Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Ivan Stretovich competes at last year's Junior European Championships Siberian-born, 16 year old Ivan Stretovich featured on this blog last year after his appearance at the Junior European Championships, and was one of the rising stars at this month's European Youth Olympic Festival, taking bronze medals all around and on rings, in addition to gold on parallel bars.  There is something about this gymnast that I like; his competitive bearing is confident and strong, his work presented with an economy of line that reminds me of a young Dmitri Bilozerchev .  Between last year's Junior European Championships and this year's EYOF, Ivan improved his D value on parallel bars from 5.1 to 5.6, including a brand new double front with half twist out dismount. The local Siberian sports committee has produced this video of Ivan in training.  Lupita provides a brief summary of what is said below. Ivan Stretovich is one of the candidates to be nominated "April Russian A...

These pictures of young Ivan Stretovich, taken by Elena Mikhailova at last week's European Gymnastics Championships, are available in a gallery at the Russian Gymnastics Federation website.  I wanted to share a sequence of them with you. Stretovich turns 16 in October, and comes from Novosibirsk in Siberia, where he is coached at the Dynamo club by B Konvissar.  This young gymnast emerged at April's Russian Championships, where he took gold or silver medals in every event final except for vault.  In Montpelier, he contributed to the Russian team's silver medal. But pictures speak louder than words, and medals aren't all that matters.  Stretovich's start values (in qualifying 5 (F), 5.1 (PH), 4.8 (SR), 5.4 (V), 5.1 (PB) and 4.9 (HB) leave some room for development, but the special quality of his work is even rarer than a double twisting double back somersault.  That quality is the ability to elevate the simple to a pitch of perfection, and to make the diff...