Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

British Head Coach Andrei Popov took up his position in 2004.  Before that, he had been a successful international gymnast competing for the Soviet Union, a coach at his home gymnastics club in Vladimir, and a club coach working in the UK. Russia Behind the Headlines has published a digest of a Russian language article about the migration of coaches abroad following perestroika.  It features British MAG head coach Andrei Popov, who with his colleague Sergei Sizhanov (Head coach of the junior team) is leading the British men to greater victories than ever imagined possible just ten years ago. Popov and Sizhanov are arguably the most successful migrant Russian coaches on the men's international scene, having lifted British gymnastics from a relatively lowly standing to their medal-contending status today.  Popov says that when he took over leadership of the coaching efforts, there were hardly any top seniors competing in Britain, so he looked for the best juniors: ...

State of the art gymnastics facilities at Europa Gym Centre, Crayford It is 10.30 on a Saturday night, and Len Arnold OBE is shifting mats with the lads.  The 58 year old gymnastics coach and social entrepreneur is Head Coach and manager of the Europa Gym Centre in Crayford, an impressive state of the art training facility that opened in 2012 and which today (7th September) hosted the London Open, a major event in the British gymnastics calendar.  This year, the competition acted as a final trial for the British senior men who will travel to Antwerp for the World Championships later this month, and amongst the competition were two youngsters from the historic Nikolai Tolkachev Gymnastics School of the Olympic Reserve, Vladimir, Russia. The Russian boys' presence was more than a mere opportunity for them to experience competition in a foreign country against some world class rivals.  It also marked the 25th anniversary of a partnership between a legendary Russian s...

State of the art gymnastics facilities at Europa Gym Centre, Crayford It is 10.30 on a Saturday night, and Len Arnold OBE is shifting mats with the lads.  The 58 year old gymnastics coach and social entrepreneur is Head Coach and manager of the Europa Gym Centre in Crayford, an impressive state of the art training facility that opened in 2012 and which today (7th September) hosted the London Open, a major event in the British gymnastics calendar.  This year, the competition acted as a final trial for the British senior men who will travel to Antwerp for the World Championships later this month, and amongst the competition were two youngsters from the historic Nikolai Tolkachev Gymnastics School of the Olympic Reserve, Vladimir, Russia. The Russian boys' presence was more than a mere opportunity for them to experience competition in a foreign country against some world class rivals.  It also marked the 25th anniversary of a partnership between a legendary Russian s...