Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

  Television channel Russia 1 covered the departure of the Russian team from Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow, yesterday.  The Russians are now safely arrived in Rio, [ the pictures are of their arrival, from the Asahi TV channel website ] and installed in the Olympic village - even if conditions aren't as good as they might be.  Valentina Rodionenko has had a few words to say about that, and I'll be covering them later on but in the meantime enjoy this video - and there is a brief summary of the main points in English below.  Even though they didn't know whether or not they will be allowed to compete, the Russian athletes have continued training for the Olympics.  The first representatives of the national team are on their way to Brazil.  The sport is gymnastics, and they took off from Sheremetyevo this morning.  There is a fighting spirit, and a will to win.  Behind the scenes, they are working to their limits, overcoming injuries - and...

Happy 18th birthday to World Bars Champion, Daria Spiridonova!  Have a lovely day, and good luck with your Olympic preparations.

Aliya Mustafina and team candidate Seda Tutkhalyan - both from Moscow Five days left before the MAG European Championships open in Switzerland, and Russian gymnast Nikita Nagorny is posting videos of himself practicing a full twisting Roche vault - I wonder if he will compete it in Berne?  The men's team seems fairly well prepared and ready to travel as announced some weeks ago - Kuksenkov, Belyavski, Ignatyev, Nagorny, Ablyazin.  But the composition of the women's team, who will travel to their first major competition of 2016 next week, seems somewhat undecided.  Will Natalia Kapitonova make her major senior debut in June, or will Seda Tutkhalyan, her dynamic yet unpredictable rival, grace Russia's team?  Or will other gymnasts be brought into play; will further, unexpected, changes be made? If head coach Valentina Rodionenko's recent announcement is to be believed, it is a simple case of replacing the injured Maria Paseka (a vault specialist) with Natalia ...

15 year old Angelina Melnikova will make her major senior international debut in a few weeks' time According to an interview by Alexey Zubakov with Valentina Rodionenko, the final line-ups of both the men's and women's teams for the Berne Championships have now been determined. MAG has been previously announced - Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Nagorny, David Belyavski, Nikita Ignatyev and Nikolai Kuksenkov.  Emin Garibov will be the reserve. WAG - Aliya Mustafina, Angelina Melnikova, Maria Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Daria Spiridonova. Seda Tutkhakyan, who is competing on beam and floor today at the Osijek Challenge Cup, will be the travelling reserve. Viktoria Komova is continuing her rehab after a period in hospital in her home town of Voronezh with back pain.  She returns to Round Lake on the 3rd May where she will continue to prepare for the Olympic Games under the watchful eyes of her coaches. Although I will be excited to see how young Angelika fares,  I'm overall a little...

There is an unsung heroine on the Russian team, one who is often taken for granted - Daria Spiridonova.  In amongst all the missed connections, the razzmatazz of announcements and big tumbles that characterised the World Championships at Glasgow, Spiridonova calmly maintained her position as a world leader on bars.   The judges' baffling and bungled decision to 'coincidentally' award the medal to four different gymnasts of varying ability and performance can't conceal the fact that this young gymnast has now medalled on bars in every major competition, senior and junior, that she has entered since 2011. More than that, Spiridonova's elegance and mature attitude in competition show evidence of a strong head and an adherence to the fundamental principles of gymnastics - economy of line, an effortless, gravity-defying appearance to all her work, and complexity that does not rely on tumbling as its main source of difficulty.  In any other era Spiridonova would have the ...

- To be honest, I have almost forgotten the special feeling that I won the World Championship gold - said Daria Spiridonova. - I am happy, but in general everything is back as it was - and still is.  Only at home, of course, I was greeted and welcomed as a hero (smiles). - When you flew out to Glasgow, did you expect to return with a gold medal? - No. And in particular I did not expect that there would be four winners on one apparatus (smiles). This is something incredible, it has happened for the first time in the history of gymnastics. - What did you talk about with Viktoria Komova when you stood together on the highest step of the podium? - "How does that even happen?" Surprise and delight at the same time. - In fact, all four athletes were at the same level? - In our sport, a lot depends on the judges.  The D scores were all different.  The highest was a Chinese woman, then there was an American, and Vika Komova was a little lower, one-tenth. Probably they were all eq...

