Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Such a good final - just so special, so many amazing routines.  David didn't medal this time but I think with time and hindsight he and we should be proud of his achievement.  4th is the hardest position, but he has apparatus finals to come and, beyond that, plenty more energy in him for more competitions. Congratulations to all who competed, I have never seen such a close final before.  Special congratulations to the medalists, including my compatriot Max who won GB's first AA medal for over a century.  And love to the Russian team, especially David and Kolya, who worked so hard today and in training to prepare to give such an extraordinary fight.

At 4 o'clock this morning BST, the IOC Executive Board made an announcement to the effect that three individuals appointed by them will have a final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Rio Olympic Games. 'Participation of Russian athletes in Rio The EB decided to delegate the final decision on the acceptance of entries of Russian athletes to a Review Panel composed of three IOC Executive Board Members: Uğur Erdener, Claudia Bokel and Juan Antonio Samaranch.  The Review Panel is due to make a final decision in the coming days.' RRG's take on this This latest, very last minute twist in the controversy surrounding Russia's participation in the Games, suggests that the IOC has a degree of concern over the likely consistency of decisions taken by the sports' governing bodies to whom they delegated decision making only a few days ago.   It is difficult to see how an appointed panel of three individuals will have time to consider the data pres...

. Video interview with Valentina Rodionenko and Nikolai Kuksenkov Translation by Liubov Baladzhaeva Interview took place before the IOC decision to allow clean Russian athletes to participate in the Games, but after the publication of the McLaren report and WADA's recommendation of a blanket ban. Valentina Rodionenko: right now the gymnasts are training with even more motivation, despite the doping scandal, and they really want to go to Rio. If they’re banned, four years of training would be for nothing. Four years of their life were spent on preparation and they didn’t do anything else.  But we’re going to fight, because Russian people only get stronger facing hardship.   Meldonium isn’t a performance enhancing drug, it’s used for recovery only, it shouldn’t even be considered doping and banned. No one really tested if it enhances performance, but it got banned nevertheless. There are changes on the doping list all the time, you blink and another substance gets banned...

  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...

Following clarification from WADA about the inclusion of the drug meldonium on its list of prohibited substances, and the rates of ingestion/excretion of the drug, the FIG has now cleared Russia Cup champion Nikolai Kuksenkov to compete at the Rio Olympics in the autumn.   'I'm an athlete, I just want to do my job and not get involved in politics - I consider myself an honest athlete', said Kuksenkov yesterday.  'I am very pleased that we have received this information, and that the case for my suspension is now closed.' Interview with Kuksenkov - http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160701/967216569.html WADA notice of 30 June -  https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/resources/files/2016-06-30-meldonium_notice.pdf

The atmosphere surrounding the Russian male gymnasts at this year's European Championships was noticeably relaxed and happy as they made their way to their various medals.  This reflects not only a more stable competition performance, but also a refreshed dynamic within the team.  First, some background .  Russian sport finds itself under unprecedented pressure at present following serious doping allegations and positive tests which have led the International Athletics Federation to propose that Russia's entire track and field team be barred from the Olympics.  Other sports are implicated, and even gymnastics has not emerged unscathed, as senior team member Nikolai Kuksenkov tested positive for trace elements of meldonium in the spring.  Kuksenkov has now been given a pardon and actually competed in Bern, but it seems likely that artistic gymnastics, with its ultra-clean record internationally, has the potential to win medals for Russia at the Olympics with...

In an interview with Tass correspondent Albert Starodubtsev, Valentina Rodionenko has refreshed ideas of those in contention for the upcoming European Championships.  MAG - 25 to 29 May - registrations will be sent to the UEG tomorrow.  The team will include Nikolai Kuksenkov, David Belyavski, Nikita Nagorny, Nikita Ignatyev and Denis Ablyazin.  Reserve is Emin Garibov.  Ablyazin is suffering from some health problems but it is hoped that he will recover in time, otherwise the team is in 'good shape'.  The RGF received notification from RUSADA on 15th April that Kuksenkov's temporary suspension had been lifted. As previously announced, the women's team (comp begins 1 June and registrations will be made formally next week) will include Ksenia Afanasyeva, Angelina Melnikova, Aliya Mustafina and Maria Paseka.  The final place will be contested by the Viktoria Komova, Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan.  (Ed's note - Seda is competing this weekend at th...

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA has now lifted the temporary suspension of Nikolai Kuksenkov, reports R Sport. This follows on from an announcement by the World agency, WADA, detailing the terms of a possible 'amnesty' for athletes with very low levels of the drug Meldonium in their bloodstream, who had not taken the drug since January. In related news, Russian team doctor Vladimir Timonkin has explained that the Russian women have not taken Meldonium for some years.  Timonkin says that the benefits of the drug were insufficient to justify its use.  He is a well known and trusted face on the Russian national team, and has been team doctor for fifteen years. R-Sport's report on the official lifting of Kuksenkov's suspension -  http://m.rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160415/913522428.html WADA ruling on Meldonium excretion rates - implications for Russia - http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/wada-ruling-about-meldonium-excretion.html Interview with V...

