Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Full results of the Junior men's event finals are given below, first for the Master of Sport category, then for the Candidate Master of Sport.  The musically named Kirill Prokofiev fared well today in the Master of Sport competitions, winning gold on floor and pommels, and bronze on rings where National Junior Champion Sergei Stepanov came first.  Ivan Stretovich won floor and pommels in the Candidate Master of Sport events, with Viktor Britan taking gold on vault. Master of Sport competitions Candidate Master of Sport competitions

The USA Gymnastics federation has done a great job of posting videos from the Pacific Rim competition .  Here are a few of the key Russians. Maria Kharenkova , floor (bronze medal)  SV 5.4, E 8.55 She makes nice eye contact and is expressive for such a young girl.  The music requires more of her than mere poses.  Very energetic and fast in her tumbling.  I could watch this floor routine over and again. Grigory Zyrianov, pommel horse (silver medal) SV 5.2 E 8.8 It's just so good to see a Russian perform pommels without an error.  Zyrianov has good line and looks composed and determined. Ekaterina Baturina , uneven bars (7th place) SV 5.1 E 8.075 Baturina comes off on her Pak here, and has a tic in its performance, splaying her feet outwards like little cats' ears.  Yes, they are flexed, but they are flexed with style .  And just watch how she swings!! Sergei Stepanov , rings (silver) SV 5.4, E 8.75 I love the facial expressi...

13 year old Maria Kharenkova from Rostov on Don achieved two bronze medals yesterday at the Pacific Rim championships, with brisk, energetic performances on beam and floor.  With the European Junior Championships upcoming in May, Maria looks likely to make the team alongside 14 year old Evgeniya Shelgunova.  Maria had narrowly missed a bronze medal in the all around competition after a fall on bars.  Maria's biographical details can be found here , along with those of her five other Russian team mates.  The senior women (probably to be considered the Russian's 'D' team in terms of experience) did less well.  Diana Elkina, their sole gymnast qualified to an event final, injured her left knee in bars warm-up.  I do hope she can recover well.  A similar story was told in the men's competition where the senior team failed to achieve a medal position in any competition.  However, the juniors did much better, qualifying for multiple event finals....

Three Russian men emerged at these games - Grigori Zyrianov, Andrei Lagutov (referred to elsewhere as 'Logutov') and Sergei Stepanov.  Here are their biographical details as listed on the Russian Federation's website. Grigori Zyrianov - born 22nd January 1996 (15 years old) trains at the Dynamo club in Kemerova with coaches N A Kotyakhov, L G Kotyakhova and A V Bekov Andrei Lagutov - born 14th October 1995 (15 years old), trains in Leninsk-Kuznetsk with coaches D D Chunasov and T V Popova Sergei Stepanov - born 26th May 1994 (17 years old), trains in Cheboksary with coaches I A Rudyanu, G F Stepanov and A S Vasilyev.

Larissa Iordache dominated the EYOF women's competition this week, taking the all around title at the European Youth Olympic Festival, followed by two golds and two silvers in the apparatus finals. Italians Fasana and Meneghini finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the all around competition, with Fasana establishing herself as the second gymnast of this competition, with a silver medal on floor, and bronze medals on both vault and bars.  Germany's Janine Berger took vault gold, with Hungary's Noemi Makra making gold on bars with 13.525, the lowest winning mark of the apparatus finals.  Iordache's score of 15 on beam is somewhat below par for her, but underlines her clear superiority as she achieved the top three scores across all the competitions at these Games The Russians performed better in the all around finals than their team showing would have suggested, with Shelgunova finishing a close 4th (only .05 behind Meneghini) and Rodionova 5th. Their sole medal in...