Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

There are always compromises to be made when staging mega-events, but The Guardian is reporting today on some unacceptable practices adopted by the Azerbaijan government in an attempt to 'clean up' the city.  Citizens have lost their lives. Read the full story here -  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/28/european-games-baku-azerbaijan-fire-clean-up

Nico Jackson writes: Two-time Olympic bronze-medalist, Anna  Pavlova , won Azerbaijan’s first World Cup medal in artistic gymnastics by taking gold on uneven bars at the World Challenge Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia this past weekend. In a fairly weak women’s field,  Pavlova  easily won gold with low difficulty but superb execution scoring 12.825 (4.5/8.325). To the surprise of many,  Pavlova   even  upgraded her dismount to  a  double pike  after competing  a simple layout flyaway the past few years. It was certainly interesting to see her win on what has been her weakest apparatus throughout her career.   Unfortunately the balance beam final did not go quite as well for Pavlova  where she showed obvious signs of nerves, wobbling after a number of e lements and sitting down her 5/2  twist dismount. Nevertheless,  Pavlova’s  lines and presence were as strong as ever despite the mistakes. Her  Omelianchik  ...

Does Ukraine have a future in men's gymnastics, or will its athletes move overseas to pursue their talents?  Oleg Stepko's personal photograph as he prepared to travel to Baku Many of the stories to be found on this blog are about a relatively unspoken fact of life of the sport - the migration of gymnasts, coaches and officials from their home countries overseas.  While we discuss the personalities, we do not consider the phenomenon of migration and its influence on the sport particularly deeply.  This is a little surprising, as migration has shaped the sport significantly since 1991.  In particular, coaches from Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union - and their families - have figured as the main protagonists in the worldwide development of the sport.  In America, the phenomenon began earlier - during the 1980s - as Romanian head coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi defected to the States, and went on to build the nascent characteristics of Amer...

Oleg Stepko, European Parallel Bars Champion Nico Jackson reports on some new developments Something is in the air of Azerbaijan lately. This energy-rich nation in the Caucasus region has taken a keen interest in developing its gymnastics programs in recent months. Already strong in rhythmic gymnastics, the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation continues to move forward with the men’s and women’s artistic programs through recruitment of gymnasts and coaches from abroad (mainly Russia). As reported in December 2013, Azerbaijan has recruited several well-known former competitors for Russia: Anna  Pavlova ,  Yulia   Inshina , Marina  Nekrasova  and Konstantin  Pluzhnikov . Earlier this week, FIG released news of nationality changes for nineteen gymnasts in all gymnastics disciplines. Fifteen of those gymnasts were new representatives of Azerbaijan, most of whom were formerly of Russia (including two WAG and one MAG). The most notable change was Ukrainian Olympian a...

Anna Pavlova, who last competed for her home country of Russia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and has maintained a solid presence on the domestic circuit since, today announced that she will prepare to compete for the Azerbaijan national team at the 2015 European championships, which will take place in the Azerbaijan capital city of Baku.  Her mother, who is Anna's personal coach, will take up a position as Azerbaijan's national coach.  Working alongside Anna will be 2011 World Championships team member, 2012 Olympic reserve Yulia Inshina from Voronezh.  On the men's side, rings specialist Konstantin Pluzhnikov will also make the move to the Azerbaijan team.  All the gymnasts will be working at home in Russia, as there is no equipment available in Azerbaijan.  Pluzhnikov is considered a world medal contender on his specialist piece, the rings, and Pavlova has regularly beaten national team members on vault, beam and floor in Russian domestic competitions. ...