A key document has been published - link here - https://wada-mailing-list.s3.amazonaws.com/2016-04-12-Meldonium_Notice_Final.pdf.   It is worth reading. Key section is this - ' When a prohibited substance is detected, it is up to the athlete to establish the circumstances surrounding the entry of the substance into his or her body (including the timing of such entry), in order for the hearing panel to be in a position to assess the question of intent, fault and negligence, and to determine the appropriate consequences. In the case of meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiably find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established on the balance of probabilities that he or she ingested meldonium before 1 January 2016 could not reasonably have known or suspected that the meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. I...

Head coach Valery Alfosov has unreservedly supported Russian AA champion Nikolai Kuksenkov, naming him to a group of ten gymnasts eligible for participation in Rio even though the gymnast's selection for international competition is currently impossible due to a positive drugs test. The RGF is employing Swiss lawyers to defend Kuksenkov's 'honour and innocence'.  Russian gymnasts stopped taking meldonium last August 2015 although the drug is known for remaining in the system for long periods of time.  Other gymnasts have shown traces of the drug in their samples, but Kuksenkov's was 'scanty' but minimally over the limit.  No Russian gymnast should have this problem, says Alfosov. (Rodionenko earlier pointed out that gymnasts only take those supplements and medications given to them by the team doctor; they are not even permitted to buy over the counter cold medications or to self medicate at all). Alfosov said that five gymnasts would travel to Rio, and two ...

Russia's leading male all around gymnast, David Belyavski, with head coach Andrei Rodionenko As the first big competition of the year approaches for Russia's male gymnasts - the national championships in Penza, which begin in just three days' time - Irina Stepantseva of MK.ru has focussed on the team's preparation, with a visit to Round Lake.  There she interviewed many of the gymnasts, and head coach Andrei Rodionenko.  You can view the full piece in Russian here .   The context : As I have said before, Russian sport has been hit hard by all the doping bans, particularly in track and field athletics.  RUSADA, the national anti-doping agency, has been accused of falsifying documentation.  Tennis has taken a hit, with Maria Sharapova testing positive for the controversial drug Meledonium, and now swimming appears to be being targeted.  I think we can probably expect that all Russian sport will be under the microscope for months to come.  It'...

As per the original published plans, Seda Tutkhalyan and Nikolai Kuksenkov will compete at next week's World Cup. This is a great opportunity for the gymnasts to test their early year preparations, with both gymnasts in contention for an Olympic spot.  After Maria Kharenkova missed an appearance in Glasgow this week, thanks to what Valentina Rodionenko described - quite grumpily- as administrative problems in the processing of her visa, this will be Russia's female debut of 2016.  On the men's side, David Belyavski competed in the AA yesterday in Glasgow but had an inconsistent competition to finish well out of the medals, while British hero Max Whitlock stormed the gold. Albert Starodubtsev's TASS report makes much of Aliya Mustafina's 'absence' from the World Cup thanks to her continuing rehab, but Russian Championships have always been planned as the gymnast's first competition this year.  It was indeed rather surprising when Valentina ...

Dynamic young Seda Tutkhalyan, a leading gymnast in Penza this week, is finding her feet in senior competition Once again this week the Russian women showed themselves to be vulnerable to errors in the first day of apparatus finals, while the men excelled.  Please see the results below, as ever courtesy of the Russian Gymnastics Federation. On bars, Viktoria Komova performed hors de competition, recording a score of 15.3 - she didn't qualify officially to the final so can't be recorded as champion, but she is consistently now Russia's highest scorer on this apparatus.  Russia are already strong here, and she will need to up her game on other apparatus (Valentina mentioned beam and vault) to qualify to be part of the team in Glasgow. A key fact emerging this week in Penza is the growing strength of Nikita Ignatyev, who for a long time was the unlucky one on the team who would often fall or make unexpected errors.  Gradually Nikita has been improving, until in this...

2012 Olympians Viktoria Komova, Anastasia Grishina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, and Nikolai Kuksenkov will compete in the Voronin Cup, Moscow, 15-17 December.   Aliya Mustafina, Emin Garibov, Denis Ablyazin and Alexander Balandin are out with injury or in recovery - expect them back next spring. http://itar-tass.com/sport/1629215

You will find the full results at Longines Timing's website here : http://www.longinestiming.com/Sport?sport=GG There are also live results at the FIG website : http://www.fig-docs.com/live_results/5529/5529.php Russia did pretty well everywhere except pommels, where they suffered one of their magnificent disasters, carrying four falls on that one event ... Ignatyev performed disappointingly in the all around, carrying two marks in the 12s.  Newcomers to the team, Stretovich and Polyashov, both performed creditably but unremarkably.  There is still time for them to make their mark at upcoming competitions as they progress to Rio.  The results show a team that appears more robust than this time last year; despite the pommel horse tussle, the team revived and regrouped in the following apparatus and, even without Garibov and Balandin, managed to stay in touch with their closest rivals. The team is in 5th place, closely matched with Britain, and all the gymnasts wi...