Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

I didn’t rate yesterday’s mixed team competition very highly.  For all its trumpeted strategic complexity, the gymnastics just wasn’t that good. This experiment is one reason that media shouldn’t be allowed to dictate how sports are run.  Mixed pairs competitions have always been a sideline and this one was just a distraction from the historic weight of Euros.  Boguinskaia was 9 times European Champion and now we have gold medalists alongside her who didn’t even score the highest in the competition.    After the AA Esposito will have competed three times across four days with only one break.  It seems wrong that the best WAG gymnast in the competition was made to exhaust herself for this frippery. Personally, I preferred Race Across the World .. I think those two men should get a medal 🤣

I’m not happy about this … the RGF has run a masterclass in what they are calling the Donetsk People’s Republic.  Of the Russian Olympic gymnasts I can see Nagorny there, and Urazova, don’t recognise the others apart from Stretovich, whose Instagram this is. It would be nice if this were an olive branch for peace, but I think it’s more of an Empire for President Putin.   Translation : ‘i.stretovich96 A significant event for the Donetsk People's Republic The Russian Gymnastics Federation held a master class in Donetsk For me personally, this is an important and significant moment. Gymnastics in the republic was, is and will be! Thank you for the warm welcome.’

 Hooray!  British gymnastics has published the broadcast schedule for the European Gymnastics Championships.  They start on Monday 26th May.  Soon!!! 

  ‘Here in Saudi Arabia I have already gained experience in composing floor routines, this was my first experience. I composed 5 floor routines remotely for Chinese gymnasts. And I will continue composing for our team here I really like this creative process. Plus I know the intricacies of gymnastics and I know what will be best for the gymnasts during the floor routines.’ ‘I also try to individually compose floor exercises. to select the movement specifically for the gymnast. the first experience was very successful! Although, I was very worried‘ Good luck, Elena, with this new branch of your increasingly successful career.

Even though I don’t trust scores as a way of ranking gymnasts - especially not when cross-competition comparison is concerned - I found this data from the Gymternet interesting.   It’s still early in the year and many gymnasts have not yet competed.  Necessarily, all of the Russia scores are from domestic - and domestic junior - competitions.  I’m surprised to see them faring so well in a world listing.  Kalmykova is leading AA.  Russian floor workers are back at the top. If Stretovich is right and the sanctions continue for another ten years, such notional thinking may be all we have, even if the Russian gymnastics system holds up and continues producing more elite athletes. You can treat all of these scores with a pinch of salt … it would be interesting though to hear some well informed opinions.   See the rankings at  https://thegymter.net/2025/05/03/the-best-wag-scores-in-2025-april-update/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR7k3DcD29uqegLqo3WbcwaTtH3rWTv0n...

Coach Vera Kiryashova speaks of Elena Eremina’s new life as a coach in Saudi Arabia.   Via TASS/vk.com.  Google translate Russian Elena Eremina, winner of silver and bronze at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, has moved to Saudi Arabia, where she now works as a coach at one of the local gymnastics clubs. Eremina's personal coach Vera Kiryashova told TASS about this. 💬"Lena has been working in Saudi Arabia since February. She signed a contract with one of the local clubs, where she trains both girls of different ages and adults," Kiryashova said. "She has a work visa, Lena can travel with her gymnasts to competitions and training camps around the world. Of course, she shared her impressions of working there with me. In principle, everything is going well for Lena, despite the fact that there are certain specifics in working with local athletes. She is already planning to bring her gymnasts to Russia, to our training camp in Pushkin." 💬"Arti...

This is an interesting interview, if rather long.  You can auto translate captions into English. Interesting that Stretovich implies that his local region is expecting Russia to be out of international competition for ten to fifteen years.  This is mainly Stretovich’s personal opinion, and he says he knows it is very unpredictable (‘like sitting on a powder keg’).  But Siberia is putting its efforts into the youngest generation; no point preparing interim generations, he seems to say.   https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR7mmZJ9dREm5I5MHhQaRsZIZ0ZvzlJzzkxPR_l5zs5vCufsfgQnruYcv-0R3Q_aem_4W17x7Y-zUJDlM1YTR_OEQ&si=fJrsSfHjUd2qDahy&v=vQxj84h1K6M

"I was in complete shock, I cried." Listunova on the causes of her Achilles tendon rupture Gymnast Listunova spoke about the causes and circumstances of her injury. Sergei Lissin, Sports Express The Olympic champion will do everything to return. On December 7, 2024, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics in the team event Victoria Listunova competed at the Voronin Cup, her first major tournament after the athlete sustained a back injury, which forced her to miss the BRICS Games. Then, in early February, she went to Italy to participate in the national club championship and scored 53.650 in the all-around at the very beginning of the season, the same as the Paris Olympic champion on the uneven bars Kaylia Nemur. At the end of February, it became known that Victoria had a new and very serious injury - an Achilles rupture. As a result, instead of performing at the Russian Cup, the athlete came there as a guest, was present in the hall all days of the finals, afte...

 I can share with you the letter dated 30 April.  The image quality is poor, but if you take your time you will be able to read it.   The reason for the review is not only Melnikova's registration as a candidate in Voronezh's regional elections, but also some fundraising events she has taken part in; and a picture of her with a 'Z' symbol, from the early part of the war. It seems that since Russia withdrew its gymnasts from competition - just a few weeks ago - opinions have hardened in favour of the War.  Melnikova has retained her silence, but others in the gymnastics community are speaking out in favour of Russia.   I'll not support these ideas.  But it's very easy for governments to influence their people.  Britain left the European Union on the back of some very questionable campaigning by leading politicians only a few years ago.  Donald Trump's government meetings are a quagmire of sycophantic nonsense as he destroys the world econ...