Skip to main content

Wilson, Starikov, Bevan


Results of today's junior all around competition.  Congratulations to all!


Comments

  1. It's amazing to see how good team GB has become. I hadn't followed gymnastics for years, and it's stunning to see them become a powerhouse. Good for them.

    And of course, congratulations to Valentin! He'll be one to watch in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ugh! Seriously, Russia what the hell are you doing? How did it come to this? Not only Russia but the European countries that used to be stronger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GB is just running with the momentum coming off of a lot of investment leading up to London (these juniors weren't eligible to peak in time for London is all). Eventually they'll end up where Australia is today, trying to rebuild a decent program many quads after hosting the Olympics, because the only reason they are coming into this success is that capital was put into their programs for the first time. But already the British gov't has ceased its funding following London and now two top elite clubs (one trained 4/5 of the last Olympic team) are already warning that they will close unless they get funding back. That combined with the fact that 1/3 of adult elite gymnasts in GB have retired last years is proof enough to me that we should enjoy this while it lasts. You'll say i'm being pessimistic, but really im just following the trajectory of how these things work.1. Nation gets Olympics 2.nation invests in all sports programs and gov't offers incentives to build training centers, quality facilities, pay for travel expenses to acquire experience, pay for high tech medicine and performance equipment, give generous wages to entice world class coaches 3. a reserve of depth forms- some will peak in time for the Olympics 4. Games ends so govt cuts funding but nation still has "talent residue" that will flow into the next quad or two 5.Eventually the programs that were traditionally underfunded go back to where they were originally..or fall farther. It happened to Australia's gymnastics, swimming, track and field programs, to China's boxing and biking programs and probably so many others I just haven't read about them.

      Now Canada... if they had had Peng Peng Lee they would've taken home an Olympic team silver or bronze medal instead of their historic 5th place. They were so dominating while CHN, RUS,ROU faltered. Canada has been a program quietly but consistently on the rise for years and they're genuine commitment to gymnastics has been without the need of a home-Olympics to fire them up. Because they've invested in gymnastics w/o any looming incentive they must earnestly see the sport as a part of Canada's athletic culture. GB is moving faster, but CAN will stay longer.

      Delete
    2. My apologies for such a belated reply but I had to reply due to the inaccuracies contained in your comments. Firstly, the British development program began before London was awarded the Olympics so wasn't driven initially by the need to perform at a home games. Secondly, the government which isn't involved in the decision making process hasn't cut funding for gymnastics as you claim. UK Sport has actually substantially increased funding from £10.7m in the 2009/13 cycle to £14.5m in the 2013/17 cycle.

      In reality the future of British gymnastics looks very bright with more and more talented youngsters coming through the system and funding already secured for the period beyond the next Olympics.

      Delete
    3. It is a really helpful reply, thank you.
      It seems to me that gymnastics is becoming a headline sport in Britain ... I hope that the successes at the Commonwealth Games will reinforce the funding decisions.

      Delete
    4. For the first time in its history British Gymnastics has home grown role models which I think is key to the development of the sport in the UK. People could admire the brilliance of the great gymnasts produced by other countries but kids in Britain probably never thought they could realistically aspire to be like them. Now the likes of Tweddle and Smith and those that have followed have provided the belief that British kids can compete with and beat the rest of the world.

      As for the sport itself I think you're right about it gaining a higher profile and that can only help feed its growth. At one time the only gymnastics competitions that received coverage in the UK was during the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Now the BBC covers the european and world championships as well. As for funding I think that is guaranteed for the forseeable future the only question being the level which is based on meeting agreed targets which they seem well equiped to achieve.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Melnikova plans to increase her D scores before Jakarta

 Translation of highlights of article from Sport Express. Angelina Melnikova spoke to Sport-Express journalist Sergey Lisin about today's competition day.  ❓Did you expect such a victorious end to the day, considering how it started on balance beam? 💬 No. Just looking at the scoreboard just now gave me goosebumps; it's a great joy. This is my first time competing for Vladimir, and I'm so happy that we won this Russian Championships, competing for the Vladimir team, and we achieved such a historic victory. It was fantastic, thanks to the whole team. ❓And still, about balance beam. 💬 I don't want to talk about that shame. I have nothing to say, I'm just ashamed; I can't find any other words. ❓How did you manage to pull myself together after that? 💬 Actually, I'm in pretty good shape, and I was generally confident on all the apparatuses today. As a professional athlete, if something isn't working out, I can't give up on the next apparatus. ❓ Yesterda...

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,...

The generations of gymnasts in Russia move on

Almost two years ago the IOC sanctioned Russia for invading Ukraine.  The IOC effectively banned Russia’s team from international competition in Olympic sports.   2020/1 was therefore Russia’s last Olympics, but even so they competed then not as Russia, but under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. There has been a long history of ‘diplomatic’ conflict between Russia and the IOC.  You could think back as far as 1984 when the team boycotted the LA Olympics, but more recently we begin with the ‘state doping’ that went on in particular at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in 2014.  Gymnastics wasn’t affected at that time as the sport of gymnastics is clean, but the sanctions on sport in Russia, in general, have gradually become stronger.  It’s now only possible for gymnasts to compete internationally as individuals, with neutral status.  Neutral status is granted by their sporting administrative bodies, in our case the FIG.   It’s not an easy job, eit...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more