Skip to main content

'The more you try, the more you will succeed' - Oleg Verniaiev interview

Image
By

I will never forget the first time I saw the new generation of Ukraine gymnasts - Verniaiev, Radivilov and Stepko - compete alongside each other.  They reminded me of the Soviets of old, with their proud bearing and determination to be the best.  With Kuksenkov, they were arguably Europe's best MAG team - stronger, more tight knit as a team than neighbours Russia; more charisma and originality than Britain.  Ukraine's tragic loss of a team medal at the Olympics in London didn't stop Igor Radivilov winning a spirited bronze medal on the vault, and he continues to reaffirm his status here and on the rings each year.   Oleg Verniaiev, a native of Donetsk, is gradually establishing himself as the world's leading rival to Kohei Uchimura, winning gold AA at the American Cup and repeatedly confirming his ranking as the world's best parallel bars worker.  He is also, surely, that rare and elusive thing - a MAG fan favourite.  

If you want proof that sport transcends world politics, you only have to listen to Oleg.  Two of his closest team mates - Nikolai Kuksenkov (Russia) and Oleg Stepko (Azerbaijan) have had to leave their home country to be able to pursue their sport.  Verniaiev and Radivilov have been able to remain true to Ukraine, but the friendship between the team mates in remote countries is unbroken.

Listen to this interview.  http://youtu.be/nxmbs-xyKGI

Good luck to Oleg and his compatriots as they prepare for the big competitions this year.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Virtual tour of Lake Krugloye

By
Ksenia from Russia wrote to me as follows : 'I decided to write about a little update on this site .  Suddenly you do not know but you may be interested in "The virtual gym" where you can see the training center for gymnastics at the "Round Lake" A very interesting thing if you want to look into what's inside.' She is right - it is fascinating - with tours of both the men's and women's gyms, pictures of the coaches and gymnasts, and all the different areas, including a reception with displays of awards and the rehabilitation and recovery facilities.  Take some time to click on the arrows and try out all of the different features.  It is in Russian but the tools are reasonably intuitive and if you have a basic grasp of the Cyrillic alphabet you can make sense of the whole. Scrolling round the panorama makes me feel a little bit dizzy and also gives a slightly distorted perspective to some of the views, which I think is a characteristic...
2 comments
Read more

Mustafina, Melnikova and Afanasyeva - Russia’s three divas train together to the tunes of Michael Jackson

By
M elnikova, Mustafina and Afanasyeva take creative control at Round Lake.     You can see the video on Angelina Melnikova’s YouTube channel. They are discussing a new floor routine for Angelina; she wants to dance to Michael Jackson. Afanasyeva, 2012 Olympic medalist and a world champion on the floor, has been a choreographer for the national team for a few years now.    She says, ‘Gel, first we need to understand the plan—what we’re actually doing.’ They discuss how many tumbles Angelina will perform, and where the tumbles will come in the routine.    Angelina says, she likes ‘Billie Jean’, it’s her favourite … But Afanasyeva has other ideas, linking into the dance shapes she has seen in a video: ‘Thriller . Start with  Thriller . It begins with that image, right from the beginning when it starts.’    She shows us the dance. ‘I suggest taking a 1.5-minute or 1-minute segment of the dance directly.’ They promise to be in touch by email. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Andrei Rodionenko explains Russia's performance at Worlds - Lupitatranslates

By
Rodionenko with European Champion David Belyavski  Courtesy RGF/Elena Mikhailova This is the interview that many people on the internet have already commented on, regarding Andrei Rodionenko's alleged racism.  The original, Russian language version, appears on VTB Bank's website (VTB are sponsors of Russian gymnastics).  It takes cleverer people than me to decide what is racism, what is deliberately perjorative, and what is inferred in an interviewer's question.  For now, I will not comment on this, therefore, but I would ask you to read Lupita's translation carefully before you form your own opinion.   I am providing some links below which might help you to decide where you stand. Definition of racism Definition of sexism BBC Sport article by Matthew Syed : Is it wrong to note that 100m winners are always black?            Updated 24/10 CSKA Moscow: UEFA opens racist chants case         ...
48 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more