Part 1 Part 4 Russia's gymnasts and coaches celebrate at the London Olympics, 2012. Courtesy RGF/Elena Mikhailova RRG: In your opinion, did the Russian WAG team fulfill its potential at the London 2012 Olympics? Were there ways in which the team could have done better? How was the team spirit - amongst the gymnasts and amongst the coaches? AA: I have a somewhat double feeling/opinion about this. In my mind, I believe that we were capable of taking first place. At qualifications we were losing to the US by 1.5 points. When finals started, we were a bit behind, but gained some positions compared to the qualifications round. Unfortuantely, we were not able to hold on and lost by a large margin. Anastasia Grishina: 'scared' and poorly coached in 2012, but great potential for 2013 I don't want to point any fingers, but again our unstoppable Rodionenkos had worked for four years with the coach of Grishina and allowed him to train ...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.