Skip to main content

The State of Russian gymnastics - Elena Produnova and Rostov on Don


You will read quite a lot on this blog about all the money that the Russian Government and its sponsors, VTB, are investing in Russian sport. Head coach Andrei Rodionenko has acknowledged VTB's help in establishing new training centres across the country, including the town of Rostov-on-Don which has famous associations as the training home of champions Liudmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Shaposhnikova and Natalia Yurchenko, and more recently of Elena Produnova, Yulia Belokobylskaya and senior national team member Anastasia Sidorova. Sports are considered an important part of the country's social policy, and mega events such as the upcoming Sochi Olympics, this year's Universiade in Kazan, and the 2014 Football World Cup have the potential to contribute enormously to the economy by improving infrastructure and providing opportunities to develop tourism.

Yet, as we have seen in the arrangements made for Dynamo Moscow while their new training facilities are built, these positive capital investments are often unmatched by good management at grass roots level.  In this case - in a May radio interview with Elena Produnova - it becomes clear that Russia's legacy of sporting achievement is falling by the wayside, providing an answer to the question - why do so many Russian coaches work overseas?

And I am sure there are many clubs out there who would like to employ the inimitable Elena Produnova.

Elena Produnova was one of the leading gymnasts in the world of the late 1990s, and was unlucky to miss out on a gold medal at World or Olympic level.  Had she not suffered an untimely foot injury in 2000, she may well have won the gold medal in the All Around at the Sydney Olympic Games.  She was a powerful, passionate gymnast who combined difficulty and power with an innately musical approach to her sport.   She was also the only female gymnast ever to compete the handspring double front vault with any degree of technical mastery.

With thanks to Lifje for finding this fascinating interview, which Lupita kindly summarises in English below.



Radio Rossya- Radio Don - Athletesā€™ problems in the Don region.  Elena Produnova speaks.

I was given a flat after the 2000 Olympics. When I was an athlete, I competed for the Army Club, but now people have forgotten.  As I am not an army official and there is no law about the allocation of a flat to Olympic champions after the Olympics, there is the risk I may lose my flat.  If I had been a civil servant in the army, I would have kept my flat.  This happens to many athletes in the Rostov on Don region - people rapidly forget about us.


There is a long list of athletes with the same problem, mainly in the Rostov region. Athletes need a specialist to handle administrative issues for them.  The athlete has no time to handle this himself because he is always training or competing.

But we are 'past our sell-by date'. People forget about us. Female gymnasts are very young when they compete.

I have a very strong character: I decided to stay in Rostov because I love my city. Now, should I pack my bags and go away?  To where? Abroad?  But doesn't our country need athletes? Why do we have this situation? In the States they would welcome me. People there remember me and even now I often get work proposals.
The Rostov school is very strong. There is an excellent tradition and we would like it to continue. We face this lack of provision from the very start. What happens to the athlete when he or she finishes his or her career? What happens after an injury? We need another health system if we need surgery once our career is over. 

Elena Produnova's unforgettable floor exercise from team final in the 2000 Olympics


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...

Natalia Yurchenko - an exclusive interview

Natalia wins gold at the World Championships in Budapest, 1983 1983 World Champion Natalia Yurchenko speaks directly to readers of RRG in this exclusive interview.    Early years: In the summer of 1976, at the age of 11, I was accepted to a sports boarding school in Rostov-on-Don. I remember it was a 4-level building with the cafeteria on the first floor, academic classrooms on the second floor, rooms for girls on the third floor and rooms for boys on the fourth floor. There was one TV on the ground floor and the kids who stayed at school over the summer (about 20-30 kids), were able to watch the Olympics. Nadia Comaneciā€™s outstanding performance made us feel jealous because usually the Soviets were the unbeatable favorites. We did feel some relief with amazing performances from Nellie Kim and Ludmilla Tourischeva. Besides Ludmilla, there was a gymnast from Rostov-on-Don, Svetlana Grozdova! And, we were really thrilled to see the very little and cute Maria Fi...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more