Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

19 year old Denis Ablyazin, from Penza, qualified to three event finals Five young men of Russia have confirmed their return to the top level of artistic gymnastics by putting in a spirited performance, without a backward glance to their country's somewhat changeable achievements over past years .David Belyavski, Emin Garibov, Denis Ablyazin, Alexander Balandin and Igor Pakhomenko seem to have turned the tide of decay in the Russian gymnastics programme, presenting solid, occasionally brilliant, often beautiful gymnastics to finish in 2nd place as a team, just ahead of a British team who were at times equally stirring in the emotional intensity of their presentation.  Yes, both teams, and the USA who finished in first place, were helped by the unaccountably bad days experienced by both Japan and China, long time leaders of the sport worldwide.  I expect that Japan at least will improve significantly on Monday and give the rest of the field some problems in maintaining the...