Skip to main content

About this blog

By
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources.


This blog is edited and written by Elizabeth Booth.  You can find my profile and publication details at Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-booth-36b0b620/?originalSubdomain=uk

If you would like to contact me, please do so via my social media :

Twitter @RussianGymnast
Facebook : www.facebook.com/rewritingrussiangymnastics

Most of my translations, particularly since about 2019, are Google translates.  I have a rudimentary, slowly but constantly growing grasp of the Russian language as well.  

Others have helped with the translations - in particular Liubov Baladzhaeva of Gymnovosti, Lupita and Marina Vulis.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the help of Vladimir Zaglada, an ace gymnastics coach who has endless enthusiasm for the sport and brought to me many of the contacts that have made so much of this blog possible.  Russian sports journalist Natalia Kalugina has also helped.

My thanks are also due to Isa Alexandrova and her father, Alexander, who gave me the astonishing interview in 2013 that told so much about the internal workings of Russian gymnastics.  I have also had interviews and support from Natalia Yurchenko and Maria Filatova, who have shown so much patience as they have answered my questions.

The gymnasts and coaches of the Russian Federation too add much colour to the telling of the Russian gymnastics story with their candid posts on social media.  We now face times of division and conflict that are without precedent in the history of our sport since 1952, but the gymnasts still maintain a public face that is friendly and relateable.  

This blog is about sport, not politics.  Sports has always found the best in people.  I hope that I can continue to find the best as I move forward with this developing history of gymnastics in Russia and so many of the compelling, hardworking and creative people I find there.  I understand why things are the way that they are, but I hope that soon things will change.  May peace and normality return to our relations as soon as possible.

I would also like to acknowledge the suffering of the Ukrainian people at the hands of the Russian state.  War is never right and the wrong people always pay.  May you find peace and freedom from fear, as soon as possible.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘I was worried about how I would be received’ - Angelina Melnikova

By
Highlights of an interview with Angelina Melnikova, three days after her appearance in Paris, via Vk.com.  She departs for the Russian Championships in ten days.   Sport24 correspondent Anastasia Loginova contacted Angelina and asked her about everything that happened in Paris.  ❓When did you find out you were going to Paris? 💬Just before my vacation in China, around July 25th. I was told there was a stage and I should go. At first, I was very hesitant, because I wanted to focus on the Russian Championships and the World Championships qualifiers. It turned out that I was selected for the Paris trip. Initially, we wanted to focus on a few apparatuses, but then we decided we needed to do the all-around as one of the stages of preparation for the Russian Championships. ❓At what point did you realize what was happening wasn't a dream, but reality? When did this realization dawn on you? 💬Probably when I went to the airport. I realized that everything had finally come togethe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

By
Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...
14 comments
Read more

Melnikova’s personal grace

By
  Angelina Melnikova is not only an ambitious gymnast, she also wants to pursue acting as part of her career.    This picture came with congratulations on her medals in Paris, from one of her agents. I can see real determination in her face - it must have taken a lot of courage to put herself in the public eye at a time when the international environment is uncertain and unpredictable, and her own country is at the centre of chaos.   Sport is about bringing people from different cultures together, to appreciate human achievement and celebrate respect, competition and, wherever possible, friendship.    This gymnast has remained consistent in her pursuit of excellence since childhood, and she has persisted in the most difficult of circumstances, with incredible personal grace.    She is down to earth, charming and professional, a real example to everyone.    The circumstances have been very trying, but you would never see Angelina sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010