Skip to main content

David Belyavski interview

By

 I am just recording here some notes on a media interview with Russia’s MAG team captain.  David uses quite a lot of rhetorical questions here in his responses, and parries as the interviewer tries to get closer to his thoughts on the wartime ban in international competition, and the idea of competing as a neutral individual.  


Read this in the context of what we know about  growing repression in the Russian Federation.  This could well be considered to be a historic document on wavering freedom of speech in Russia as the country approaches the nightmare of total mobilisation to support the war in Ukraine.  

I’m sharing this from my Facebook post.


Quite an interesting interview with David Belyavski.  He is very skilled now at speaking in public.


He says he hasn’t lost motivation because of the international ban on Russian athletes, he loves gymnastics and will continue for as long as he can be part of the national team.  He likes coaching but has no particular plans to take up work at present.

He doesn’t intend to compete under a neutral flag; he has already done this once.  In his opinion there is no chance of Russia sending a team to the Olympics.  The requirements set for individual neutral participation are not easy for athletes to meet, for example they have to pay their own travel expenses.  Gymnasts from Dynamo and CSKA are disallowed.  Changing nationality isn’t workable in the time frame before the Olympics and besides, why would a gymnast who had trained and lived in Russia all their life want to change their nationality?  Competition is less interesting without international gymnasts present and during such competitions as Euros, the gymnasts watch and want to be there.  But they can’t and who knows what the situation will be for the 2028 Olympics? 

His condition now is good, but not top - he saves that for the Olympics.  Daniil Marinov is good but needs some international experience and to strengthen his content on all the apparatus but specially pommels and floor.  His p bars and vault are already good.   

The gymnasts are being paid the same as they were when they were competing internationally and the Federation is looking after them well.  


https://metaratings.ru/blog/intervyu-olimpiiskogo-chempiona-po-sportivnoy-gimnastike-davida-belyavskogo/


Paraphrased and edited version  from a Google translate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tatyana Nabiyeva on work and love in China

By
Some highlights from a long interview with 2010 World champion Tatyana Nabiyeva.  Source: Russian team page on VK.com.  Translation - Google translate A big interview with Tatyana Nabieva about the peculiarities of work and life in China, the bright years of her sports career, a little about modern gymnastics and about love. On the Nabiyeva flight — At the same championship, you presented a new element on the bars, which was later added to the rules with your last name (flying over the top bar with a straight body, difficulty group F. — Sport24). How did you come up with the idea to try something new? — Actually, it happened spontaneously, I think. We worked with Vera Iosifovna [Kiryashova] on the purity of the elements on the bars, sometimes I didn’t fly all the way to the Shaposhnikova element. Once I didn’t fly all the way to the bars either and stood on my feet between the bars, bending my legs in flight for safety. Then Vera Iosifovna said that this was a different eleme...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘We all love her very much’ - Roschina speaks of Mustafina and the need to perfect an Amanar vault

By
From sport.ru via vk.com.  Google translate  A big interview with Anastasia Loginova from Sport24 with Lyudmila Roshchina following the Strongest Cup, where the gymnast won four out of five gold medals. We quote several fragments, the full version is available on the publication's website, link at the end. ❓ The Strongest Athletes Cup has recently ended. Did you have time to analyze your performances? 💬 I just rewatched the broadcast, looked at my shortcomings. ❓ Did you set a medal plan for this start? 💬 I didn't think about it. Only that I needed to do my program - and then what will happen. ❓ Did you have time to discuss the competition with your coach? 💬 She praised me, said that I was great. She didn't scold me for mistakes on the beam - on the contrary, she supported me. ❓ Can we say that the beam is your weak spot? This is the only final you didn't get to. 💬 Probably yes. I have this apparatus that is a bit unpolished, so to speak. Treacherous. I need to work...
Post a Comment
Read more

Angelina Melnikova photo session

By
Daria Isaeva has done a photo session with Angelina Melnikova at Dynamo Moscow.  Here are Angelina’s words about it.   "  The first time I was on a balance beam I was six years old. I was scared because of the height, so at first I walked hand in hand with my trainer." "The hardest thing on this apparatus is to keep your balance. Usually, when I'm on the beam, I imagine that I'm in a corridor 10 centimeters wide." "You can't be afraid of the beam! Coaches say that if you have fear, you will perform poorly." "The first difficult element I did at the age of eight was a backflip. In adult gymnastics, this element is considered one of the easiest." “I still can’t do a cartwheel on a log; I can easily fall off it, although children can do this element at the age of six.” "It's better to perform on the balance beam barefoot - you feel the apparatus better that way. But to avoid injuries, we sometimes tape our ankles." "It...
Post a Comment
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more