The event finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.  Thank you to the Gymnastics group on VK.com, where I obtained these screen captures. Vault : Paseka, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Nabiyeva, Cheong, Kruglikova, Bikmurzina, Vanyushkina, Scherbakova, Elizarova Uneven bars : Mustafina, Spiridonova, Komova, Kramarenko, Nabieva, Rodionova, Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya, Elizarova, Sidorenko Beam : Kharenkova, Mustafina, Fyodorova, Spiridonova, Sosnitskaya, Bikmurzina, Cheong, Elizarova, Kramarenko, Rodionova   Floor : Elizarova, Mustafina, Paseka, Fydorova, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Spiridonova, Bikmurzina, Kharenkova, Cheong  

I am still waiting for the publication of full results (for some reason the RGF files are missing names, at least when viewed on my IPad) but some of us were awake very early this morning to see Aliya Mustafina confound predictions of her future specialist status, overcome her recent recovery, and win the all around at Russia Cup.  Highlights were her uneven bars routine and a beam where she presented her best combinations with vigour, recording a good mark despite a fall, but she also leads the vault, floor and bars scoring amongst the all arounders eligible for inclusion on the team for Nanning.  (Elizarova scored higher on floor, but is unlikely to be selected as she does not train with the team at Lake Krugloye and has only one strong piece.) Second placed Kharenkova was absolutely outstanding on beam. 1 Aliya Mustafina 14.833/15.4/14.6/14.3 = 59.133 2. Maria Kharenkova  14.1/13.867/16.2/13.667 = 57.834 3  Daria Spiridonova 13.833/15.033/14.233/13.7 = 56.799 4. A...

The medal winners : Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridonova and Aliya Mustafina with team doctor Timonkin and head coach Grebyonkin (yes, it rhymes) http://wag.sofiagymnastics2014.com/en/news/item/111-quotes-of-the-day-seniors-18-05.html Aliya Mustafina (RUS), silver medallist beam: "I am extremely happy that Maria Kharenkova took the gold on beam. The competition was not easy for me because of my leg injury, but I tried to pull myself together because I know my younger teammates are watching me and I shouldn`t show any weakness”.   Maria Kharenkova  ( RUS), gold medallist on beam: "To tell you the truth I am too excited to tell you what is happening right now. As for Aliya she is our sister, our world star, our coach and even our mother, she is all for us. We are all very happy”.   Andrei Rodionenko (RUS), Head of delegation: "As I already stated this European Championships gave us the best possibility to test our new team. Right now we have many problems with injuries ...

15 year old Maria Kharenkova saved the day for Russia with a well deserved gold medal on the beam this afternoon in Sofia.  To the visible delight of team mate and captain Aliya Mustafina, who has supported Kharenkova right through this competition, Kharenkova went through her difficulty packed routine with very little error, converting her junior gold from two years ago into her first major senior title. Kharenkova is the latest generation of a long tradition of great gymnasts from the town of Rostov on Don in the south of Russia.  Her coach, Olga Sagina, formerly counted Anastasia Sidorova and Elena Produnova amongst her gymnasts.  Sagina's philosophy is pretty simple - champions must have discipline, and work hard. 'Head and intellect are very important', she said during a coaching clinic in Glasgow in 2008.  Kharenkova's earnest attitude and fighting performances speak much of this approach.  In team finals her positive attitude and determination kept her on...

Viktoria Komova performs on bars in the team event earlier this week An announcement, made by Valentina Rodionenko earlier: Mustafina, Komova, Sosnitskaya, Spiridonova and Kharenkova will perform at the European Championships in artistic gymnastics.   According to the results of the Russian Championships in Penza, a decision has been made as to who will compete May 12-18 in Sofia (Bulgaria). "As a result of the Russian championship, we finally decided on the composition of the national team at the European Championships" - said Valentina Rodionenko.   "We decided not to ask Ksenia Afanasyeva to perform there.   In addition, Anastasia Grishina has an injury - a suspected partial cruciate ligament rupture. The rest are available to compete."  "At the European Championships the athletes who compete will have proven themselves in the championships of Russia.   Aliya Mustafina is certainly number one.   Viktoria Komova, did not compete on ...