Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

I am grateful to the RGF for releasing this interesting historical account for our enjoyment.  The card is a souvenir from the 1980 Olympics, depicting Alexander Tkachev.  The autograph is none other than Maria Filatova! '🥇A Historical Account of Maintaining Law and Order at Krugloe Lake During the 1980 Olympics While everyone is keeping an eye on the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, we decided to recall the historic moments of Krugloe Lake during the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. 🤫Especially for you, we found a historical account from a police officer who ensured security at our Training Center during the Olympics: We selected and sent only the very best – the reliable and proven! The combined detachment, which included me, was tasked with carrying out its mission at the Krugloe Lake Olympic Base. During the Olympics, a single attempt by an unaccredited Japanese journalist was thwarted; he somehow managed to get past the first checkpoint. But at the second, plainclothes o...

Maria Filatova has a residence permit for Russia.  Hope is she will be granted her full Russian nationality soon :-) It is the best news for the New Year so far - sending all our love to Maria. http://sibdepo.ru/news/132768-kuzbasskaya-gimnastka-mariya-filatova-poluchila-vid-na-zhitelstvo.html

Maria Filatova, 1976 and 1980 Olympic Champion.  The pictures are  separated by 38 years, but the person is the same ... HOMELAND FOR A CHAMPION MARIA FILATOVA FIGHTS FOR RUSSIAN CITIZENSHIP (By Indira Kodzasova. Argumenty i fakty, No. 39, Sept. 24, 2014. Translated by Beth Squires.) After a quest that lasted decades, two-time Olympic gymnastics champion Maria Filatova has received the right to enter Russia. “Argumenty i fakty” deserves some of the credit for this. Just so you will understand about whom we are talking, Maria Yevgenyevna not only has medals of the purest tint from the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, she is a two-time world champion, two-time World Cup holder, European champion, USSR champion and more. All her medals weigh more than 40 kilograms! This remarkable person has been living in the US for many years and fighting to obtain Russian citizenship! (See AiF No. 3 for the year 2013.) * * * FYI: AiF asked Putin to grant citizenship to gymnast Filatova. * * * Homeward!...

No words can express.  We now have a video of Maria's 1976 beam routine in all its spontaneous splendour and virtuosity.  Thanks to Chocdave in YouTube.   http://youtu.be/m4y7oGyYDw0 Maria Filatova, 1976 and 1980 Olympian, 1978 World Cup Champion. Maria's official website :  http://filatova.atava.by/about.html Maria Filatova - Russian Sparrow made in the USSR (RRG)  http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/maria-filatova-russian-sparrow-made-in.html

Olga Mostepanova does her daily work at the 'stanok' or barre.  Novosti Elena Kapitanova, a choreographer who worked at the Moscow Dynamo gymnastics club for over thirty years with such stars as Olga Mostepanova and Maria Filatova, recently passed away.  She was, of course, greatly loved by her family - husband Viktor (RIP) and children Yulia and Vladimir - and leaves behind her a legacy of unforgettable gymnastics, much of which represents the best of a golden era of the sport. Great choreography was at the heart of the Soviet aesthetic of women's gymnastics.  The daily attentions of a choreographer transformed gymnastics from the execution of skills to the performance of an aesthetic; a simple cartwheel could become an expression of delight, joy, a journey into the realms of expression.   Many of us dream up floor routines, but the mystical powers of the choreographer go beyond the meshing of gymnastics and music into the realm of emotional evocation....

Lupita translates a 23rd January article from Sovietsky Sport .  Maria Filatova looks likely to secure her Russian citizenship in February.  Good luck, Maria, from all of us xxx This incredible story has been around for 17 years! Born in the USSR, two-time Olympic gymnastics champion Maria Filatova has tried to obtain Russian nationality. Now the end of this process seems to be nearer than ever. Maria Filatova is 51. She was born in Leninsk-Kuznetski. In 1976 and 1980 she became Olympic champion in gymnastics. Many people remember a minuscule girl with funny bows in her hair, who won gold and glory for our country. After the dismantling of the Soviet Union, Filatova worked first in Europe and later in the US. She now lives with her husband and her daughter in Rochester (New York State). Since 1996 she has been trying to be granted a Russian passport. So far she only has an old Soviet passport and a US green card, which don’t allow her to travel to...

It's hard to believe that it is now 36 years since Nadia fought Nelli at the Montreal Olympics, since Maria unveiled that trademark cheeky charm, since Ludmilla broke her heart and Olga broke ours. The sport has come a long way since those heady days. Turn the clock back another 36 years and we pre-date the beginning of the 'new' era of gymnastics that began with the entry of the Soviet Union into Olympic competition in 1952. In that sense only, the sport was still in its infancy. Just think of all the twists and turns since. Gymnastics was on the cusp of an acrobatically led revolution. Just look at the bars routines of Saadi, Tourischeva and Grozdova and compare them to those of Filatova, Comaneci and Korbut. Comaneci looks well ahead of the field on bars, but Nelli Kim soars ahead on floor and vault. This video reminds us that Comaneci's victory in Montreal was not as emphatic as the legend may lead us to believe: her floor is unsophisticated and relatively ...