Lioudmilla Tourischeva, 1972 Olympic All Around champion in artistic gymnastics, was held up as an example of the ideal Soviet citizen. Here she coaches one of the Soviet Union's leading gymnasts from the 1980 Olympics, Natalia Shaposhnikova The Soviet Union had a genius for lifting sport beyond the textbook, injecting the aesthetic where previously only goals had been in plain view. This was not only manifest in gymnastics. Do you remember the ‘Russian Five’, the players who elevated ice hockey to a creative sporting display, mesmerising their opponents and spectators with intricate patterns of play, so rhythmic and entertaining that they could have been set to music? In gymnastics, a sport where the aesthetic counted as much as the outcome, it was this ability to create spectacle out of competition that resulted in the most extraordinary athletic performances. The ‘Golden Era’, most commonly understood to cover the years from 1952-1...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.


Woo! I spot Grishina and Paeska There too :) Makes me very happy. They didn't pick very flattering shots of Komova did they?
ReplyDeleteOh oops I thought this link was for the video they released in Penza sorry lol
ReplyDeleteIf you go into the right post and make your comment there, I will delete these posts.
ReplyDelete