Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

The Russian Gymnastics Federation has opened a YouTube channel - such a positive development.  One of the videos you will find is an interview with rising star Maria Kharenkova; she is a lovely, light hearted girl in person, energetic and smiling, different to the serious face she puts on in competition :-).    There is also a news piece on the Russia Cup which I think is quite important as it makes clear that the team selection will not take place until late before the World Championships (I believe they are travelling 27th September), thus giving Viktoria Komova time to work up a contributing beam routine, and, f what team captain Aliya Mustafina says is right, possibly a vault!  Many of you will have seen that Vika took gold on uneven bars at this morning's Russia Cup event finals, ahead of all around champion Aliya Mustafina and European medallist Daria Spiridonova and it will be great to see her take encouragement from this success. You will find the original vi...

Moscow, St Petersburg, Central Federal District

The event finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.  Thank you to the Gymnastics group on VK.com, where I obtained these screen captures. Vault : Paseka, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Nabiyeva, Cheong, Kruglikova, Bikmurzina, Vanyushkina, Scherbakova, Elizarova Uneven bars : Mustafina, Spiridonova, Komova, Kramarenko, Nabieva, Rodionova, Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya, Elizarova, Sidorenko Beam : Kharenkova, Mustafina, Fyodorova, Spiridonova, Sosnitskaya, Bikmurzina, Cheong, Elizarova, Kramarenko, Rodionova   Floor : Elizarova, Mustafina, Paseka, Fydorova, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Spiridonova, Bikmurzina, Kharenkova, Cheong  

Nikita Ignatyev with the top six gymnasts at Russia Cup this year.  Left to right - Roman Suetin (6th), Ivan Stretovich (5th), David Belyavski (2nd), Nikita Ignatyev, Mikhail Kudashov (3rd), Daniil Kazachkov (4th).  Courtesy RGF Nikita, a promising all arounder who has built his strength gradually from one competition to the next, is a repeat national level champion, having won the spring Russian Championships in 2012.  His win here was earned thanks to consistent performance.  His nearest rival, the occasionally brilliant David Belyavski, made too many mistakes to take the gold.   1991 born Mikhail Kudashov from Chelyabinsk, in third place, is one of Russia's 'reserve' gymnasts, unlikely to make the final line up for Nanning thanks to the prevalence of event specialists on the team. A noteable newcomer to the all around line up is fifth placed Ivan Stretovich, 1996 born and so due to progress to the senior team in 2015 alongside such youngsters as Artur Dalolya...

I am still waiting for the publication of full results (for some reason the RGF files are missing names, at least when viewed on my IPad) but some of us were awake very early this morning to see Aliya Mustafina confound predictions of her future specialist status, overcome her recent recovery, and win the all around at Russia Cup.  Highlights were her uneven bars routine and a beam where she presented her best combinations with vigour, recording a good mark despite a fall, but she also leads the vault, floor and bars scoring amongst the all arounders eligible for inclusion on the team for Nanning.  (Elizarova scored higher on floor, but is unlikely to be selected as she does not train with the team at Lake Krugloye and has only one strong piece.) Second placed Kharenkova was absolutely outstanding on beam. 1 Aliya Mustafina 14.833/15.4/14.6/14.3 = 59.133 2. Maria Kharenkova  14.1/13.867/16.2/13.667 = 57.834 3  Daria Spiridonova 13.833/15.033/14.233/13.7 = 56.799 4. A...

A short news video released today by the Penza Press agency shows Viktoria Komova training beam, but in an interview the Olympic medallist confirms that her ankle is still painful, and she will compete only bars this week in order to avoid injury.   Only time will tell whether Viktoria will remain eligible for selection to the Russian team for Worlds, considering the team requirement that gymnasts must be prepared to compete on two pieces of apparatus at least.  Worlds begin on the 3rd October so assuming Komova can present a good bars routine in Penza she faces a race against time to prove herself competitive on beam.   http://www.penza-press.ru/lenta-novostey/63588/v-penze-startoval-kubok-rossii-po-sportivnoj-gimnastike Aliya Mustafina, who is not obliged to compete here, has been seen in training on both bars and beam, occasionally icing the ankle which was operated on a few weeks ago.  Blog the Couch Gymnast has a correspondent in Penza and reported yesterday tha...

The Russian MAG and WAG teams take their preparation for World Championships in Nanning one step further this week, as key players compete in the annual Russia Cup in Penza.  There will be team, all around and event finals. The WAG team Last year the gymnasts were rather depleted and suffering the effects of injury; this year the national squad is still short of some of its top members, but has greater diversity and experience up and coming into the ranks, so it will be an interesting time.  Last year saw St Petersburg gymnast and fan favourite Tatiana Nabiyeva lead the all around, ahead of Alla Sosnitskaya, Anna Pavlova, Anna Rodionova, Ekaterina Kramarenko and Polina Fyodorova.  With the individual-only World Championships up coming in Antwerp, I remember writing that Russia might well decide to send a team of only three gymnasts, such was the paucity of available talent.  The final reckoning saw Russia fare a little better than this, although performance ...

