I have tried to allow a little time for people to digest Alexander's interview. It is still early days. There has been some frantic discussion on the gymternet. Most it has characterised the 'story' as an argument between Alexandrov and the Rodionenkos: who was right, and who was wrong?
Of course, it will take much more time to stand back and see the whole picture. This is an emotional story that presents itself as a classic confrontation between good and bad. We see the Rodionenkos as paranoid, manipulative dictators, self-interested and determined not to be outshone by a star performer on their team. The spontaneous Alexandrov, on the other hand, is engaging, direct, full of tough love for his gymnasts and focussed only on a desire to see his team perform well. This is a compelling proposition, and it's not surprising that the vast majority of discussion on the internet revolves around this argument.
One thing that I find remarkable is how the two narratives - first of all, the unfolding, ongoing account in the Russian press, mostly dominated by the voice of the Rodionenkos; secondly, the current interview with Alexandrov - corroborate each other. Alexandrov's words are wholly consistent with the scenario we have seen developing in Russian gymnastics over the past two and a half years. You could go back and draw up a timeline of events, complete with quotes, mostly from Valentina, and match them to statements in Alexander's interview. It would all make perfect sense.
But there is an underlying story, one that is actually far more important even than the fact that the Rodionenkos cannot retain their head coaches, and so badly treated a man who was proving to be the salvation of their women's programme, that he had to leave a job, a gymnast, a country that he loved to his bones, and had to go all the way to Brazil to be allowed the freedom to express his talents.
In my opinion, the most important parts of Alexandrov's interview are part 2, where he discusses the power relationships in Russian gymnastics, and part 4, where he describes his initiatives to encourage gymnastics participation and improve coach retention. These implicitly describe the puzzling environment in which Russian women's gymnastics is currently struggling to survive.
They explain how powerfully connected the Rodienenkos are, with influence going right to the very top of Russian government. This is important in a sport that is currently reliant on considerable sums of money from sponsors bank VTB. The Russian government owns over 60% of the shares in VTB and its President, Andrei Kostin, is also President of the Russian Gymnastics Federation. Sport is central to the Russian government's plans to develop Russian society, to build a stronger infrastructure right across the country, and to encourage the development of tourism incomes. The continuing success of gymnastics depends on being able to capitalise fully on the generous investment VTB has put into building and refurbishing new facilities right across the Russian Federation, and on finding a structure that will support the generation of income to pay operating costs to match the existing capital support provided by VTB and other national and local government sources.
The sport of artistic gymnastics allows Russia to express many aspects of its national cultural heritage that are admired far and wide, and should be attractive to any Russian sponsor, but the ability to promote the sport on this basis depends on medal winning performances. The Rodionenkos have to deliver gold medals, not just cash, if their favourable connections are to continue to be effective in securing funding for the sport and thus supporting a virtuous cycle of first place winning performances.
This is where part 4 of the interview is important. Rodionenko has frequently highlighted the problems of regenerating Russian gymnastics. He knows very well what they are. When funding for gymnastics in Russia collapsed, in the late 1990s and through much of the 2000s, participation levels inevitably fell off considerably. Universities dropped their gymnastics coaching courses. Coaches emigrated overseas. This has left a significant and highly visible gap in the ranks of the national WAG team today (MAG has been less affected, thanks to the relatively longer careers male gymnasts enjoy). The challenges therefore include encouraging participation and the development of the technical side of the sport, as well as providing incentives to people to remain in the sport and to retain coaches who can foster the next generations of champions. Alexandrov describes measures he put in place to try to contribute to an improvement in the technical ambition of competing gymnasts (the enhanced Code of Points) and to help committed people to stay in the sport (the amended normative standards for the Master of Sport qualification). These seem like positive contributions that fall well within a coach's domain of control to implement, yet the Rodionenkos for some reason tried to stand in their way.
When did you last hear Rodionenko talking about his strategies to address these terribly nutty problems? Why is Valentina involving herself so heavily in the day to day running of the WAG team when her talents - and the problems to which she should be applying them - lie elsewhere?
Well, for now I am going to let this subject rest and develop. Please do comment, below - your ideas and discussions really do help in taking these subjects forward positively.
