Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

  Chairman of the All-Russian Board of Judges William Katyn explains the judging of Arseny Dukhno’s High Bar routine in the Russia Cup AA, April 2026 https://sportgymrus.ru/news/10169-predsedatel-vserossijskoj-kollegii-sudej-vilyam-katyn-ob-izmenenii-rezultatov-v-finale-mnogoborya-u-muzhchin.html ‘After Arseniy Dukhno's performance on the high bar, the appeals jury and I assessed a neutral deduction of 0.3 points from the D panel. The judging system doesn't allow for a score to be immediately blocked, so the situation was immediately addressed. The apparatus judges stated that, in their opinion, Arseniy warmed up on the apparatus for 52 seconds, while the permitted 50 seconds were allowed. The appeals jury, consisting of the head coach, senior coach, senior judge, and myself, decided to review the wording of the rules regarding this deduction. Neutral deductions cannot be protested; it is the job of the appeals jury to monitor the progress of the competition. The wording states...

 Today - Kalmykova, Roschina, Melnikova, Glotova. An exciting and close competition.  The young women have grown through higher expectations, and it’s exciting to see the determination on their faces.  Kalmykova is now a strong competitor, Roschina is maturing and living with her routines.  Melnikova (was she recording a live vlog here?) has grown some more, become a sophisticated performer shot through with pure steel and I think some diamond, and performed beautiful gymnastics.   There is no doubt that in a different competition these three gymnasts could finish three times in different podium positions.   The ‘other’ three in the top group, Us, Glotova and Osokina all showed real enjoyment of the competition.  Let’s hope that their motivation supports them in realising more of their potential. Thanks for some fabulously entertaining competitions over the last days.  Drama, emotion, friendship, some ferocity - this is what world gymnastics needs...

A fabulous picture story from Match TV explains how Dukhno was judged to have exceeded his warm up time on high bar, so received a neutral deduction of .3.  This accounted for his initial finishing place of 2nd, behind Marinov in the AA standings.  On reflection, the deduction was cancelled - ending therefore with Dukhno as the champion!

RRG’s coverage of the Russia Cup gymnastics this week relies entirely on internet access to Russia.  Pictures, the scores, broadcast and live streaming, opinion, personal ànd team news.   Yet within Russia these stories are becoming more and more difficult to access.  Businesses can’t make ànd receive payments in some cases.   In gymnastics, I have noticed that most of the sources I now refer to are official, rather than the pleasant ongoing bubble of ideas popping up randomly from private social media ànd so on.  I am really grateful to those sources who have managed to keep going, as their effort is making it possible for us to see how gymnastics is still developing in Russia.   The changes to Russia are already feeling rather oppressive to me - several thousand miles away.   Steve Rosenberg gives a broader view - Steve Rosenberg: Kremlin's tightening grip on internet fuels Russian discontent https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr510de17jlo

 On appeal.  I am told there was a controversial penalty point. Will update tomorrow.

 MAG AA Russia Cup, April 2026 Marinov, Dukhno, Suedin, Yakubov.   That was a tight competition with a twist at the end.  Russia’s MAG team is a good deal stronger than a year ago, and the scores at the top have come closer. The difference between the top two deciding scores amounted to hundredths and thousandths of a mark.  In the end, at the final stage, Marinov and Dukhno were head to head and both performed exemplary high bar routines.  I must say, I thought Dukhno had grabbed the gold by a whisker.  But no, Marinov took the lead as a well deserved national champion.   It was a controversial decision, though, and Marinov was as supportive of his jilted team mate as I have ever seen a rival in any competition arena.  At one point I thought Daniel might lodge a protest on Dukhno’s behalf.  But no.  The judges had made their decision.  To be frank, some of the earlier scores seemed to have been generous to Dukhno.  It could ha...

