Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Komova and Mustafina - two great champions on one team.  Courtesy of the RGF Not so very long ago - April 2014 to be precise - I published an article on this blog entitled ' Does Komova need gymnastics? '.  In a fairly roundabout way, I questioned Viktoria Komova's desire to continue as a gymnast. It seemed that everywhere one looked, people were demanding her comeback to big time sport, assuming that gymnastics would be all she wanted to do.  I thought that perhaps the gymnast had decided to give up; did she have the desire to continue?  The most likely outcome, surely, was retirement, a focus on a new life path.  I hoped I was wrong, but thought I was right. Now, I am glad to say, it is clear that I was completely and utterly wrong.  At the European Games Komova has shown that she is in the process of perfecting what could end up as one of the most prodigious sporting comebacks of all time.  Read this interview with Championnat , in which she...

Personal and national coaches working together : Ksenia Afansyeva's personal coach, Marina Nazarova, celebrates with  Russia's successful women's team at the London Olympics, with bars coach (now team coach)  Evgeny Grebyonkin The RGF has published its full team list again.  It has already been released once, and you can find a review of the gymnasts of the senior men's and women's teams here . For now, however, I wanted to publish in English the list of the national coaches of the senior team.  I will look at the coaches of the junior and youth teams in another post. This list is clearly an official document, bearing the stamp of the RGF and the signatures of several dignitaries, Andrei Rodionenko included, but it most likely will change over the coming months.  It may well be produced more for administrative purposes than for public consumption, so read with caution.  There is some meaty information all the same.  What may be of note is that...

Yuri Korolev (right), has joined the Russian national coaching team.  He is seen here congratulating his gymnast, 2012 Olympian Dmitri Barkalov. The RGF has now updated its list of national team coaches.  The senior management team includes Andrei Rodionenko and his wife Valentina Rodionenko as Head Coach and Senior Coach of the men's and women's teams respectively, with Evgeny Grebenkin installed as Senior Coach of the women's team.  (Grebenkin has stepped down from his personal coaching responsibilities for national reserve team member Ekaterina Baturina.) Nikolai Yepishin has taken up a position as Senior Coach of boys and girls.   Valery Alfosov, Nikolai Krukov and Olga Bulgakova remain in their existing positions as Senior Coaches of the men's, junior men's and junior women's teams respectively. Alexander Alexandrov, personal coach to Aliya Mustafina, is confirmed in this position on the national coaching team, and Gennady Elfimov, coach to Vik...

Viktoria Komova with coach Gennady Elfimov, just prior to the 2011 World Championships.  Picture courtesy of RGF . Lupita has provided a translation of a short interview with Viktoria Komova from Sovietski Sport, which explains her no-show at the Russian Championships : April 20 th  2012 Russian gymnast Viktoria Komova, world champion, explained that she could not take part in the Russian Championships because her personal coach could not travel with her. “I was injured, but in fact my coach could not go to the championship, and they didn’t want to send me alone. I was sorry because all the girls were performing and I had to watch them on my computer. I was good to have a direct broadcast via the internet”,  Komova told Sovietskii Sport.

Viktoria Komova, born on the 30th January 1995, is already one of the world's leading gymnasts.  Her coach, Gennady Elfimov, is instantly recognisable as the fatherly, protective figure who literally stands by Viktoria through all of her competitive efforts.  Just after the Tokyo World Championships, Gennady gave the following interview with RIA Novosti, which Lupita has translated for your enjoyment! “Viktoria’s not weaker than Mustafina”.                                                     Viktoria with coach Gennady Elfimov at a pre-Worlds control competition -        Tell me, what made Viktoria perform so well in Japan? Well, there no hidden secrets behind this success, in princi...