Before I go, however, I did want to share one more thing with you. It's another piece of primary evidence in the developing picture of how Russian gymnastics works under the leadership of the Rodionenkos: a letter from former Junior National WAG coach Oleg Ostapenko to Andrei Rodionenko. Oleg is one of the five coaches whom Alexandrov mentions in his interview as having been rapidly 'despatched' by the Rodionenkos, unable to tolerate their way of working. He is a hugely distinguished coach, having nurtured the talents of Natalia Kalinina and Tatiana Lyssenko to fruition in the early 1990s, having acted as Ukraine national coach for many years around the 1996 Olympics. Alexandrov talks about Ostapenko's success with individuals on the Brazilian WAG team, where he now works. He merits a whole piece on this blog, but for now I will let his letter speak for itself.
I don’t understand the reasons why you didn’t include L. P. Korolenko, who, for me, is a conscientious and professional coach, in the training camp for May 2-19. I don’t like the atmosphere at Ozero Krugloe. The atmosphere is full of unkindness, hypocrisy and mutual suspicion.
Of course, it will take much more time to stand back and see the whole picture. This is an emotional story that presents itself as a classic confrontation between good and bad. We see the Rodionenkos as paranoid, manipulative dictators, self-interested and determined not to be outshone by a star performer on their team. The spontaneous Alexandrov, on the other hand, is engaging, direct, full of tough love for his gymnasts and focussed only on a desire to see his team perform well. This is a compelling proposition, and it's not surprising that the vast majority of discussion on the internet revolves around this argument.
One thing that I find remarkable is how the two narratives - first of all, the unfolding, ongoing account in the Russian press, mostly dominated by the voice of the Rodionenkos; secondly, the current interview with Alexandrov - corroborate each other. Alexandrov's words are wholly consistent with the scenario we have seen developing in Russian gymnastics over the past two and a half years. You could go back and draw up a timeline of events, complete with quotes, mostly from Valentina, and match them to statements in Alexander's interview. It would all make perfect sense.
But there is an underlying story, one that is actually far more important even than the fact that the Rodionenkos cannot retain their head coaches, and so badly treated a man who was proving to be the salvation of their women's programme, that he had to leave a job, a gymnast, a country that he loved to his bones, and had to go all the way to Brazil to be allowed the freedom to express his talents.
In my opinion, the most important parts of Alexandrov's interview are part 2, where he discusses the power relationships in Russian gymnastics, and part 4, where he describes his initiatives to encourage gymnastics participation and improve coach retention. These implicitly describe the puzzling environment in which Russian women's gymnastics is currently struggling to survive.
They explain how powerfully connected the Rodienenkos are, with influence going right to the very top of Russian government. This is important in a sport that is currently reliant on considerable sums of money from sponsors bank VTB. The Russian government owns over 60% of the shares in VTB and its President, Andrei Kostin, is also President of the Russian Gymnastics Federation. Sport is central to the Russian government's plans to develop Russian society, to build a stronger infrastructure right across the country, and to encourage the development of tourism incomes. The continuing success of gymnastics depends on being able to capitalise fully on the generous investment VTB has put into building and refurbishing new facilities right across the Russian Federation, and on finding a structure that will support the generation of income to pay operating costs to match the existing capital support provided by VTB and other national and local government sources.
The sport of artistic gymnastics allows Russia to express many aspects of its national cultural heritage that are admired far and wide, and should be attractive to any Russian sponsor, but the ability to promote the sport on this basis depends on medal winning performances. The Rodionenkos have to deliver gold medals, not just cash, if their favourable connections are to continue to be effective in securing funding for the sport and thus supporting a virtuous cycle of first place winning performances.
