Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Today, we embark on a series of insightful and, occasionally, gruesome articles looking at the achievements of our FIG President, Professor Bruno Grandi. Grandi took up office in 1996, having been Vice President of the Italian Gymnastics Federation since 1987. I suppose he will modestly claim only partial credit for the abolition of compulsories following the 1996 Olympics. The wheels of this particular change were set in motion before he came to power. But our President Bruno surely embraced it, wholeheartedly. Brett Davis, my former editor at The Mogilnyi , posted this morning a wonderful montage on his Facebook site, comparing the highest scoring floor compulsory (Lilia Podkopayeva) with the lowest scoring (Eileen Diaz). For me the distance between the marks (9.85/8.4) in no way expresses the glaring differences in their work. View it on Youtube . Brett's post was a timely reminder of how vital the compulsory exercises once were, and how they emphasised the importan...

The first thing that I saw when I linked to Bruno Grandi’s latest address to his adoring public was this : ‘ I am grateful to have fellow authorities who were willing to follow me at a time when others would sow doubt and dissonance in the hearts of a wounded and writhing people, afflicted with the tragic events that wracked Japan .’ And the first thing I thought was, ‘ At last! Finally he understands how distraught we all are at the mess he has made of the sport ’. Then I got things into context a little, and realised he was referring to a different disaster. It is important to keep gymnastics in perspective. But this honestly is a snapshot of my immediate reaction to this part of his address. I must confess I read the next part of Our President’s letter with growing incredulity. In fact, I do wonder if he isn’t being rather sarcastic, here : ‘ Never before, and I speak from no small amount of experience, have the scores given by judges so accurately reflected athlete performanc...

I am grateful to Albert and Alar at the All Around Forum discussion board who have published a good translation of the programme for the Gymnastics Masterclass to be held at the annual ' Russia - Country of Sports ' conference to be held at the International Olympic University in Saransk next week.  It's worth visiting the Russian Gymnastics Federation website where you will find various links and information about the conference.  At least 51 delegates will attend the gymnastics masterclass alone, including some fairly familiar names including Yulia Khorkina. 9th September - Theorical Sessions Bruno Grandi : Trends in the development of gymnastics in the world Rodionenko Andrey F.: The development strategy of gymnastics in the Russian Federation until 2020. Arkayev Leonid Yakovlevich Forward-predictive models before 2020. Rodionenko Andrey F. "Scientific and methodological basis of training in gymnastics" Suchilin Nikolai G. Pedagogical and biomechanical ...

Bruno Grandi, President of the FIG, will be speaking at an international conference on the future of Russian sports, ' Russia, Country of Sports ', to be held at the Russian International Olympic University in Saransk on the 9th September. The conference will be attended by leading practitioners in the field of sports education, including Head Coach of the Russian national gymnastics team, Andrei Rodionenko. Both Grandi and Rodionenko have given interviews in the approach to this important event which you will be able to find (in Russian) at the Sports Daily website - links provided below.  Bruno Grandi uses the opportunity to trumpet ongoing efforts to simplify the Code with a view to making the sport more attractive to spectators, and looks forward to the London Olympics.  Rodionenko echoes some of the themes he identified in so many of his interviews given at around the time of last year's World Championships - principally emphasising the need to reinforce the re...

The recent publication of proposed amendments to the Code of Points on the International Gymnast website surprisingly produced only one public comment.  I say surprising because the fan forum there is continually bombarded with negative criticisms of the Code of Points, and I had expected there to be some fierce discussions.  Instead, however, little more than silence and blank space prevailed. Perhaps it was because of the sheer volume of reading involved.  Around 200 pages of text were produced about the women's Code alone.  The Code itself is a document of some 192 pages of densely packed text, tables and symbols, and to make things worse it is supplemented by a misleadingly named 'Helpdesk' of some 58 pages, which is supposed to be a condensed, easy-to-use guide, but which in fact adds new ideas to the original core Code as well as possible new variations in interpretation.  All in the name of 'simplification'.  Mapping the proposed amendments to the ...

A brief report here from the FIG on the recent symposium held to discuss changes to the Code of Points. Oh dear.  Why do I always have to be so horrible to Bruno Grandi?  This says absolutely nothing.  Is it at all possible that Jani Taskannen got to report the results of his research here?  If so, the timeframe didn't allow him awfully long to collect and analyse the data - perhaps the FIG needs to do a course in research methods.  And in writing announcements. Grandi is as wooly as my neighbour's Persian cat, but less cute and about a hundred times more annoying.  He speaks of transparency, then produces an announcement that is about as transparent as the Queen's underwear. What's all this about athletes needing to learn to 'wield the potential and personality of each piece of apparatus'?  Of the need to 'reinvent' and 'simplify' the sport of gymnastics? No, Professor, it's not the sport that needs to be reinvented and simplified - it...