Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

The decision by World Gymnastics, and European Gymnastics, to lift restrictions on Russian athletes has triggered a wave of emotion and optimism across Russia’s gymnastics community. After years of competing under neutral status, the return of the flag and anthem has been hailed as a symbolic victory—one that restores national pride and renews motivation among athletes and coaches alike.   Pride and Determination Alexei Nemov, one of Russia’s most decorated gymnasts, expressed his joy at the restoration of national symbols: ‘I am very glad that we got back the flag ànd the anthem.  But we need to go there and reinforce this with good results on the podium.  Performing under the flag of one’s country gives confidence, but the flag ànd anthem alone will not give you medals.  The most important thing is quality preparation for international competitions by each individual gymnast.’ Nemov’s statement captures the balance between patriotism and professionalism—recognizing...

The RGF has just published this half hour documentary on its YouTube channel -  http://youtu.be/x9euD-9hLdk Shot in about 2004, it charts the struggles of a young boy - Yuri Ryazanov - as he progresses in his gymnastics career, aspiring to sporting achievements of the highest level, as exemplified in this film by the gymnastics 'God' Alexei Nemov. Black and white film enhances the intense atmosphere of the training and competition hall and there are some stunning close up shots of the haunting face of young Ryazanov.  Set in a background of  social and economic trauma as Russia finds its feet in the post-Soviet years, we understand that Yuri's life is one of order and discipline compared to the somewhat distressed community he sees around him in the centre of his home town, the city of Vladimir.  Pictures of a confident Nemov in training, and on the cover of 'Men's Fitness' magazine, lead us to suppose that sport provides the possibility of a better life. If onl...

A happy Russian team launch their team kit : L to R Tatiana Nabieva, Alexander Balandin, Aliya Mustafina, Yulia Inshina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova, Maria Paseka, Anastasia Grishina.  Back centre: Nikita Ignatyev Media coverage of interviews with Viktoria Komova, Alexei Nemov and Valentina Rodionenko provides a slightly varying account of the Russian team's medal expectations in London which I will attempt to moderate here.   Rodionenko announces clearly that the original training plan written in 2009 targetted two golds, two silver and two bronze medals, focussing mainly on the hopes of the women's team.  The various individuals considered as medal contenders are : Viktoria Komova - bars and beam Aliya Mustafina - bars Anastasia Grishina - bars Ksenia Afanasyeva - floor. The Russian girls will fight gymnasts from China, Romania and USA for a place on the team medal podium, and everything will depend on their physical and mental condition in Lond...

As ever, the run-up to the World Championships provides a rich source of media on Russian Gymnastics.  Thanks to the Russian Gymnastics Federation for providing the links below: Tulsa news - Ksenia Afanasyeva will compete at the world championships Moscow Live - 12th September - Maria Paseka returns (Russian language version) English language version Antonova, Ksenia (date and publication unknown) 'Nikita Ignatiev: Soldier's Son' There is also now an entire section of the RGF site dedicated to the World Championships where a link to the official site including the full schedule of competition including working order for qualifications can be found. 'Arms Race' Russia 2 video on Sportbox including the Russian men in training, including brief conversations with Andrei Rodionenko, Konstantin Pluzhnikov and Anton Golutsotskov.  Addresses the increasing levels of difficulty in the sport and training methods. Interview with Alexei Nemov on Russian programm...

Alexei Nemov talks to Anna Kozina of Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the relative progress of the Russian men's team. An English language translation is available here . It is clear that despite the team's recent success at individual apparatus level, disappointing results at team and all around finals are causing significant worry. Nemov suggests the Russians need to seek the help of additional coaches, specifically mentioning Vyacheslav Boiko, who helped to prepare the national team for the 1996 Olympics along with the late Nikolai Andrianov. Hmmm ... my impression of the Russian men (and this often included Nemov apart from the odd gold medal winning performance) is that they are somewhat casual and excessively philosophical in their approach. I still haven't forgotten Devyatovski giving up the ghost after a relatively minor error on p-bars some years ago. My 51 year old memory has churned up a remark made by Ludmilla Tourischeva some time around 1972 when the Soviet...

On the occasion of International Women's Day the Russian Gymnastics Federation kindly presented an English language interview with 2000 Olympic All Around Champion Alexei Nemov, now Vice President of the Federation and organiser of his own gymnastics show. He has the ambition of opening his own gymnastics school and is also president of the Moscow Fitness Festival. Nemov shares many of his thoughts about the importance of family (with his wife Galina he has three sons, Evgenyi (19 years old), Alexei and Dmitri (the youngest, 18 months)), the relationship between sport, fitness and health and the importance of a healthy diet. He even provides us with his own tasty salad suggestion! Alexei's two eldest children aren't involved in elite sport, although he seems to think that Dmitri may be a budding gymnast! However, he does suggest that his two elder boys like to keep fit and practice sport for fun. Like Rodionenko, he regrets the diminishing sports infrastructure in ...

Einselka at the all around forum provides this link to details of the all around and team results at the Voronin Cup. In the meantime, the Russian Federation has found time to revamp its website which is now far more colourful than before.  I am particularly excited to see a page of pictures of a recent conference at which the Federation President, Andrei Kostin was re-elected.  Everyone looks very worried in these pictures, and I am tempted to invite a caption competition for pictures number 4 and 8. Have they cut Rodienenko's head off?  There are second and third pages of these pictures, including some which are temptingly labelled with officials' names.  However, for some reason the site refuses to play with my computer tonight and I have been unable to refer to them a second time to enable any form of comment.  I blame the weather, but then surely Russian websites should be able to cope with a little snow? It is clear that Russian sports are very male-...