This is where part 4 of the interview is important. Rodionenko has frequently highlighted the problems of regenerating Russian gymnastics. He knows very well what they are. When funding for gymnastics in Russia collapsed, in the late 1990s and through much of the 2000s, participation levels inevitably fell off considerably. Universities dropped their gymnastics coaching courses. Coaches emigrated overseas. This has left a significant and highly visible gap in the ranks of the national WAG team today (MAG has been less affected, thanks to the relatively longer careers male gymnasts enjoy). The challenges therefore include encouraging participation and the development of the technical side of the sport, as well as providing incentives to people to remain in the sport and to retain coaches who can foster the next generations of champions. Alexandrov describes measures he put in place to try to contribute to an improvement in the technical ambition of competing gymnasts (the enhanced Code of Points) and to help committed people to stay in the sport (the amended normative standards for the Master of Sport qualification). These seem like positive contributions that fall well within a coach's domain of control to implement, yet the Rodionenkos for some reason tried to stand in their way.
When did you last hear Rodionenko talking about his strategies to address these terribly nutty problems? Why is Valentina involving herself so heavily in the day to day running of the WAG team when her talents - and the problems to which she should be applying them - lie elsewhere?
Well, for now I am going to let this subject rest and develop. Please do comment, below - your ideas and discussions really do help in taking these subjects forward positively.
Before I go, however, I did want to share one more thing with you. It's another piece of primary evidence in the developing picture of how Russian gymnastics works under the leadership of the Rodionenkos: a letter from former Junior National WAG coach Oleg Ostapenko to Andrei Rodionenko. Oleg is one of the five coaches whom Alexandrov mentions in his interview as having been rapidly 'despatched' by the Rodionenkos, unable to tolerate their way of working. He is a hugely distinguished coach, having nurtured the talents of Natalia Kalinina and Tatiana Lyssenko to fruition in the early 1990s, having acted as Ukraine national coach for many years around the 1996 Olympics. Alexandrov talks about Ostapenko's success with individuals on the Brazilian WAG team, where he now works. He merits a whole piece on this blog, but for now I will let his letter speak for itself.
 |
| Ostapenko's handwritten copy of his letter to Andrei Fiodorovitch Rodionenko |
To: Rodionenko
A.F.
From: Ostapenko
O.V. head coach of the junior team
Dear Andrei Fiodorovitch.
I would
like to express my total disagreement with the working methods that you and
Valentina Alexandrovna use. You decide about everything. You don’t consider
it necessary to agree with me matters that are mentioned in my contract and belong
to my competencies (2.1.2 and 2.1.3).
I don’t understand the reasons why you didn’t include L. P. Korolenko, who, for me, is a conscientious and professional coach, in the training camp for May 2-19. I don’t like the atmosphere at Ozero Krugloe. The atmosphere is full of unkindness, hypocrisy and mutual suspicion.
All this
has had a bad impact on my health. Therefore, I inform you that I have decided
to break my contract signed 11.1.2009 and that after the training camp of May 2-19, my function as head coach is put to an
end.
O.V.Ostapenko
Note: L P Korolenko is Liudmilla Korolenko, beam specialist for the Russian junior WAG who I believe now resides in Canada. Another distinguished coach and judge, Korolenko coached Ukrainian international Liubov Sheremeta and is very well respected.
With many thanks to both Lupita and Dr Katia Iankova who translated the Ostapenko letter as well as a number of other documents that have been vital to an understanding of the current situation.
The more i read about this the more of a bitter taste i get in my mouth. I can't help feeling scared for the Russian WAG team and it's future and dream about what could have been with AA and Oleg and no Rod's. To me it seems like the Rod's are loosing this generation of talented juniors on the floor. In the beginning i thought that they were taking it slow with the juniors, as they show much less difficulty than the ones the last quad, but now i start to fear that there is no real plan for them and it makes me so sad :(
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lifje. I was already in absolute dismay and shock from the start at Alexandrov's dismissal, and since then the feeling of disgust has been digging deeper and deeper. I remember Tim Daggett saying during the 2010 World Team Competition, right after Russia won gold, "RUSSIA IS BACK." I can't out into words how excited I was. Now I really don't know what the future for Russia is, and it's so disheartening. We can clearly see how it's starting to go, with seniors continuing in the sport and not many promising Juniors to rely on. It's just completely saddening.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if NBC will say BRAZIL is BACK when they start winning medals under Alexandrov and Oleg... sigh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the further analysis after the article - they need to get those Rodionenkos out of the program which is something most of us agree with but the likelihood of that happening is just as likely that we will see pigs flying past our bedroom windows.
