In other news - Artur Dalaloyan, Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics from Russia, has made it clear he will only compete internationally if it is under the Russian flag, with the Russian anthem playing … head coach Valentina Rodionenko fears that the criteria for Russian gymnasts to compete in the Olympics will be even tougher than those for World competition. If gymnasts from CSKA or Dynamo clubs are banned, this rules out Listunova in particular. Finally, sad news that Russian junior Maria Kravchenko (Moscow - coached by Marina Ulyankina) lost her father in the conflict with Ukraine. She is 14 years old.
Gymnastics has lost some of its appeal over the past few years, whilst Russian athletes have been out of competition. This might be an unpopular opinion, but it reflects the reality of international gymnastics without around a quarter of its leading protagonists. The international competitive field has not raised its performance in the absence of Russia's leadership; gymnasts from the top ten or fifteen have floated upwards in the ranks to fill gaps in the medal placements, and we see mediocre performances gaining gold, silver and bronze medals. Gymnastics has lost some of its imagination and vision without Russian athletes. This doesn't detract from the efforts of the world's best gymnasts. Gymnastics quite simply needs the special abilities of Russian athletes to provide competition for our international contenders and drive the sport to ever greater things. In particular, artistry has been almost entirely lost without Russian athletes to provide a good e...
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