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Britain 1, Russia 2 in Junior European Gymnastics Championships

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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.  





















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  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.

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    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.:))

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  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

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