And I wonder what Alexandrov thinks about the official announcement of the team that was announced to go to Worlds for Russia... Paseka, Mustafina, Nabieva and Komova or either Rodionova but no Grishina or Afanasyeva (due to injury)...
I think we are all lamenting the sad decline of the Russian WAG programme. I hope I am proved wrong, that Musty wins five medals, that Komova wins beam, that Nabiyeva comes up smelling of roses, and that Paseka lands her Amanar at least once. But the fact that all the gymnasts on the team competed at last year's Olympics ... well, where are the eager young pups, snapping at the heels of the estabished stars?
ReplyDeleteI don't think gold medals from Mustafina are insignificant; she is a legend well in the making and I hope she goes on for many, many years to come. But I would love to see Komova doing more to support her in the all around.
I'm concerned that Grishina's absence from the team is the selectors shooting Russia in the foot to prove a point to themselves only.
Ousting the Rodionenkos might only create a dangerous political vacuum at the top of the sport. My suggestions for improvement would include such simple measures of 'open government' as publishing criteria for selection for the major competitions, publication of the results of test meets etc, and a thorough going review of the head coaches' job descriptions, to identify who is responsible for what.
My guess is that the Rodionenkos' job is far too large for two people to be able to perform professionally, and they should be 'assisted' by for example an equally ranked High Performance Director. This would help to establish more accountability in decision making and also be making a start to the succession planning necessary for the long term survival of the sport. I would also suggest a Business and Development Director to look after fundraising and development issues, including raising participation, and a Director of the Regions to coordinate resources going out to the Regions and so on.
Some of these roles may already be addressed within the Federation but you can't just look things up on the internet as you could do if you were working within British Gymnastics, for example. But I do think that the idea of appointing someone to 'work shadow' the Rodionenkos could be a diplomatic way of toning down the negative things that they are doing.
The ugly truth is that Russia and the command, the (lack of) planning and disorganization of Rodienkos neck could raise more gymnasts with the same level of difficulty of elements and elegance of Produnova, Shoushounova, Olimianich, Koleskinova, Drutchititina, Yurtchenko, Yuri Korlev, Vladimir Artemov, Valentin Mogilny, etc. ..
ReplyDeleteAnd again, You are absolutly right.
I just don´t understand how russian people can´t see it... Because, if here in Brazil, a underdeveloped country, a coach can´t get a medal without excelente reason, he/she is fired out....
ReplyDeleteBut the Rods DID get medals ... they're shielded from the consequences of their actions by (a) the hierarchy and (b) their connections.
DeleteAndrei is also a master of obfuscation. Have you seen his recent interviews that use everything from a virus at Lake Krugloye (which mysteriously affects only the girls) to the FIG rules for forthcoming Worlds as an excuse for failure.
They will only get rid of them if there is an absolute disaster but even that eventuality has been prepared for by Afan's untimely ankle injury, Grishina's back injury and Komova's disposition. I believable Paseka has been sick too.
So much pressure on Mustafina, who you feel would compete whatever the circumstances. I hope for her sake that she performs her best and wins all around. But it would be a paradox of a gold medal as it would be presented as a vindication of the Rods' methods. They are currently Teflon coated.
I guess the men may put up a good medal fight.
I think Alexandrov's interview was right to highlight the poor strategic decision making of the Rods (see eg Part 4). These are precise examples of things Andrei has done that do not make proper strategic sense and as such are much less easy for him.to shrug off and find excuses for than a poor performance. To an extent, theexcessive focus on the Rods' conduct as regards team selections etc - which was only a small part of the interview - is blinding people to the real significance of the interview. Alexandrov says Mutko should research his decisions better. I hope he and his aides readthis blog and that he looks closely at every part, not just the first and last.
The Rods do far more than coach; theirs is a political role and for that reason I think sacking them suddenly would be hugely unwise. What is needed is succession planning on the basis of their increasing age. Bring in 4 high powered deputies in the different areas of their responsibility and gradually alleviate them of their heavy burden and contacts lists. Then retire them with full military honours and a smile on their faces. It's called damage limitation.