Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Alexander Alexandrov with his daughter, Isa, at the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio.  (c) Alexander Alexandrov Russian coach Alexander Alexandrov has been prominent in the sport since 1983, when he came to the public eye as coach of the brilliant Dmitri Bilozerchev.  He has over thirty years’ experience of coaching World and Olympic Champions both in the country of his birth and in his adopted home, Houston, USA.  In his most recent position as Head Coach of the national women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) team for Russia, he quite simply resurrected his country’s gymnastics programme, re-establishing his team at the very top of the sport.  Prior to Alexandrov’s appointment, at the 2008 Olympics, Russian WAG had walked away empty handed, without medals.  At last year’s London Olympics, artistic gymnastics was one of Russia’s most successful sports.  Alexandrov’s Russia won the most gymnastics medals of any country competing, and his athlete Al...

Part 1 Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko at Europeans this spring RRG:  What role does the Russian Minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko (VM) play in deciding who will lead the Russian gymnastics teams?  Does he have any influence over the team’s management?  What was his viewpoint on your position? AA:   I have met with VM several times; I must say we had good and honest man-to-man conversations and I respect him very much. I don’t believe that he expected for things to take the turn they did with my dismissal and uproar in press.  I think that the Rodionenkos didn’t expect that either, they probably thought that they could dismiss me as quietly as they had other coaches.  Because the reaction was unexpected, I think that VM found himself in a difficult situation. Who is the Minister?  First of all, he must be a damned good politician.  Sport in general is like war, and every day you are under attack.  He is responsible for a lot daily, ...

Part 1 Part 2 Andrei Rodionenko with the USSR women's team (Universiade) in 1985 I think this may be a good place to explain where the Rodionenkos come from, and the past history between us. Some time ago, there was an extremely talented and legendary ice hockey player, Viacheslav Fetisov.  Some of you may know that Valentina Rodionenko’s daughter, Lada, is Fetisov’s wife. After finishing his career as an NHL player, he was asked to return to Russia by President Vladimir Putin, and was given the post of Minister of Sport in Russia.  Fetisov worked in this role for some time, but before the 2008 Olympic Games in Peking he was dismissed. However, he is still very close to the President and the ruling party in Russia.  As I mentioned before, Fetisov played an important role in the Rodionenkos’ return to Russia, and in supporting their continuing position of power there. As you may know, the main coach in gymnastics for a long time was Leonid Arkayev. He was a s...

Part 1 Part 3 Valentina Rodionenko: 'she likes flattery very much ... she completely destroys her enemies' To go back to question in hand - Valentina was the main initiator of inviting me to come and coach in Russia.  Like I stated before, the Rodionenkos were in deep you know what after the previous (2008) Olympic Games.  They needed to invite “big names” to coach and to do all the work.  The Rodionenkos needed to prove to the Ministry of Sport and the RGF that they could “fix” the problem.  So when I first started, at our coach meetings Valentina would point me out and say to the rest, “Alexander is the Head Coach who was instrumental in our team winning the Olympic Games” (referring to Barcelona).  So in the beginning Valentina would put me on a pedestal because she needed that.  But after a while, any coach who does not repeat what she says and kiss her behind becomes an enemy.  Valentina is used to being the boss, and likes flattery ver...