There is a very special article on the RGF website at present, all about the making of the 20 minute documentary 'Olympic Target'. The film is about 1976 and 1980 Olympian Maria Filatova, who of course featured on the pages of this blog earlier this week. It's a fascinating piece that tells many different stories about film making in the Soviet Union, about training conditions for the national team at that time, and about the personalities involved in producing one of those iconic black and white films. I will summarise the best bits below. The film 'Olympic Target' was made in 1978 by film maker Vladimir Lapin, out of the Western Siberia newsreel studios in Novosibirsk. In 1987, this black and white film won a special award, given by the International Olympic Committee, at the Tunisia International Sports Film Festival. It had also won awards in 1979 in Film Festivals in Italy, Budapest and Kiev. The 1987 award went almost unnoticed by the Soviet...
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. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.