Skip to main content

Britain 1, Russia 2 in Junior European Gymnastics Championships

By

Sergei Eltcov, Kirill Potapov, Artur Dalolyan, Nikita Nagorny, Valentin Starikov

It was a close-ish competition, but Britain came out on top everywhere as a team, except for pommel horse where the British had a bad day, and rings, a strong piece for a Russia.  In truth, they are two brilliant teams.  Many of these gymnasts will turn senior next year, swelling the ranks of their respective teams.  I can't wait to see them fight for medals at the a Rio Olympics.  Coached by two Russians (Andrei Popov and Sergei Sizhanov from the historic gymnastics city of a Vladimir), the British team carries the classical mark of the Russian school.

CORRECTION - The British Junior team head coach is now Barry Collie.  





















Labels:

Comments

  1. M22 May 2014 at 03:27

    Thanks for the info, I know nothing about the Russian Junior Men team, so it's nice to get info on them

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Writer!22 May 2014 at 05:18

    It was sad that the best junior parallel bars worker, Ivan Stretovich, was not there. I believe that had he been there Russia would have had a better chance of defeating the GB team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sasha22 May 2014 at 05:53

      No they wouldn't. GB never lost the lead through any rotation. They fell twice off of pommel, a very strong event for them generally. Yet even deducting the two points for falls, they still came out 1.7 ahead of Russia. That would've almost been four points if not for the falls! They are the clear dominant federation in Europe for men's gymnastics; it is their fourth consecutive junior title after all. The Russians will have another chance to put up a better fight among the seniors and in the jr all around.

      But France won the day for best dressed. I hate GB's leo, but France looked very sharp on the podium, very sharp indeed.

      Delete
    2. Gláucia Sousa22 May 2014 at 17:02

      I wonder the MAG Russia senior is better, isn´t it? Or WAG is better (not considerating this young team without the injuries gymnasts: Komova, Grishna....

      Delete
    3. Sasha23 May 2014 at 02:27

      I think GB seniors are better. They are the Olympic bronze medalists and today they just qualified three points ahead of Russia despite top Ukrainians moving to the Russian team. However I don't think that this Euro's team is Russia's full strength. Two of their best gymnasts are injured i recall. I would say that in terms of weaknesses and strengths both teams are quite equal: lately Russia overtakes Britain on three events, and Britain outscores them on three events. I think that GB just has better, consistent all arounders so they contribute something extra to their team over Russia's weaker AA'ers.

      And yes, Russia's WAG is better than GB.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous22 May 2014 at 18:12

    If the Rodionenkos leave the national team is there a possibility for these two coaches to comeback to Russia or they already made their lives in England?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous23 May 2014 at 20:18

    Congratulations to the young Russian men! (and to Team GB of course.:))

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous24 May 2014 at 06:41

    Not sure that Popov and Sikhanov would want to move back. Popov moved to the UK with his wife and son in 1991 and his daughter was born there. He initially coached in schools and clubs. However, in 2004 he spotted that British Gymnastics were advertising for a head coach and sent in his resume without really expecting to be successful. The rest is history. I'm not sure when Sikhanov moved to the UK but he's been coaching there since at least 2002. I'm not certain whether he has the same family ties that Popov has so he might be more ameniable to an approach. However, could Russia compete in terms of salary, funding for the gymnastics program, technological and medical support, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous24 May 2014 at 06:55

    This is an example of the technology which Popov and Sizhanov are able to access in collaboration with the scientists at Loughborough University which is the UK's leading sports and sports science university.

    www.lboro.ac.uk/staff/news/articles/2012/Oct_Fred-Yeadon-RussianTV.html

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ...
70 comments
Read more

The State of the Art - Gymnastics in 2013

By
Just picked up Peter Aykroyd's 1987 book  International Gymnastics: Sport Art or Science?.  Seeing it reminded me that gymnastics is in a constant state of flux and change; its identity has been subject to debate and conflict since the earliest days of competitive gymnastics, well before it existed in the form we recognise today.  I want to try to talk about the state of the sport today, how it compares to past models, how it arrived at this point, and what are the questions arising. I make no apologies for publishing the picture comparisons on this page, which were created by Lifje.  Some have seemed to find them rather challenging in the past, but they are not airbrushed or altered in any way.  Yes, the pictures are purpose selected for the sake of comparison, but they express a truth about the direction the sport has taken over the past few years.  They are not so much about Russia versus America as artistry versus athletics.  I do not pretend...
41 comments
Read more

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

By
Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...
57 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more