Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

  Sport is not the problem, world politics is.   Put another way, speaking as a feminist, only men could believe that the answer to any problem is to bomb, shoot, kill and maim.   And, speaking as a sports afficionado, only the IOC could believe that isolating nations from the Olympic mission of peace and friendship might solve the problem of war.   Is sport ‘war without the shooting’?      Politics and sport do not mix, that’s for sure.   Am I the only one who found gymnastics without the Russkies just a little bit flat and boring?     Now we have them back and have to contemplate how their gymnasts will cope in a new age.   Can they revive their motivation and get back in time to compete as a team at the Olympics?     The IOC started the sanction, and now it’s attempting to stop it.   They are the ones who hold the power, and their approach is mirrored by the sporting federations who are gradually letting Ru...

Liubov Andrianova in 2016 Liubov Andrianova and Dmitri Andreev, members of the FIG Technical Committees for men’s and women’s gymnastics, travel today to Paris to participate in the Olympic Games. Liubov Andrianova competed under her maiden name of Burda in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and has been one of the leading FIG judges for decades.  Her son with 1976 Olympic Champion, Nikolai Andrianov (RIP), Sergei, is a senior coach on the Russian senior team, specialising in bars. 1980 Olympic champion for the USSR, Elena Davydova, will also be judging for Canada at these Olympics.   Russians still sit on various committees of the FIG across the various sports that make up gymnastics.  President of the RGF, Vasily Titov, sits on the Executive Board as a senior member of the FIG.  Andrianova and Andreev will contribute their huge technical knowledge to the  gymnastics at these Games, and will scrutinise the progress of the sport. Lists of the full membership of the vari...

The Russian team for BRICS - a young team for the women, in particular.  There are full teams of six, then four gymnasts who will compete ‘out of competition’, as display gymnasts.   Men's team: Belyavskiy David Dalaloyan Artur Marinov Daniel Nagorny Nikita Naydin Sergey Polyashov Vladislav 📌 Out of competition: Zaika Ilya Prokopyev Kirill Sedin Saveliy Usachev Alexey 🤸🏻‍♀️ Women's team: Agafonova Maria Melnikova Angelina Vasilieva Leila Gerasimova Elena Kalmykova Anna Roshchina Lyudmila 📌 Out of competition: Andreeva Ekaterina Glotova Alena Listunova Victoria Shapovalova Kristina Gymnasts from Malaysia, Belarus, Mongolia, Serbia, Syria, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Türkiye, Tunisia, South Ossetia, Armenia, Ethiopia, India and Kazakhstan will also be on the roster. If you read Russian, this is a list of the coaches travelling to Kazan.  The competition will begin on the 13th (Thursday next week) with AA and EF.  I wonder who will win the medals?  

Google translate, unedited but full of interest! Daniel Marinov: "Not to participate in the Olympics under a neutral flag is the federation's decision" Two-time Russian champion in artistic gymnastics Daniil Marinov is one of the most talented gymnasts in the country. The 19-year-old athlete will take part in the BRICS Games in Kazan. In an interview with TI-Sport, Daniel shared his opinion on international competitions, talked about plans to participate in the Olympics, his attitude to doping and much more.  "The BRICS Games are a landmark event not only for Tatarstan, but for all of Russia" Daniel, you are participating in the BRICS Games, and this will be your first experience of competing at the international level. Tell us about your feelings... I am looking forward to these competitions. This is a very landmark event not only for Tatarstan, but for all of Russia. However, the composition and the final number of participants are still unknown. I really hope...

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, is currently visiting Russia, where he met President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.   He was also lucky enough to meet Queen Aliya Mustafina!   With thanks to Aliya's Instagram account for the picture.  You can read more about Mr Bach's visit to Russia here : http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/23603