Two great young Russian champions emerged this week in China at the Youth Olympics ... Seda Tutkhalyan from Moscow (2 golds, including the coveted all around, and a silver on the floor) and Nikita Nagorny from Rostov on Don (3 golds, and a silver in the all around). Nikita must have the biggest smile in gymnastics.  A strong, dynamic gymnast, he looks set to add considerable value the senior national team when he joins their ranks next year, as a secure all arounder plus, who can contribute to pommel horse scores.   These Youth Olympics were characterised by friendship and happiness; Nikita personified these Olympic values as he expressed the joy of competing, treating victory and disaster alike with his broad, humourous smile.   Let's not loose sight of the fact that this young man is an outstanding gymnast, a leader of his generation who obviously relishes close competition. Seda Tutkhalyan expressed outstanding maturity and sportsmanship this week as she gracefully won...

Daughter of a former Soviet wrestling world champion (Guergan Tutkhalyan), Seda put on her game face and fought for every point, taking a gold medal in today's Youth Olympics all around, just ahead of Brazil's charming Flavia Lopes Saraiva, and Britain's Ellie Downie. I will post more detail in due course, but big congratulations are in order.  Seda is coached in Moscow by Marina Ulyankina who also takes care of national team members Maria Paseka and Alla Sosnitskaya.  This morning fellow Muscovite, national team captain Aliya Mustafina posted encouragement on her Instagram account : 'Show them who is boss ... I believe in you ...'.  The support showed as Seda was clearly well in control of her competition, nailing all but her final tumble during an ebullient floor exercise.  But this misfortune could not rob her of the gold she deserved. Seda hasn't just won a competition, she is an Olympic champion all around at a time when Russia has painfully few all arounde...

http://ru.hayazg.info/Тутхалян_Гурген_Геворгович

Thanks to Gymnasticsedits for the lovely collage Seda begins her YOG experience today, with qualifications in subdivision 3, at 7 pm today Nanjing time. Start lists and results are available here :  http://www.nanjing2014.org/en/en_sports/GamestimeResults.htm You can watch the live streaming here :  http:// nanjing.ovp.olym pic.tv/ Britain's Ellie Downie is in the lead after subdivision 1. Yesterday, Nikita Nagorny did a good job in his qualifying, finishing second all around.  He was very determined and consistent :  Good luck, Seda and Nikita!  We will be watching you, and thinking of you!

August 17, 2014 | Summer    Valery Alfosov: "In London, we went" to the probe, "as the museum" Gymnastics Valery ALFOSOV. Photo Elena Mikhailova, FSGR Interlocutor Helena Vaytsehovsky While we were with the senior coach of the men's team walked away from the main body to the gym, he talked about how hard it is sometimes to find talented athletes, each of them - their weight in gold. While in Japan, the same national championship gathers several hundred masters of high class in China - more, in connection with which the country's domestic championship is always preceded by a lot of qualifiers regional scale. Recalled and American gymnastics with its countless sports clubs and the army of top-class experts. In general, by the time I turned on the recorder, the first question formed itself. - How do you find the strength to work, knowing that your sport becomes more popular, mass, and so - and more productive? It turns out in fact that we lag behind competitors...

Picture courtesy of Natalia Ilienko on Twitter 1981 World floor champion Natalia Ilienko, now a coach at Heathrow Gymnastics Club, is participating as a show coach in Tumble! a BBC reality game show in which celebrities train and present brief circus and gymnastics routines. She is seen here with her 'gymnast' Sarah Harding (ex Girls Aloud) and competition partner Leon Fagbemi. Natalia's floor exercise was always simply divine.  I can't think of a more expressive, spontaneous or musical gymnast. http://youtu.be/PdeNvaMTW0Y

Yesterday in Moscow, gymnasts, dignitaries and athletes from all sports celebrated Physical Culture Day.  The Russian Gymnastics Federation has a great selection of pictures on their website, and I will post my favourites for you here. The one that captured my heart though - as I realised it was 30 years ago since the summer of the Oloumoc Alternative Olympics - was this picture of the all around champion at those Games, Olga Mostepanova, who scored a perfect 40 in the all around, the only gymnast ever to do so.  She was the ultimate gymnast, in so many ways. Videos of this competition are rare, the 'Holy Grail' of gymnastics.  But just look at this video of Olga on beam during the individual competition.  You will rarely, if ever, see an example of more ample perfection, technical, artistic and competitive.  I often wonder what would have happened in Pauley Pavilion (the venue for the Los Angeles Olympics) if only politics hadn't taken an ugly turn that summer....

Four years ago, we were eagerly awaiting the upcoming Youth Olympic Games, and the name on everyone's lips was Viktoria Komova, who was confidently expected to win the gold medal at these Games in the all-around competition.  Komova had contributed significantly to her team's victory at the Junior European Championships that spring, and was reigning Junior European Champion.  The 15-year-old was under a great deal of pressure.  Expectations ran high as Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin publicly expressed his expectation that Russia's young athletes would win ample gold at this first  Youth Olympic Games.  Viktoria, well known in the gymnastics world as the daughter of former gymnastics world champion Vera Kolesnikova, headlined many media appearances and was highly touted as a likely gold medallist. She delivered in style, scoring a total of 61.25 ahead of China's Tan Sixin (58.5) and Carlotta Ferlito from Italy (55.35), and went on to win a further three m...

