Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Metaratings.ru has published some great quotes from the two champions.  Belyavski won’t compete in Jakarta but still has interesting aims and ambitions. David Belyavski : ‘ Retirement? I'm still 33. In modern Russian history, not a single gymnast has won a medal at a national championship after age 30. I continue to do so every year. We'll see how long I can last. But my main motivation is my daughter, to whom I'm proving by my own example that if you truly and sincerely love what you do, it will always reciprocate. I'll strive to ensure that she and all the fans see me compete again.   Has the level of competition been maintained? The level has dropped in the all-around. It will be tough for the guys at the World Championships. The level has improved in some events, and dropped in others. But the team is working hard, so I'm confident that the best is yet to come," Belyavsky said.’ Angelina Melnikova ‘ My form is good, but not the best. A long period away from...

  I remember sitting in the Olympiski stadium in Moscow in 2013, absolutely mesmerised by David Belyavski as he progressed inexorably to the gold AA.   His last piece was pommel horse.  He stood there, his arms loosely at his sides, head down, completely in the zone.  The arena sound system was playing music in the background; I remember Led Zeppelin.  The music was curiously cohesive with the space and the occasion.  When it was time for him to go, he was perfect, golden.   Belyavski spans generations of gymnast, floats across era of gymnastics. His body is light and lithe.  His technique is balletic.  You could watch Belyavski perform a simple handstand or leap, and it would still be impressive.  His execution is immaculate. It’s now 2025, and David is 15 years into his senior career.  Today he won a silver medal on the pommel horse.  Tomorrow, he will compete in the parallel bars final.  He is 33. And on his social medi...

In an interview with sport 24, head coach Valeri Alfosov reflects on the MAG team and how the gymnasts performed in Sochi. After the men's all-around competition, senior coach of the men's team, Valery Alfosov, spoke to Sport24 correspondent Anastasia Loginova about his plans for the World Championships and summarized the results of the all-around at the national championships. ❓ How would you rate the boys' performance? 💬 It's hard to give a definitive answer. The national team performed brilliantly on the parallel bars and high bar, and they performed beautifully. The end of this competition was interesting; there were many mistakes today, and the boys were battling it out. Everyone had the same scores until the fifth apparatus, and the champion only emerged on the sixth. Of course, these performance shortcomings need to be addressed in preparation for the World Championships, because our level of difficulty is high, but our execution is significantly lacking. ❓ Spea...

 Translation of highlights of article from Sport Express. Angelina Melnikova spoke to Sport-Express journalist Sergey Lisin about today's competition day.  ❓Did you expect such a victorious end to the day, considering how it started on balance beam? 💬 No. Just looking at the scoreboard just now gave me goosebumps; it's a great joy. This is my first time competing for Vladimir, and I'm so happy that we won this Russian Championships, competing for the Vladimir team, and we achieved such a historic victory. It was fantastic, thanks to the whole team. ❓And still, about balance beam. 💬 I don't want to talk about that shame. I have nothing to say, I'm just ashamed; I can't find any other words. ❓How did you manage to pull myself together after that? 💬 Actually, I'm in pretty good shape, and I was generally confident on all the apparatuses today. As a professional athlete, if something isn't working out, I can't give up on the next apparatus. ❓ Yesterda...