Evgeniya Shelgunova, courtesy of the UEG Russia's women gymnasts took gold at two different competitions this weekend, showing an interesting level of development across the generations. Veteran Anna Dementyeva competed with significantly improved form at the Joaquim Blume Memoria l, hitting a 14.75 on beam, while at the annual Massilia Cup in Marseille, France, emerging senior (eligible 2013) Evgeniya Shelgunova led her team to first place, taking the all around title for herself. Youngster Maria Kharenkova added an exclamation mark to the Russians' performances with an emphatic gold in the floor exercise. The Russian team's performance was enhanced by tiny Viktoria Kuzmina's silver medal on uneven bars. The team cumulatively took first place on every piece of apparatus but vault, where their fifth place underlines an urgent need to make improvements. Even the revaluation of the Amanar vault will not overcome such a deficit whilst competing against a rela...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.