A brief interview with the World and Olympic Champion from All Sport is summarised below. Russian national gymnastics continues to prepare for the World Championships, which will be held October 3-12 in Nanning (China). Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina told Mary Staroverova about her health and about preparations for the competition. - In June, I went to Germany to solve the problem with my ankle.  I had a small operation to clean the joints of a build-up of bone particles.  Nothing serious was evident, and the operation went well.  Now I have to tumble.  But there is still some discomfort, a slight pain at full load, and I can not tumble at full force.  For the time being, I try to go easy on my legs.  After the Russia Cup I will have to fully prepare for Worlds. That is just one month.   Even if I'm not tumbling, I will keep myself in good shape, and that should suffice (smiles). - I can't say if it is a different pain to before Europeans, because at...

Sports Express has just published an interview with the 2012 Olympic medallist.  A summary (paraphrased, not word for word) is given below. - My operation was on April 30th in Germany.   After returning to Moscow, I immediately came to the gym, began to swing on bars, and to prepare myself for work.  Now, my work is well underway. However, I only began work on the beam yesterday - before that, it was impossible. I'm a little bit worried about the ankle, but it's nothing compared to what it was. I am very glad that I can train. The injury goes back to 2010.  The first time I twisted my leg, I pulled a small piece of bone.  I twisted it again. I was taken to Germany, and they said that an operation was not necessary.   For two years, the leg did not bother me.  But then on December 28, 2013 I sprained it again - and again broke this piece of bone. I appeared to have recovered, then even performed at the Cup of Russia.  But then three weeks before th...

I came across this 1992 book about a year ago, thanks to a link on Facebook; I can't remember whose.  I was lucky enough to be able to buy a copy on Amazon (it is now long out of print).  In the middle of sorting out my sports books, I remembered that I wanted to share this treasure with you. A spread from the lavish hardback book : Yulia Kut, Tatiana Toropova and Svetlana Boguinskaia at Lake Krugloye, prior to the Barcelona Olympics. The author and photographer, David Turnley, made a journey through Russia shortly after the break up of the Soviet Union, and this photo journal documents his experience.  It is a story of a society in transition, an art book and not a sports book, but it is still one of the best books in my collection. David speaks of the gymnasts' daily lives, and talks to Soviet team captain, 1989 World Champion, Svetlana Boguinskaia. He comments that the training is professional, but the facilities 'rudimentary', the living conditions 'sparse'....

Evgenia, a member of the senior national team since 2013, turns 17 today, and posted this lovely picture of herself on Instagram. It hasn't been an easy journey for Zhenya ... Injury has dogged her early years as a senior, and she is currently in recovery, hoping to return to training in the autumn at the earliest. Let's give this young and determined gymnast some support and encouragement ... Russia needs her as part of a deep team in preparation for the Rio Olympics.  Good luck, Zhenya!  Have a very happy birthday!  And we wish you all the best as you work towards your chosen future!

Irina Baraksanova on her best piece, beam, in 1985.  Photocredit : Tom Theobald The gymnasts you will see in the following videos are all astonishingly athletic and powerful.  They are innovative.  They aren't performing on the most up to date sprung floors, and they don't have to rely on muscle to perform their difficult acrobatics.  They have outstanding line and choreography (in the fullest sense of the word).  They are individuals, each performing routines with a unique style. Their work goes beyond difficulty + execution, embracing the principles of risk, originality and virtuosity. They don't rely on rushing from skill to skill to blind the judges to the odd unbalanced landing, imperfections in their technique, or ragged performance. They haven't picked their skills from a catalogue of moves (the Code) or assembled requisite combinations so as to maximise their D value.     What they do is pretty impressive, ahead of its time.  The...

Pictures courtesy of the RGF and Maria Bondareva on Instagram So the news from Lake Krugloye may be a little flat ... But not completely ... we still have reasons to be cheerful.   Not least, these two members of Russia's national junior team, Maria Bondareva and Seda Tutkhalyan, who never cease to amuse me personally, and delight me gymnastically.  Seda is currently preparing to compete at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, from the 16th August. Good luck to these young gymnasts, they are the future!

Veteran Katya Kramarenko is working on an individual programme of training following her hospitalisation with pancreatitis earlier this year . Russian journalist Natalia Kalugina has visited Lake Krugloye in the last few days and has updated her Facebook page with some information on how training is going for the Russia Cup, which takes place later this month.  Unfortunately, it doesn't sound incredibly promising. Ekaterina Kramarenko is still recovering from the serious illness she suffered earlier this year.  There is still a long way to go, judging by Natalia's reaction, but she says that if every gymnast showed as much commitment as Katya, nobody would be able to beat the Russians! Tanya Nabiyeva is at camp, and Natalia had a short chat with her.  Tanya is preparing for the Russia Cup, and was invited to train at Krugloye as the team needed her.  She doesn't know if it was necessarily the right thing, but time will tell.  Tanya is very much enjoying working ...