Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Natalia, seen left here in this personal picture with team mates Angelina Melnikova and Maria Paseka, is a relative newcomer to the senior national team, but not its youngest member - having turned 16 in May (Angelina only celebrated her 16th birthday a few days ago).  She is Russian Cup champion on the uneven bars - and strong enough in the all around to provide a good back up, as first reserve, if back up is needed. The famous gym club in Penza - home to 2014 World floor champion Denis Ablyazin - is where Natalia has trained since childhood under the direction of the Starkin family - who also direct the training of Russian team captain, Aliya Mustafina.   Despite her relative lack of experience internationally, Natalia has shown herself to be a steady and optimistic team mate.   The flight to Brazil - over 12 hours - was the longest of her life.  At first she slept, but she also read, watched movies and listened to music.  She says that the team weren't too wo...

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko visited Burtasy Palace of Sports, Penza , yesterday and congratulated the regional leadership on its management of sports in the region. The facility houses both a swimming pool and gymnasium. 2012 Olympic medallist and 2013 European Vault Champion Denis Ablyazin has his home in Penza and trains at this school under coach Valeri Starkin. Sports Minister Mutko meats with local dignitaries and athletes at Burtasy Palace of Sports, Penza, host to the upcoming Russia Cup gymnastics competition (begins 15th August) The School is the regular base for national competitions such as the Russia Cup and Russian Championships. As mentioned in a recent RRG report , this is made possible by the investment of the local government, who allow the RGF to use the facility free of charge. Mascot of Spartakiade Chairman of the regional Sports Committee, Artur Panteleev, noted that following on from the European Championships (held in Moscow this spring) ...

This annual national competition for Russian junior boys and girls will take place in the Burtasy School of Gymnastics, Penza , with the main competitions on the 22nd and 23rd June.  As soon as I find any startlists, results or pictures, I will post links. Glad to see that my favourite Russian junior, Maria Kharenkova, gold medalist in the team, beam and floor competitions at the recent Junior European Championships, features on the poster! Courtesy of the RGF

Albert at the All Around Forum has provided a link to photos of the opening ceremony of this competition here .  They are pretty bog standard ceremonial photographs at this stage, I recognise some of the dignitaries including Rodionenko but can't see any of the main gymnasts I know.  This is a link to the Burtasy school of gymnastics in Penza where the competition is taking place, so it may prove to be a good spot to pick up quick results if the Russian Gymnastics Federation's site updates take a while to come through.  I'll keep an eye on how things are developing and let you know results as soon as I can.  It's the women's all around competition today and from all accounts Komova and Dementieva are likely to be the main competitors - Nabieva has opted to compete individual apparatus only, Mustafina, Semenova and Afanasyeva are not planning to compete (though this may change on the day for all I know), and Grishina is competing at the Jesolo Cup.  Anyway, l...