently she has ripped hands - 'not many people would even have the courage to compete', says Rodionenko) the team performed without major errors.  Even in Rotterdam 2010, where they took the team gold medal, there were two falls, so this is an important improvement, even if they were not performing full difficulty. The team will take a short holiday soon, from the 12th July, before heading back to Krugloye to begin preparations for Worlds.  That is a mere twelv...

A mature and, mostly, happy Russian collective dominated the Universiade today in Kazan, taking the team title by ten points over their nearest rival, Japan, and leading qualification in each of the remaining competitions, including the top two places in Tuesday's all around (Mustafina and Afanasyeva).  It was a confident, assured and relaxed performance from this experienced team whose only real error was by Afanasyeva on uneven bars (12.55), and much more gold is promised in the coming days. Russia's specialists had an opportunity to shine.  2010 World Team Champion Anna Dementyeva's beam routine was a real highlight, for me the best routine of the entire competition today and promising much for the fan favourite in Wednesday's event finals.  Dementyeva's beautiful line, execution and lightness of touch did justice to her country's heritage of excellence on this piece of apparatus.  Maria Paseka vaulted to promise and ended up in first place on her one ev...

Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, location of the Universiade.  The beautiful Kazan Kremlin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site I can now update some of the information posted mid-week.  Please bear with me if I repeat the words 'treat this information with respect'; some of the details are contradictory and downright confusing.  I am reproducing here what is available at the most reliable sources I can find, but you should check and double check to avoid missing the competition you want to see. Download a copy of the technical handbook here .  This includes all of the technical rules of the competition, who is on the Committee, as well as where you can order your lunchbox if you are an official :0). Find the main website for the Universiade here , in English, Russian and Tatar.  The RGF is also providing an overview of press coverage - click on the link that reads Пресса об Универсиаде. There is a full list of participants here , although it seems a little bit ou...