It is with great sadness that I report here the sudden and completely unexpected death, on 5th October, of our friend Vladimir Zaglada. I send my love and condolences to his daughter, Olesya. My thoughts are with the whole family. Vladimir was born in Lvov, Ukraine, in November 1944. His father was a progressive lawyer of great courage who was known to defend those who challenged the Soviet authorities. Vladimir trained as a sports acrobat under the developing Soviet sports system, working in the same club as Olympic champion Viktor Chukarin. After moving to Moscow, he became a leading coach of women's gymnastics, supporting the development of high level acrobatics. He worked particularly closely with the up and coming young gymnasts of the early 1980s - you can see him at work in the video 'You in Gymnastics'. At the national training centre, Lake Krugloye, he worked with Filatova, Mostepanova, Yurchenko, Arzhannikova, Mukhina and more. Around the mid 1980s Vlad
Ksenia must be throwing her Amanar if she is slotted last up on vault. Russia will then have two (unless Maria throws her Cheng which I think would be a risky and silly move).
ReplyDeleteInteresting Douglas is in the USA vault line up ahead of Raisman. Douglas only did a DTY in the qualifications. Perhaps Russia will match the US start value on vault. Just such a pity they are so ridiculously far behing on floor....
Yes but that can be compensated with the good advantage they have on UB (three mid 15's), and regarding BB if Maria and Seda hit they're equal in scores with USA.
DeleteI think It´s just because Paseka is the first to compete on Bars. This way she could rest a little more
DeleteSO UPSET AT THEIR PERFORMANCE IN THE TF
DeleteThe only advantage of Americans vs Russians is the Amanar they throw on VT. If Russian's can perform 3 Amanars in Rio for team plus their bars, then they'll give US a run for their money. China beat US at Beijing because they matched the difficulty of the Americans.
ReplyDeletePreparing my tea to cheer for the Russians to win gold -- one can always dream...
ReplyDeleteRussia and Romania are not long for this current gymnastics world.
ReplyDeleteRomania made me cry. Russia made me cover my eyes. Sad.
Rumours of the demise of the Russian team are ill placed. This was a poor performance from gymnasts of great potential. They need to learn to hammer things home even under pressure.
ReplyDeleteThe artistry debate remains important and is not per se connected to Russia's woes.
Russia will rise again, and this blog continues. My next piece to irritate you - when I have some time - will begin to address notions of difficulty and complexity.
Well done to all the teams.
The biggest difference between american gymnasts to the rest of the World is "NUMBERS". The number of competitions the US girls perfom before and after (and by this i mean immediately after, just watch "Tour of Gymnastics Superstars) the Olympc Games is HUGE. Of course they aren't born to deal with pressure, nobody is, they just select those who survive the pressure between several televisioned competitions. They get used to media, to Martha eyes, to coaches fighting to rise them up, since they are tiny juniors. The media is strong as hell btw, it puts Gymnastics in such an important spot as Brazilian Soccer or American Football. Gymnastics in USA today is a show, and every gymnast makes everything to be part of that. When they get to the World's or Olympic's Arena, they consider them EASIER than Olympic Trials for example, that can show us an idea of how much pressure they're used to deal with already inside their house.
ReplyDeleteAs Russian Gymnastics fan, I beg this team to stop isolating themselves all year, to stop locking their best vaults or dismounts because they have to "save their shapes" to the Games only. Come on Russian girls, show us more numbers, don't see a World Championship as little competition, you don't have to be between the 8 best countries only to qualify, you have to be the best, and that requires more and more competitions day by day. I hope we can see soon - not only once a year - nice Amanar vaults, beautiful coreographies + difficult tumbling passes (as 2010 floor routines), beautiful balletic beam routines and the best, the absolutely best uneven bars set of the World. Aliya, please come back soon with all that spirit!
As an American who roots for Russian gymnastics. Gymnastics is no where near as popular as American Football it is actually laughable to think that.
DeleteThe majority of Americans show no interest unless it is an Olympic year. (4 year fans)