At the age of 25 there aren’t that many women gymnasts who are still competing, let alone competing all around, and fighting for gold medals at world level.   Angelina Melnikova breaks the mould, because as well as being a top AA gymnast, she is also a model ànd businesswoman whose life direction is self determined and rounded.  The 11-time gold medal winner in major championships has overcome significant drawbacks in her career, such as times when she has not even been able to compete internationally because of the Olympic sanctions placed on her country. She has been working incredibly hard, particularly this year as she prepares for her future life ànd whatever that may bring.  She is leading gymnastics workshops in the USA ànd Mexico as well as within her home country, and competes in the Italian Serie À.  She makes regular appearances and endorsements ànd maintains a presence on social media, with her own personally edited vlogs.  She even acted in a featur...

Today’s link to live streaming, Russia Cup 2026 EF Good luck everyone, https://vk.ru/wall-114519096_28121

From April 9th ​​to 12th, the final stage of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup was held in Croatia. Over the five stages, neutral athletes won 22 medals, nine of which were gold. Dmitry Andreev, head coach of the national artistic gymnastics team, summarized the first half of the international season. With thanks to the RGF — How would you rate the gymnasts' performance at the World Cup? — We didn't aim to qualify for the World Championships through these tournaments—the main selection will take place at the European Championships. However, each athlete had their own goals. First and foremost, this is about regaining competitive experience on the international stage. The team lacked it: some athletes haven't competed abroad for a long time, and a new generation has emerged that needs to be introduced to international competitions now. It was important to review the competition programs, identify weaknesses in routines, and make adjustments before the European and World Cham...

This is the first of a long series of pieces about Russia in general, that I'll be trying to improve and complete over the coming year.  Please bear with me and leave me comments; I will need feedback and encouragement!  I want to try to put gymnastics in Russia into context with its past, and especially with everything that has happened in the past ten years.  It seems to me that things are changing fast. Russia - some basic facts Russia is the largest landmass of any single country in the world, spanning from Europe to the Far East, from way up north towards the Arctic and the Barents Sea, down to the border with Georgia in the south.   The country shares land borders with seventeen other nations from Norway to Japan, China and Korea; it shares maritime borders with countries including the USA and Alaska.  Maps below. Russia's declining population is a matter of major concern to the Government.  Despite the size of the country, its population is only...

Schedule for the Russia Cup, one of Russia’s two annual national competitions.  This year we are hoping to see Daniel Marinov, Angelina Melnikova, Victoria Listunova and Marina Agafanova compete alongside the rising stars of the sport.  This competition will in part decide which of the neutral gymnasts will compete in Europeans and Worlds later this year.   Please note, not all of the gymnasts have neutral status, most notably Victoria Listunova (under appeal). This year the competition will take place in Sirius, Sochi, an impressive arena that’s relatively new. Depending on territory you will be able to follow finals on Match TV and on Vk.com at https://vk.ru/fgymrussia All times are local. MAG Quals/team final, 21 April.   This competition will determine which individuals move forward to compete in AA and EFs. The strongest teams, as ever, will compete in the 3rd round, at 17.00 Sochi time. Last year’s results : Vladimir Oblast, Moscow 19 teams compete MAG, compare...

Rostov-on-Don in the south of Russia is one of those places with a distinctive gymnastics history.     Those who trained there include many trailblazers of new and interesting work.     The story began back in the 1960s when an ambitious coach, Vladislav Rotstorotski, moved to Rostov from Voronezh.    In Voronezh, he had served his coaching apprenticeship with Yuri Shtuckman, another coach leader in Soviet gymnastics.    Rotstorotski’s move to Rostov facilitated his training partnership with 1972 Olympic All Around champion, Liudmilla Tourischeva.    Fast on her heels came beam genius Svetlana Grozdova, who competed at the 1976 Olympics.    And behind Grozdova, a rapid succession of innovators, fighters and artists.    Natalia Shaposhnikova, Natalia Yurchenko. Alla Shishova all came from Rotstorotski’s group, and all made their mark on the sport. Rostov remains a special place for gymnastics.    In 2000 Elen...